Tánaiste announces €3m aid package for Somalia
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore announced an additional €3m in life-saving assistance to Somalia during a visit to the capital, Mogadishu today.
Minister Gilmore's visit coincides with the one-year anniversary of the UN's declaration of famine in Somalia in July 2011.
The Tánaiste is the first Irish Minister to travel to the country in more than two decades.
Mr Gilmore said: “Somalia is one of the poorest and most insecure environments in the world. Our ongoing assistance is saving lives every day.”
The funding will help non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Concern, to scale up vital aid to millions of vulnerable Somalis whose lives are in jeopardy as a result of war and starvation.
It is in addition to almost €30m in emergency and long-term development funding given through Irish Aid over the past five years.
Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Somalia and North Korea as joint last, or most corrupt.
