A donation of €4.4 million to the United Nations World Food Programme has been announced by the Minister for Agriculture and Food. The announcement was made during the visit to Ireland yesterday of the executive director of the WFP, Mr James Morris.
Mr Walsh said: "Ireland values the work of the WFP and is impressed by its operations, which is why we are providing €4.4 million in core funding as multilateral aid. Additionally, 2003 is an important year as Ireland took up its position on the executive board of WFP for the first time."
Ireland is the 18th-largest donor to the World Food Programme and the 17th-largest donor in terms of cash contributions. In 2002, the Irish contribution was more than €11 million, comprising €4.43 million from the Department of Agriculture and Food and €6.6 million from Development Co-operation Ireland.
This donation was made up of Ireland's obligation of €1.5 million under the 1999 Food Aid Convention and an additional voluntary contribution of €2.9 million to support the emergency and relief operations of WFP.
This year's donation is provided as multilateral aid and will be directed towards a number of WFP categories, including the emergency operation programme and the immediate response account in countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia and Iraq.
Mr Morris will be in Ireland for five days and will meet the President, Mrs McAleese, Minister of State Mr Tom Kitt, officials from the Department of Agriculture and Food, Development Co-operation Ireland and Dóchas, an umbrella organisation representing non-governmental organisations (NGOs).