Vol. 539 No. 1
106 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of projects in Africa which are being assisted through moneys allocated by his Department in 2001; the way in which such projects are staffed; if staff are recruited here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18532/01]
The nature of the Irish bilateral aid programme, to which I think the Deputy is referring, has evolved significantly in recent years. In line with trends in development and with best practice among donors, the Irish programme has moved away from a project based approach to one comprised in the main of programmes implemented by our partner governments in Africa, the aim of which is to improve their ability to do things for themselves.
Out of a total aid allocation in 2001 of £188 million, the sum of £89 million will be spent on such programmes in eight countries in Africa. These countries are the six countries which are a priority for the Irish programme, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Lesotho, and also smaller programmes in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
In line with the shift from a project to a partner programme approach, there has been a related shift in staffing away from the use of foreign or Irish experts to implementation through partner government structures. The number of Irish experts has accordingly fallen from more than 70 a decade ago to one at present. However, in our embassies in the six priority countries and in the embassy in South Africa, there are a total of 15 Irish staff, entitled programme officers, who are charged with monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the programmes and with accounting for the programme funds. In addition, there is a small regional unit in Kampala with two Irish experts who provide sectoral guidance across all African country programmes. These are all, in addition to the diplomatic officers, acting as heads of mission at our embassies in the six priority countries.
The annual report of the Ireland Aid programme for 2000 will be published in the coming weeks. It will give in fullest detail an outline of all country programmes in Africa, as well as details of other funding provided, such as assistance to UN agencies, NGOs etc.
