Ireland has pledged €1 million towards tackling the famine crisis in Niger.
UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland earlier accused global nations of ignoring an acute crisis in the West African country.
But Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs Conor Lenihan tonight confirmed that Ireland will contribute €1 million as part of its overseas aid programme.
"This is a significant preliminary contribution from the Irish Government and we hope that other countries will follow our lead," he said. "This emergency in Niger is chronically underfunded and more support is urgently needed from the international community."
The UN said 2.5 million people in Niger are in desperate need of food, including 800,000 children who are malnourished.
Some 150,000 of those children "will die very soon because they are severely malnourished unless we really get to step up our operation," according to Mr Egeland. The landlocked country was devastated by a recent drought and a locust invasion last year.