Ireland’s Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello has welcomed the HANCI donor index that ranked Ireland in fifth place among 23 OECD member countries. Speaking from Washington he said:

“I very much welcome the recent Report by the Institute of Development Studies and am pleased to see Ireland’s strong ranking. This is testament to our active and prominent role in addressing the joint challenges of hunger and undernutrition. Since the launch of our Hunger Task Force Report in 2008, Ireland has made great progress in putting hunger and nutrition at the centre of our international aid efforts.

“We know from the Lancet Report launched last week that, globally, malnutrition is responsible for nearly half the deaths of children under the age of five. Yet these deaths are largely preventable. Ireland has built strong political support internationally and has invested in policies and programmes aimed at reducing the burden of global hunger. Ireland will continue to build on these efforts through our strong commitment and leadership. We will continue to work to improve our own performance and encourage others to do the same”.

Read the full press release: Minister Costello welcomes research on Ireland’s role in fight against hunger