US and EU cuts to international aid are making the work of charities like GOAL unsustainable, according to a Labour TD.
It comes as the Irish aid agency announced more than 900 of its staff, including 28 people in Ireland, are at risk of losing their jobs.
The charity currently operates in 14 countries, and "directly supported" more than 11 million people last year.
A facilitator from the charity Goal leads a training for ''community mobilisers''. Credit: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News. 1st Apr, 2021.In a statement, it said funding cuts have put almost 30% of the aid agency's staff at risk of redundancy - with a direct impact on its ability to deliver critical, life-saving programmes around the world.
Labour foreign affairs spokesperson Duncan Smith TD said he hopes the cuts can be reversed.
"Since Donald Trump came to power, the US has cut all US aid for development programmes," he said.
"Allied with the cuts that are taking place across Europe, it's clear that not only are the most vulnerable people in the world being hit, but also that the providers of that aid and organisations such as GOAL will be unable to sustain the levels of support without that assistance.
"I hope that this can be reversed."
Since its foundation in 1977, GOAL has worked with vulnerable communities in more than 60 countries.
Main image: Man with many bills or invoices and no money. Alamy 2024
