Emer Higgins
Question:453. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the way that the Irish embassy in South Africa is delivering the Irish Aid programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13368/21]
View answerWednesday, 10 March 2021
Questions (453)
Written answers
The Government’s policy for international development, ‘A Better World’, launched in February 2019, commits to scaling Ireland’s investment across four policy priorities: gender equality; reducing humanitarian need; climate action and strengthening governance.
This policy was complemented, in November 2019, by the Government’s Strategy for Africa to 2025, which builds on Ireland’s long history of engagement in the continent and commits to working with African countries in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on reaching those furthest behind first. In May 2020, an OECD review recognised the excellence of Irish Aid, Ireland’s international development programme, which helps Ireland play a leading role advocating for poverty reduction, channelling our assistance to where it is needed most.
Ireland’s Embassy in South Africa manages the delivery of Irish Aid programmes in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the southern Africa sub-region. Ireland has been engaged in development cooperation with South Africa since the country’s transition to democracy in 1994, and with Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. Irish Aid programmes focus on education, maternal and child health, human rights and accountability, and tackling Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Since 2020, the Embassy and its partners have also been working to address the impacts of Covid-19.
Gender equality is at the centre of the full range of the Embassy’s work. Addressing harmful gender norms, violence, and promoting women’s participation in society are core elements of Irish Aid’s work, which comprises two streams: at national level, supports to UN and civil society partners aim to influence policy and national processes which address gender equality. At community level, direct interventions support women and children affected by violence and work with men and boys to reduce the incidence of violence.
In South Africa, where GBV is endemic, Ireland has supported the development and roll-out of a National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. The Embassy’s work also supports research and community-level engagement with men and boys to encourage behaviour change. In Zimbabwe, the Embassy has worked with UNFPA to lobby for the review of laws and policies to prevent child marriage, and to hold perpetrators of intimate partner violence to account, while civil society organisations supported by the Embassy run shelters and provide access to essential services for survivors of GBV. At regional level, the Embassy supports UN Women’s multi-country office for South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, and Namibia, to implement the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Framework for Action on GBV.
In South Africa, the Embassy’s flagship education programme is the Kader Asmal Fellowship Programme, named in honour of the late Professor Kader Asmal who taught at Trinity College Dublin, co-founded the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, and was part of the team that negotiated South Africa’s transition to democracy. Through this programme, Ireland supports students from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Lesotho to study at Master’s degree level in Ireland in strategically important disciplines. 81 Fellowships have been awarded since the programme commenced in 2013, and 14 South Africans were offered fellowships for the 2020/21 academic year.