As the Deputy will be aware, the Government, reflecting the popular support for assistance to poorer countries, decided last September to increase the allocation for official development assistance (ODA) each year between 2001 and 2007 with the intention of reaching by 2007 the United Nations target for such aid of 0.7% of gross national product (GNP).
As part of that commitment, the Government has also agreed the allocation for Vote 39, the Vote for international cooperation, which is the core part of ODA, for the three year period 2001 to 2003. The intention of this agreement is to reach in 2002 an interim target for ODA of 0.45% of GNP and to maintain momentum in the following year towards the UN target.
Based on estimates of GNP the allocations for ODA for the period 2001 to 2007 are calculated as follows: