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Foreign Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 March 2021

Wednesday, 10 March 2021

Questions (460)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Question:

460. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his plans to deepen Ireland’s engagement with francophone nations in Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13466/21]

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Written answers

In line with commitments made in the Global Ireland: Ireland's Strategy for Africa to 2025, Ireland is committed to strengthening political dialogue, development cooperation, and trade and investment relationships with the African continent. That Strategy signals the Sahel and francophone West Africa for intensified engagement.

Notwithstanding the challenges posed by COVID-19, that intensification of engagement has begun.

As part of our deepened engagement with francophone Africa, in 2019 Ireland joined the Organisation International de la Francophonie (OIF) as an observer member, and appointed an additional diplomatic officer to Embassy Paris to support enhanced political engagement with francophone African states. In 2020, Ireland formally became a member of the African Development Bank, headquartered in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

A Special Envoy has been appointed for francophone Africa and the Sahel for the duration of our Security Council membership, who engages with a wide range of actors and represents Ireland at key engagements, as well as in the EU network of Special Envoys for the Sahel.

Ireland has participated in the recently established Coalition for the Sahel, including at Ministerial level, while also joining, as an observer, the Sahel Alliance, an international donor coordination platform for development and humanitarian assistance efforts in the region.

This engagement builds upon Ireland's longstanding contribution to peace and security efforts in the region, including the presence of Defence Forces personnel in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the EU Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali), as well as a civilian expert to EUCAP Sahel Niger.

As members of the United Nations Security Council, Ireland works closely with francophone African States, particularly with Niger as co-penholders on the file of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and as co-chairs of the Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security at the UN Security Council.

Between 2014-2020, Ireland, through the Irish Aid programme, provided over €43 million in humanitarian and development assistance to francophone States in the Sahel. Ireland has also provided over €23 million since 2017 in support of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic.

Ireland’s existing engagement and capacities to date provide a strong base from which to deepen our diplomatic and other relations with the countries of West Africa, including opening two Embassies in the region by 2025, a commitment in the Africa Strategy, and which would complement the planned opening of an Embassy in Morocco later this year.

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