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Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Concern Worldwide faces shutdown in some countries amid budget cuts, lost US funding
Irish international aid agency Concern Worldwide has said that it will have to close its operations in some countries and introduce more staff redundancies as a result of budget cuts. But it has said while international donations are reducing, the Irish public is digging deeper to contribute more. Concern chief executive Dominic Crowley indicated that about 400 personnel across the world would lose their jobs. He said in its office in Dublin the organisation was coming to the end of a redundancy programme which would see it shed about 55 or 56 posts. In Dublin the organisation employs 330 people and globally about 4,000. READ MORE [ 'Not viable' for Government to provide funds to replace US aid programme cuts, says Minister Opens in new window ] Some of the job losses in Ireland will be compulsory. The closure of aid programmes in a number of countries will mean that further jobs will be lost. 'We know that our budget is going to be less than it was, so we know that we're going to be doing less than we were. So that's going to mean closing country programmes. It's going to mean more redundancies for staff, and it's going to mean that the level of what we can deliver in terms of essential life-saving programmes and our longer-term development programmes are going to be reduced in many places, not just in the countries that we close.' He told The Irish Times that Concern had lost about €20 million in funding from the US which accounted for about one third of its global budget. Mr Crowley said Concern Worldwide had anticipated securing contracts worth just under €60 million from the US Government this year but cuts in Washington will see that reduced by about one third. 'The whole programme that we had with USAid for the Democratic Republic of Congo – a huge country in the centre of Africa – and for Afghanistan, that funding has been completely cut.' [ Concern Worldwide lays off almost 400 staff citing 'aid funding cuts' Opens in new window ] 'Other funding, particularly for the longer-term programmes in places like Kenya has also been cut.' He said the conflict in Congo meant that the organisation had planned to go back to delivering water by truck to displaced and at risk communities. However, the funding cuts now meant that this had been reduced significantly, although the UK had stepped in to fill some of the gap. He also said UK budget cuts were already starting to happen. He described the scale of funding reductions being envisaged as 'catastrophic'. However Mr Crowley said while international donors were cutting back, the Irish public was 'digging deeper' in its contributions. He said there had been a marked upturn in contributions from the Irish public which last year provided about €27 million in funding. He suggested the level of public donations could increase by €1 million or €2 million. 'The public support is incredibly important to us, and the generosity of the Irish public is well known, and we are deeply grateful for it. We have seen sort of modest growth over the last couple of years, but the results for this year are much better than we anticipated.' 'And we do get the sense that people are reacting to the reality of what they're seeing and hearing, and they are digging deeper into their pockets and being incredibly generous. So in the year to date, it's a very positive outlook in terms of the additional level of income.' He said the Irish Government was 'almost singular' in the fact that it was retaining its commitment of allocating 0.7 per cent of gross national income to official development assistance and keeping its funding to NGOs, the UN and international organisations. Mr Crowley said the issue of potential mergers or amalgamations of agencies in the sector had been discussed internally – and that Concern would be open to such a development. However, the opportunities for such a development were limited. 'If you look outside at the nature of the organisations in Ireland, most are members of big international families. So world Vision, Christian Aid, Plan, International, all these ones. So there's no real likelihood or expectation of an opportunity to merge with those.' 'So the other organisations that are here, are very few and far between. The number of organisations with whom there would be the potential for a merger is very, very small. We're open to the possibility of it. We've looked at this before. We've talked to agencies before. We've gone through a process. It hasn't worked out. If it becomes an option again, we'll certainly look at it again. Concern Worldwide will this week release its annual report for 2024. The report says last year it supported 27.3 million people in 27 of the world's fragile and conflict-affected countries. The report says the organisation is working on a new five-year plan but difficult decisions will have to be made. 'These are challenging times, but the Concern has been through challenging times before, and the importance of what we're doing in delivering support to poor and vulnerable people living in circumstances of poverty and vulnerability, we need to continue we need to continue working. We need to maintain the hope that what we deliver will be sustained and we'll be able to continue delivering it. '
Irish Examiner
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: From Sudan to Gaza and beyond, international law is being flouted
The United Nations states are meeting in New York for the annual Protection of Civilians Week (May 19-23) at a time when the world is witnessing large-scale attacks on civilian populations on a daily basis. There is no absence of data or proof. There is only an absence of accountability, adherence to international law, and sufficient political will to put the protection, safety and dignity of civilians first. In Sudan, 26 months of fighting have forced more than 12.4m people to flee their homes. Half of the population (nearly 25m people) are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Famine was confirmed in North Darfur in August 2024 and has since spread to nine more areas of the country, placing hundreds of thousands of lives at risk. Unicef has reported that, in just four months, more than 1,000 children have died from hunger and disease and, with no alternatives, mothers are now feeding grass to their hungry children. Despite the heroic efforts of agencies on the ground, like Concern, more children are dying needlessly every day. In Gaza, after 19 months of conflict, approximately 2.1m people are at critical risk of famine. Nearly half a million people (one fifth of the population) face starvation. Food scarcity has resulted in soaring prices — a 25kg sack of flour now costs between $235 (€210) and $520 (€465) — an increase of up to 3,000% in just three months. But it is not just in Sudan and Gaza that civilian populations are suffering the consequences of conflict. It is in Yemen, South Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, and too many of the world's neglected crises — places where people are living, not just day to day, but hour to hour, hoping for moments of peace to find food, medical help, or to just rest before bombardment begins again. Conflict-affected countries are the ones with the greatest