There are six priority countries for bilateral development assistance under the Irish Aid programme: Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. There are, in addition, bilateral agreements in respect of more limited programmes of assistance to South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Expenditure on these programmes amounted to £46 million in 1998 and is planned to reach £48 million this year. The future development of the programmes is currently being discussed with the Governments concerned.
The bilateral development programmes are a central element of Ireland's overall programme of official development assistance (ODA). Bilateral assistance enables Ireland to engage in direct development partnerships with individual developing countries. A recent study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that the Irish Aid priority country programmes represent a highly effective model of development co-operation.