Press Release
March 27, 2023 • 3 min read
2022 saw deadly mix of humanitarian crises underpinned by conflict, economic turmoil and climate change, which continues into 2023.
GOAL has released their impact figures for 2022, which saw war break out in Ukraine and drought and extreme hunger spread across East Africa.
The data indicates that:
- GOAL reached 14.6 million people with programmes in emergency response, health, nutrition and food security, livelihoods, and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) across the agency’s 14 countries of operation in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Ukraine.
- The aid agency reached 3.6 million people in Ethiopia, 2.7 million in Sudan, 2.4 million in Sierra Leone and 2.1 million people in Syria.
- GOAL also supported 2.9 million people to survive crises, 8.2 million to have resilient health, 3.6 million to benefit from increased access to safe water and 1.9 million people to have improved food security.
GOAL’s Director of International Programmes, Joanna Reid, says that in 2022, the situation deteriorated significantly for millions of people that the aid agency works with.
“The start of 2022 saw the world continue its journey of recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, only for the invasion of Ukraine in late February to bring that to a halt and global inflation skyrocket. This put already vulnerable communities under extreme pressure. For example, an already critical drought caused by climate change in East Africa was and is exacerbated by rising food prices.”
“We know that man-made crises as a result of conflict and climate change are increasing and the guardrails that once prevented such crises from spiralling out of control, including peace treaties and humanitarian aid access, have weakened. This is making our ability to respond ever more challenging.”
Dr Enida Friel, GOAL’s Head of MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) says that despite mounting crises, GOAL has continued to reach millions of people impacted across four continents.
“It is only with the support of our generous donors, partners and the people of Ireland that GOAL reached so many millions of people around the world. We are proud to have reached over two million people with our emergency response programming and almost three million more to build resilience to survive future crises. This is all in line with GOAL’s aim of moving people vulnerable to crises towards a position of resilience to future shocks.”
“Health systems around the world are also stretched to maximum as result of the Covid pandemic, shortage of health care staff and a rising cost of providing care. Yet, GOAL continues to provide access to health care for 8 million people in some of the most fragile countries in the world.”
“GOAL’s reach last year is one that I am very proud of, especially as a health professional. But we need help to reach even more people” continued Dr Friel.
Joanna Reid sees the rising trend of deadly crises continuing into 2023 and is calling for further support in responding to them.
“The devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have rightfully mobilised the international community to respond, but the impact this may have on other chronic emergencies, such as the growing hunger crisis in East Africa, is worrying.”
“The re-direction of international aid funding towards Ukraine last year has already impacted aid delivery elsewhere, and the current economic uncertainty around the globe will impact that even further. Aid agencies need all the support we can get so that vulnerable people and communities are not left behind” continued Joanna Reid.
