Minister Ahern orders the first airlifts of Irish humanitarian relief supplies from the Irish Aid stockpiles at UN Base in Brindisi

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern TD, has ordered the first two airlifts of over €100,000 worth of relief supplies from Irish Aid stocks at the UN’s Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Brindisi, Italy.

The first airlift consisted of 3,000 tarpaulins for use as temporary family shelters as well as 2,200 mosquito nets. These were airlifted over the weekend to the NGO Goal for its emergency operations in Kassala, Sudan. Extensive flooding in the Kassala region caused by abnormally heavy and early rainfall has made an estimated 335,000 people homeless and resulted in scores of fatalities.

The second airlift leaving Brindisi Saturday will be carried out in conjunction with Norway, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to assist the victims of recent serious flooding in Pakistan. The Irish material consists of 10 large collapsible water tanks (10,000 litre), over 7,000 tarpaulins for temporary family shelter, 1,800 mosquito nets and 7,650 blankets. The relief items will be distributed through the Government of Pakistan to meet the needs of those displaced by the recent cyclone related flooding.  Minister Ahern stated:

“I am delighted that the Rapid Response Initiative which was recommended in last September’s White Paper is now up and running. By pre-positioning such essential relief items, Irish Aid is now in a position to significantly speed up its response to humanitarian emergencies. These supplies meet many of the immediate shelter, housing, water and sanitation needs of those affected by humanitarian emergencies”. The Minister added

“I am particularly pleased that the Irish NGO Goal has been one of the first to access the humanitarian relief supplies pre-positioned by the Government under its Rapid Response Initiative”.

Note to Editors:

Under the first element of the Rapid Response Initiative, Ireland pre-positioned humanitarian supplies at the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Brindisi and at the Defence Forces Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare.

Stocks sufficient for a community of 20,000 people are stored in Brindisi while a smaller stock sufficient for a community of 10,000 is, from this week, in place in the Curragh. These stocks include:

• 600 Winterised Tents for cold climates;
• 6,600 Plastic sheeting bales for warm climates;
• 33,000 blankets;
• 4,600 Kitchen sets;
• 19,800 Jerry Cans;
• 12,000 Mosquito nets;
• 33,000 bars of soap;
• 660 Latrine slabs;
• 660 Pick axes and shovels;
• 50 Water Storage tanks; and
• 50 Water trucking tanks

 Irish Aid will fund a minimum of three rotations of our humanitarian stocks in any one year. The provision of the emergency supplies in today’s announcement are in addition to a wider package of measures approved by Mr Michael Kitt TD, Minister of State for Overseas Development, of over €500,000 for NGOs dealing with the crises in Pakistan and Kassala, Sudan, as well as assistance of €500,000 for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in responding to the current floods in Asia.