I propose to take Questions Nos. 140, 147 and 155 together.
As Minister of State with responsibility for Ireland’s Official Development Assistance, I am very conscious of the need to have a high level of assurance that our development assistance is fully accountable and that it makes a real difference to the lives of the world’s poorest people, reaches those most in need and without interference.
All proposals for funding are rigorously appraised by Irish Aid staff using clear criteria, including quality of intended impact, sustainability, cost effectiveness and efficiency in the use of resources. All partners in receipt of Irish Aid funds are obliged to report regularly on the results being achieved. The programmes are subject to regular internal and external monitoring and are evaluated and audited by independent experts, as well as by my Department’s Evaluation and Audit Unit.
The top ten poorest countries in the world are in Africa. The UN Human Development Index classifies Niger as the poorest, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Guinea and Burundi. In an effort to help the continent to confront these far-reaching challenges, we allocate some 80% of Ireland’s development assistance to Africa.
The international community’s efforts to address global poverty in a comprehensive and coordinated way are encapsulated in the focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals, established in 2000 have set clear targets to be reached by 2015. Overall there has been good progress to date, although there are significant gaps in certain countries and in some of the social sectors. There is now a real push globally to make further progress by 2015 and to look beyond that timeframe to replace the MDGs with a new and updated vision for development.
The commitment and dedication of Irish aid workers is well known and greatly respected, both in Ireland and around the world. They bring technical excellence and solid experience in their field, which enables them to meet the needs of local communities in often demanding environments.
The engagement of Irish citizens includes a wide range of groups from Missionaries and NGOs, to personnel within UN and other international organisations, the Defence Forces and an Garda Síochána as well as from my own Department. The skills that our aid workers bring to Africa and the programmes in which they work reflect the needs and demands of the host countries.
In recent years, the aid community has had to face, in particular, the growing problem of insecurity, especially in humanitarian contexts. Irish-based aid NGOs have not been immune to such difficulties, operating as they do in some of the most volatile and insecure environments in the world.
Against this challenging backdrop, my Department developed guidelines this year on NGO Professional Safety and Security risk Management. The guidelines were designed to help our NGO partners fulfill both their legal obligations as employers and their duty of care responsibilities towards their own staff, especially through an enhanced implementation of their own existing governance processes.
