Emer Higgins
Question:17. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the funding provided by his Department in 2021 to civil society organisations working in the area of overseas development aid. [3637/22]
View answerThursday, 27 January 2022
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Both Ireland’s Foreign Policy for a Changing World, Global Island, and ' Ireland's Strategy for Africa to 2022 acknowledge the importance of sustaining the work of civil society organisations and the vital role they play in building peaceful, inclusive and prosperous societies.
In addition, A Better World, Ireland's policy for international development published in 2019, recognises the importance of civil society in supporting development, human rights and in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and protection. It reiterates Ireland’s strong commitment to supporting and protecting civil society space. It also commits to strengthening collaboration with Irish civil society partners on public engagement and outreach.
My Department publishes a report annually on Ireland's Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme, known as Irish Aid, and these are available on the website. The reports include statistical information on programme expenditure showing the distribution of aid, including the total amounts given to civil society organisations.
With regard to figures for 2021, validation of data on Ireland’s ODA programme is done in arrears. Prior to publication, draft statistical returns are shared with the relevant OECD Development Assistance Committee experts for assurance that Ireland's reported spending meets the internationally accepted criteria of what can be counted as ODA. This assurance is important to maintaining Ireland's reputation as a quality donor. The 2021 Report will be published later this year.
Ireland is amongst the OECD donors which provide the greatest percentage of bilateral assistance to civil society organisations, typically around double the OECD average. The 2020 OECD DAC Peer Review of Ireland found that “Ireland’s partnerships with civil society are particularly strong and are characterised by mutual trust, quality funding based on clear criteria and an open culture for substantive, regular dialogue”. It also found that Ireland is a global leader in promoting civil society space and that our partnerships with civil society are a hallmark of our development co-operation.