Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 November 2013
134. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of funding provided for youth programmes through Irish Aid in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49464/13]
View answerIrish Aid works on behalf of the Irish people to address poverty and hunger in some of the poorest countries in the world. Support to children and young people is an integral part of Irish Aid’s focus, and is mainstreamed especially through our health and education programmes.
Support to our hunger programmes, which accounts for twenty per cent of the Overseas Development Assistance budget, includes targeting of maternal and child nutrition and child mortality. Addressing gender based violence, including against young women is also an area of particular concern of our aid programme. Ireland also contributes to the UN Children’s Organisation UNICEF which has as its core mandate supporting the children of the world. Given the wide range of supports targeted both directly and indirectly at young people across a very diverse range of Irish Aid programmes and funding streams, including NGOs and organizations assisting young people, it is not possible to give a precise figure for this expenditure in 2013. A full list of the projects and programmes supported by Irish Aid is given in the Annual Reports which are available on line and in hard copy.
Irish Aid’s Development Education Strategy (2007-2015) specifically sets out our continued commitment to supporting development education in the youth sector in Ireland. A budget of €3 million was made available in 2013 for development education activities in Ireland. As part of this funding, Irish Aid provides support to a range of programmes in Ireland that target young people, both in the formal setting of schools, as well as the more informal environment of clubs and youth organisations. The overall aim of these programmes is to deepen the understanding of young people and build the capacity of their educators on issues related to global poverty and development.
