Bernard J. Durkan
Question:189 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent of the Government's contribution to the overseas development aid programme in Asia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24337/01]
Written Answers. - Overseas Development Aid.
Since the beginning of 2001 a total of £8,175,329 has been allocated in support of aid programmes in Asia. Irish Government emergency humanitarian and recovery assistance is provided on a bilateral basis by funding partners throughout Asia. Assistance is given to victims of humanitarian crises arising from conflicts and natural disasters. Emergency preparedness and post-emergency recovery assistance is also provided.
The biggest recipient of assistance in Asia during the current year has been Afghanistan where the continuing humanitarian crisis has received a total of £4 million. India received a total of £1,253,000 for the Gujarat earthquake emergency and in response to flooding in Orissa State. A contribution of £575,000 was made to Tajikistan, and Mongolia received £100,000 in assistance. Ireland Aid also supported mine clearance programmes in Cambodia and Vietnam totalling £490,000. Bangladesh was allocated £139,000 for an emergency preparedness programme underlying Ireland's commitment to disaster preparedness initiatives. Other grants were paid to Iraq, Lebanon and a programme dealing with refugees on the Thai-Burmese border.
East Timor is a priority for Ireland Aid assistance with an aid liaison office established in Dili in November 2000 and a total of £1.5 million being provided this year. For 2000 a total of £3,734,481 was provided in emergency and recovery assistance in Asia. East Timor was the biggest recipient of this assistance, receiving £1.27 million. Other programmes to receive humanitarian and recovery funding during 2000 were in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Mongolia, Palestine, Tajikistan, Thai-Burmese border and West Timor.
Co-funding of NGOs and missionaries in Asia during 2000, amounted to £2,054,005. Provisional figures for 2001 indicate an increase in that amount. In 2000, the human rights and democratisation scheme supported six projects in the following countries: Bangladesh; Burma; East Timor; and India. The full cost of these projects amounted to £141,015 with an increased amount anticipated this year.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:190 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the Government contributes to Latin America in terms of overseas development aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24338/01]
Since the beginning of 2000, a total of £5.9 million has been provided by Ireland Aid in overseas development assistance to Latin America. This assistance is made up of emergency aid, rehabilitation assistance, co-financing for NGOs and missionary orders and support for human rights and democratisation programmes.
In 2000, emergency relief and recovery assistance totalling £1,377,659 was granted to the region. This included £150,015 granted to the Organisation of American States for a programme that reduces the vulnerability of poor rural communities in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala to flooding. Emergency assistance was provided for Belize and Venezuela. Following the £1 million in rehabilitation assistance directed at Central America in 1999 to assist recovery from Hurricane Mitch, a further £796,000 was provided for ongoing and vital recovery programmes.
So far this year a total of £1.4 million in humanitarian assistance has been granted to Latin America. This consists of emergency relief and recovery assistance to Colombia, El Salvador and Peru. A contribution of £100,000 was also made to the International Federation of the Red Cross pan-American disaster response unit. A total of £2,325,886 has been allocated to NGOs and missionary orders in Latin America in the last two years in the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Paraguay.
In 2000 a total of 14 projects were funded through the human rights and democratisation scheme in Latin America. These projects amounted to £563,828 and reached communities in Peru, Columbia, Haiti, Guatemala, Brazil and the Dominican Republic. To date in 2001 Ireland Aid has provided funding for five projects in Latin America. The total amount contributed to these projects in Columbia, Honduras, and Guatemala is £224,496.
The £5.9 million provided by the Government in support of the vulnerable populations in Latin America during 2000-2001 represents a substantial humanitarian commitment which will continue to be reflected in the Ireland Aid programme.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:191 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number and location of countries in Africa to which the Government contributes under the bilateral and multilateral overseas development aid programme; if it is intended to review these programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24339/01]
The main focus of Ireland Aid's bilateral programme is on six so-called priority countries in Africa – Lesotho, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Ethiopia – where in 2001 Ireland will spend £89 million on a range of programmes aimed at poverty reduction through addressing basic needs. There are also smaller programmes in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The basic needs on which Ireland Aid concentrates include primary health care, including fighting the pandemic of HIV-AIDS, primary education, water and sanitation, labour-based dirt roads, the development of good governance and respect for rights. Poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa is also a major focus for the multilateral organisations to which Ireland Aid contributes. These include the EU and UN development agencies like the UN Development Programme – UNDP, UN High Commission for Refugees – UNHCR and UNAIDS.
The whole Ireland Aid programme of assistance to poorer countries is being reviewed arising from the Government's decision in September last year to increase the allocation for development co-operation year on year so as to reach the UN target for such aid of 0.7% of GNP by 2007. That review is expected to conclude in the near future.