Ireland is to make a £8.49 million humanitarian and rehabilitation assistance package available to benefit 21 of the world's poorest and most crisis-ridden countries.
In a move coinciding with continuing worldwide celebrations of St Patrick's Day yesterday, Minster for State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, said it was right when millions of Irish were gathering to recall emigrants who fled famine and chronic poverty at home, "to acknowledge our special affinity and solidarity for the poor and dispossessed of today's world".
Announcing the package in Boston, Ms O'Donnell said £3.3 million of the total would be implemented in partnership with Irish and international non-governmental organisations.
Field operations of international organisations such as the World Food Programme, Unicef, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Red Cross were to be supported through their consolidated appeals, amounting to £5.1 million.
The Irish aimed to be more pro-active and timely in their response to emergencies, the minister added.
"This strategic and cross-cutting approach will be a feature of the aid budget as it grows, and it also complements our active role on the UN Security Council in relations to countries in crisis."
PA