Minister Richmond announces increased funding to protect women and girls in Sudan

Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora Neale Richmond today announced €5 million in Irish Aid funding to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) for their work across six countries in Africa, including an additional €1.5 million to support women and girls in Sudan.

The additional support for women and girls in Sudan is in response to the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.

Minister Richmond today met with senior representatives of the IRC in Dublin to discuss the crisis in Sudan and how Ireland can support an effective response that particularly focuses on protecting women and girls from violence.

Minister Richmond said:

We know that women and girls are disproportionately affected by humanitarian crises. This is particularly the case in Sudan, where women and girls are being subjected to horrific violence. This situation is unconscionable. We simply have to do more to protect them.

The lead role of the IRC in the protection of women and girls in crises all over the world is critical. Ireland is a long-standing funder of this work. Today's announcement for a further €5m to support the IRC will strengthen this work across six countries. This includes €1.5m specifically for Sudan. This will allow the IRC to strengthen life-saving gender-based violence services in west Sudan. It will also support the integration of child protection and health services in the east of the country providing holistic, survivor-centred care.

Through the current strategic partnership which began in 2025, Ireland has committed to provide €3.5 million per year over a 3-year period to the International Rescue Committee to address gender-based violence across six countries in East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, South Sudan and Sudan. In response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan, Ireland will provide an additional €1.5 million to the IRC in 2026.

ENDS

12 February 2026

• The IRC plays a leading role in Gender Based Violence in Emergencies responses globally. Originally established in 1934, the IRC is specialised agency working in the humanitarian sector for over 90 years. They have contributed significantly to the development of international standard-setting protocols, guidelines, frameworks and programme models and consistently apply them at country level. The IRC's significant expertise in policy advocacy, learning briefs is well established. The IRC also works to develop new and better approaches to their programming.
• Starting in 2025, Ireland provides €3.5 million per year over 3 years for POWER (Partnership and Ownership for Women's Empowerment and Resilience) to effectively address GBV in humanitarian settings. In 2026, an additional €1.5m will be made available to boost IRC's work in Sudan, bringing the total multi-year grant to €12m.
• This partnership aims to empower women and girls in conflict-affected areas to lead safer, more resilient lives by enhancing their access to protection services, increasing their participation in decision-making processes, advocating for policy reforms, strengthening local women's rights organisations, and ensuring that gender equality and Gender Based Violence prevention are central to humanitarian planning and response efforts.
• Ireland's funding through the Strategic Partnership is critical in a broader environment where gender and protection are significantly underfunded consistently in all contexts - protection is the least funded humanitarian cluster and within that cluster, GBV also receives little funding.
• A priority area of focus is supporting local grassroots Women's Rights and Women-led Organisations to improve their capacity to respond to GBV and reduce risks to women and girls.