Irish charity Goal to lay off 30% of staff due to global aid cuts

Irish aid agency Goal has said more than 30 per cent of its workforce are at risk of losing their jobs.

The charity, which currently operates across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Ukraine, said it had informed 900 staff whose jobs may be affected, including 28 people based in Ireland.

Goal cited abrupt funding cuts in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Britain and the US as the reason behind the potential job losses.

The €103 million of funding Goal received from USAID in 2023 made up more than 50 per cent of its income. US president Donald Trump's administration told Congress on Friday it would cut nearly all remaining jobs at USAID and shut the agency.

"The unprecedented scale of these cuts is placing an indescribable toll on the entire humanitarian system and millions of lives are on the brink," Goal chief executive Siobhan Walsh said in a statement, adding that the scale of global job cuts across the sector was not yet visible.

Goal said it was already receiving reports of children under five participating in one of its Ethiopian feeding programmes for malnutrition dying due to interruptions and suspensions brought about by the aid cuts.

Stabilisation centres have already exhausted their allocated supplies of therapeutic milk, which has further exacerbated the situation and put thousands of children at significant risk, it added.

The charity said it was grateful to the Irish Government for continuing to provide it with humanitarian funding.

Goal has a total global workforce of 3,250 personnel, most of whom are recruited locally across the 14 countries in which it operates. It also has about 170 staff “associated with” its head office in Dublin.

Goal’s annual report for 2023 described USAID as its “largest donor”. In 2022, Goal received €113 million from the US agency. – Additional reporting: Reuters