level of human suffering and humanitarian needs. A basic principle of international humanitarian law, the law of war, is that of distinction. This requires all parties to conflicts to ensure they distinguish between the civilian population and combatants. It prohibits indiscriminate attacks or the deliberate targeting of civilian populations. Yet attacks against civilians are escalating. Between 2022 and 2023, the UN recorded a 72% increase in civilian deaths in armed conflict. It is estimated that one in every six children in the world now lives in an area affected by conflict. International efforts have been made to address this. In 2022, Ireland led a process to develop an international declaration to strengthen the protection of civilians arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. This declaration was signed by 88 countries, including the US, the UK, and France — three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. It is difficult then to reconcile how almost half the countries in the world signed up to this declaration, yet the increase in violence against civilians now rarely attracts condemnation, outrage, or reaction. Despite such political declarations, some governments and non-state actors are openly and intentionally undermining international humanitarian law, eroding the minimum standards of protections owed to civilians. The silence and support of other governments contributes to the growing culture of impunity. We must end this silence. Ireland has spoken up. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris, the foreign affairs minister, have condemned the infliction of hunger and suffering on civilian populations, whatever the circumstances. More countries must do likewise to ensure the protection, safety and dignity of civilians. Critically, member states must address the deadlock at the UN Security Council. Urgent consideration must be given to the permanent members of the Security Council suspending their use of the veto in the Security Council in mass atrocity situations to ensure the protection of civilians and their safe and unfettered access to principled humanitarian aid. Millions of people experiencing the horrors of conflict are depending on them to do so. Dominic Crowley, CEO, Concern Worldwide, Dublin Central Bank and Israeli bonds I note that Coimisiún na Meán has awarded the Central Bank of Ireland the status of 'trusted flagger' under EU legislation on digital services, with Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf proudly noting 'this accreditation marks another milestone in the Bank's commitment to protecting consumers and strengthens our efforts to disrupt the activities of unauthorised providers of regulated financial services'. Ordinarily, this move — which sees the Central Bank become the first Irish organisation to be granted this status — would be something to welcome. However, Mr Makhlouf's words ring hollow in the light of the Central Bank's controversial regulation of EU sales of Israel bonds, vaunted by Israeli president Isaac Herzog as a way to provide 'unwavering support' to the Israeli state 'during this time of conflict and war'. Numerous TDs and senators have already noted the Central Bank's lack of 'commitment to protecting consumers' on the basis that the submitted bond prospectus made no mention of the gamechanging genocide charges faced by the Israeli state at the International Court of Justice. It is difficult to celebrate the Central Bank, while it continues to facilitate a stream of funding for the shocking slaughter and cruel starvation the Israel Defence Forces is wreaking in Gaza. As its leadership have refused to invoke the powers at their disposal, the government must take action. The Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers have advised that Dáil Éireann could resolve the matter with a private members bill 'rooted in the Ireland's fundamental interest in pursuing its international law obligations'. Inevitably, the Central Bank will have to step — or be dragged — onto the right side of history. I call upon the government to resolve this fiasco sooner rather than later. Brian Ó Éigeartaigh, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Wolf extinction I'm disappointed to learn Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs have voted to downgrade the protected status of wolves in the EU. Despite all the evidence indicating a severe threat to the conservation status of wolves in Europe, the EU parliament has opted to allow these animals to be legally culled. Political interests and pressure from powerful lobby groups, have trumped logic, science, and the increasingly urgent need to preserve biodiversity. The vote amounts to an abandonment of the hard-won protection for wolves under the EU Habitats Directive and could potentially lead to the wolf's extinction Europe-wide. This retrograde step weakens the EU's flagship conservation law that was supposed to be a beacon to the world in the battle to conserve endangered species. But perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised at the stance taken by FF and FG in Brussels. These two parties have refused to back a ban on hare coursing or fox hunting here in Ireland, or even to allow a free vote on them in the Dáil. Maybe it's just as well that there are no wolves in Ireland, because if we still had these wonderful creatures, clubs would undoubtedly be set up to torment and kill them for sport. We might even see them running for their lives in parks, with fans cheering or placing bets. Oliver Cromwell, one of Ireland's deadliest foes, played a prominent role in the disappearance of wolves from this island. In 1652, he set bounties on them that resulted in widespread killing of the animals. They survived, just about, for another century, and the last recorded sighting of a grey wolf here was in 1786. FF and FG have followed in Cromwell's draconian footsteps in giving the wolf a bad name. They should hang their heads in shame for joining in the attack on this much maligned creature. It's depicted in fairy tale lore as the 'Big Bad Wolf' and is the bugbear of many a horror movie, but in reality it plays a vital conservationist role in maintaining healthy eco-systems in the terrain it inhabits. Unfortunately, party animals who put political self-interest before ecology are not yet on the endangered list. John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny Trump's new words The English language is complex and apparently difficult to learn as a second language. Wikipedia says it has more than a million words, many archaic, technical, or obscure but the printed Oxford dictionary only has 171,476 major words apparently. There however may need to be a few words added to the dictionary, both from the mind of president Trump, 'covfefe' which nobody seems to have a definition for. The second word is 'equalising' which he says he created. 'There's a new word that I came up with, which is probably the best word,' although this word gets a mention in the Oxford dictionary already, both online and in print. Well done, Oxford, to move so fast. There have also been Trump related health phrases including 'Trump derangement syndrome', which I, and millions of others seem to suffer from. Apart from mood swings and frustration, I am not sure what the other effects are. When will the pain end? Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia
