Trócaire thanks the people of Kilkenny for their support in 2021

Trócaire thanks the people of Kilkenny for their support in 2021 but warns next year will bring massive challenges to vulnerable communities

Trócaire CEO, Caoimhe de Barra, today thanked the people of Co. Kilkenny for their incredible generosity this year but warned that humanitarian needs are set to escalate in 2022 due to the compounding impacts of Covid-19, climate change and conflict.

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Ms de Barra said one of the biggest crisis facing low income countries in 2022 will be a “hunger pandemic”, with the number of people unable to access food expected to rise dramatically. The UN says Covid has already triggered a dramatic worsening of hunger with 811 million people undernourished last year – a tenth of the global population.

Ms de Barra said: “Across Trócaire programmes in 20 countries we are witnessing and responding to the devastating triple impact of Covid, climate change and conflict. Due to Covid lockdown measures people have not been able to travel to markets to sell their goods, go in search of daily labour to earn their living or plant crops. The result is there is no money for food.”

Ms de Barra said this is compounded by the heightening impacts of climate change which is having a devastating effect on food security. In one of Trócaire’s countries of operation, Somalia, the population is experiencing its third consecutive below-average rainfall season since late 2020 with most of southern, central, and north-eastern Somalia receiving little to no rainfall since June. The resulting drought has meant millions are short of food.

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Conflict is also having a huge impact in countries where Trócaire works. In eastern DRC, the security situation worsened in the last two years resulting in 5.3 million people having to flee their homes - the highest level in Africa.

Ms de Barra said tackling global hunger requires addressing climate change, the political drivers of conflict and responding to covid in a way that means no one is left behind.  “All this requires political will and a belief that all of humanity has the right to aspire to the same quality of life.”

In relation to Covid she said the new Omicron variant is putting the lives of millions around the world at risk and huge pressure on health systems everywhere. She said that global vaccine inequity must be addressed.

“While Ireland and richer nations are ramping up their Covid-19 vaccine booster programmes, the world’s poorest countries are still way behind. A crucial step towards redressing the global vaccine inequity is to grant a temporary patent waiver for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing, allowing countries to produce their own generic versions of vaccines. The Irish government should join other states in supporting a TRIPS waiver and to use its influence within the European Union to change the EU’s blocking position at the World Trade Organisation, in order to facilitate the urgent scaling up of global supply of life saving vaccines.”

Ms de Barra said the recent COP26 Climate Change summit represented a moment of great expectation but the failure of leaders to include Loss and Damage financing in the final COP26 agreement was deeply disappointing and a missed opportunity by the powerful nations who have contributed most to climate change to put justice at the heart of climate action.

However, Ms de Barra said that what shone through this year was the unwavering support of the Kilkenny public for the work of Trócaire.

“This was evident with the support for our Lenten campaign and recent Church East Africa appeal. Thanks to the people in Co. Kilkenny and right across Ireland, and the Irish government through Irish Aid, we were able to make a difference to the lives of millions of people in 20 countries in 2021, tackling the root causes of poverty, injustice and violence. Irish people showed once again that no matter the pressures they are facing here at home they are always willing to turn their compassion into action, supporting people to live with dignity, justice and freedom from fear. For that we are truly grateful.”

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