Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
52 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the amount of aid given by Ireland to Malawi in 2010 and 2011; what the money was spent on; the way it was spent; if it was audited and the results that were obtained. [17655/12]
View answer53 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the amount of aid given to Uganda in 2010 and 2011; what the money was spent on; the way it was spent; if it was audited and the results that were obtained. [17657/12]
View answer54 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there are any concerns regarding the use of Irish aid in Malawi or Uganda. [17656/12]
View answer55 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is considering any changes in Irish aid policy towards Malawi or Uganda in view of the concerns regarding the use and destination of that aid and in view of changes by other countries in similar payments to Malawi and Uganda. [17658/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 52 to 55, inclusive, together.
Uganda and Malawi are two of the nine priority countries for the Government's aid programme, where we have a commitment to long term strategic assistance. They are among the poorest countries in the world, both ranked in the bottom 10% in the 2011 United Nations Human Development Index.
Irish Aid has been working in Uganda since 1994 and has made a significant contribution to the development and the fight against poverty and hunger. Despite economic progress in recent years, Uganda remains an extremely poor country struggling with chronic poverty. In 2010 and 2011, the budget for Ireland's bilateral aid programme to Uganda was €33.25 million annually. The programme targets priority areas such as the provision of health services for people living with HIV and AIDS, measures to improve access to education, and a programme that is helping to strengthen Governance and Justice Systems for the citizens of Uganda. The strategy also addresses hunger and vulnerability in Karamoja, the most disadvantaged region of Uganda and a priority area for our bilateral support.
Ireland's programme in Uganda has achieved important results across a range of sectors. Irish Aid has, for example, strongly supported the national education programme which now has 8.3 million pupils in primary schools compared to 2.5 million in 1997. Irish Aid has also helped to rehabilitate and build eleven primary schools and two teacher training colleges in Karamoja. With Ireland's support, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Uganda has been cut to 6.4% compared to 18% in the 1990s and 150,000 people with HIV and AIDS in Uganda are now accessing life saving anti-retroviral drugs.
In addition to funds provided through our bilateral programme in Uganda, Irish Aid support is also channelled through Irish NGOs and missionaries. In 2011, NGOs received over €6.2 million for long-term development work in Uganda, and almost €1 million was provided to missionaries for their work.
Malawi was officially designated the ninth Programme Country for Ireland's aid programme in 2007. The country suffered two major famines in the last decade and over half of the population live below the national poverty line.
The focus of our programme in Malawi is on hunger and nutrition, and food security. It concentrates on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable communities. Support is provided for the improvement of crop productivity and sustainable farming practices, and to improve nutrition especially among women and children, enhance household resilience to the impacts of climate change and strengthen democratic accountability.
Funding for the programme in Malawi amounted to €10.4 million in 2010 and €11.5 million in 2011. In addition to this bilateral programme, Irish Aid provided €4.7 million in 2010 and €3.7 million in 2011 to NGOs and missionary groups for their development work in Malawi.
I visited Malawi in February and saw at first hand the contribution Ireland is making in improving the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable communities. For instance, I saw that our support of the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme has provided subsidised seeds and fertiliser to 1.4 million poor farmers. This has resulted in the production of a significant national maize surplus in 2010 and 2011 and a dramatic reduction in the number of families who do not have enough food. I also saw how Irish Aid's partnership with the NGO, Concern Universal, has helped 135,000 people in two districts to access nutritious food, reduce malaria and improve access to anti-retroviral treatment for HIV infection. I was pleased to see that this effective programme is now being successfully rolled out across other districts.
It is important to note that in both Uganda and Malawi, Ireland uses defined instruments of support earmarked for specific development initiatives. The aid programmes are implemented in cooperation with a range of different partners including international and local NGOs, research institutions and Government bodies. Irish Aid has rigorous planning, monitoring, evaluation and audit mechanisms in place. This ensures that all funds are spent effectively and are used for the purposes intended. Regular and robust audits are carried out by independent audit firms as well as by Irish Aid's Evaluation and Audit Unit, including internal auditors based in Uganda and Malawi.
Improving governance, supporting human rights, reducing corruption and building democracy and accountability are integral to Ireland's development aid programme and to our engagement with Government and local authorities. At every appropriate opportunity, at political level and through our Embassies on the ground, we raise our concerns with the authorities. Most recently, while in Malawi, I raised our concerns about the treatment of civil society and opposition party leaders and I underlined to the Government of Malawi the importance of adhering to international principles. Since then, the Government has expressed our condolences on the death of President Mutharika, and welcomed the peaceful, constitutional transition of power, with the appointment of President Joyce Banda. The approach of the new President, in the early days of her new administration, gives grounds for hope that issues we, other aid donors and civil society organisations have been raising will be addressed in a positive manner in the period ahead.
In Uganda, our Embassy has also consistently raised at the highest level our concerns in relation to a number of issues, including the proposed anti-homosexuality Bill currently pending in the Ugandan Parliament. We have emphasised that this issue has the potential to undermine Uganda's human rights reputation both domestically and internationally.
Ireland's development aid programmes operate in some of the most difficult environments in the world, but I am satisfied that the planning, monitoring, evaluating and audit systems which we have in place provide the best assurance that our aid is being used effectively and efficiently and is making a real difference for the peoples of Uganda and Malawi.
