Irish aid agency Goal has announced that over 900 of its staff, including 28 individuals based in Ireland, now face the threat of job losses due to significant cuts in international aid funding.
These reductions have placed nearly 30% of the agency’s workforce at risk of redundancy and have resulted in a consequential decrease in the organization’s ability to carry out its essential work globally.
In a statement, Goal emphasized, These cuts come at a time when there are more than 120 million people displaced worldwide, and humanitarian needs are at their highest levels in decades.
Currently, Goal operates in 14 countries and reported that it directly supported
over 11 million people last year.
The charity highlighted alarming trends, noting, Belgium has cut aid by 25%, while France has reduced its budget by 37%. More recently, the UK made a dramatic move, cutting foreign aid by 40%. The unprecedented scale of these cuts is placing an indescribable toll on the entire humanitarian system, and millions of lives are on the brink.
Continuing its statement, Goal said, As an organization deeply committed to improving the state of our world, we recognize the profound impact that program closures and staff reductions will have on individual lives and communities. It’s a sobering reality that the entire global humanitarian system is now in crisis, and the extent of the cuts worldwide is not yet fully visible.
The agency is actively assessing how these funding reductions will affect its global operations, but it has already communicated to staff in regions such as Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean that their roles are at risk.
Goal underlined that these cuts will have profound implications
for individuals and communities alike.
In Ethiopia, for instance, the organization has been running critical programs aimed at providing life-saving care for children suffering from moderate and severe acute malnutrition. They have already received harrowing reports of children under five dying because of interruptions in therapeutic feeding programs due to budget cuts.
Nevertheless, Goal expressed gratitude for the Irish Government’s ongoing support of those living in extreme poverty, maintaining its humanitarian funding to both Goal and other aid agencies. Thanks to the continued support of Irish Aid and the generosity of the Irish public, Goal will do everything possible with the resources we have to deliver critical, life-saving programs,
the organization stated.
This is indeed a challenging time for humanitarian efforts, but Goal remains steadfast in its commitment to those in need.
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times International – Monitoring.
