The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s overseas aid programme, which is at the heart of our foreign policy. “One World, One Future” our policy on International Development, sets out our vision for a sustainable and just world, and reaffirms our commitment to the UN target of providing 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) in Official Development Assistance (ODA), and to making further progress on it when economic circumstances permit.
The latest statistics published by the OECD show that five of the 28 international donor countries (Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the UK) met or exceeded the target last year. Ireland was ranked 11th in the OECD table, in percentage terms, having provided 0.39% of GNP for ODA in 2014.
A summary of Ireland’s total volumes of ODA, together with the percentage of GNP for the years 2011 through to 2014 is set out in tabular form below.
|
Year
|
Total ODA
|
ODA as a % of GNP
|
Ireland‘s position within the OECD Development Assistance Committee donor Group of 28 States, for ODA as % of GNP
|
|
2014
|
614.86
|
0.39%
|
11th Place
|
|
2013
|
637.09
|
0.46%
|
9TH Place
|
|
2012
|
628.90
|
0.47%
|
8tH Place
|
|
2011
|
657.04
|
0.50%
|
8TH Place
|
At the end of September, world leaders will meet in New York at a United Nations Summit to adopt a new framework for global development, to succeed the Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000. The agenda, including a new set of Sustainable Development Goals, will frame global policy up to 2030, and will aim to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in a single generation. I will lead the Irish delegation to the International Conference on Financing for Development next week, which will focus on the resourcing and implementation of the new development agenda.
Ireland was honoured to be asked to co-facilitate the intergovernmental negotiations at the UN to finalise the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, and the Goals, which will be universally applicable to all countries. We look forward to participating at the highest level in all aspects of the Summit in New York from 25 to 27 September.
