Ivor Callely
Ceist:56 Mr. Callely asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give details of Ireland's overseas development aid and projects in the years 1993 and 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Overseas Development Aid.
Ireland's expenditure on overseas development assistance amounted to £53.5 million in 1993 which was equivalent to 0.19 per cent of GNP. Expenditure in 1994 is expected to amount to £70 million which will be equivalent to 0.24 per cent of forecast GNP. Details of the distribution of ODA are set out in the attached table. In 1993 approximately 66 per cent of ODA came from the Vote for International Co-operation and in 1994 it will be around 73 per cent. ODA also includes expenditure from Central Funds and from Votes of other Departments.
Of the total of £53.5 million devoted to ODA in 1993, £27 million went to Multilateral Assistance and £26.5 million to the bilateral assistance programme. In 1994, Multilateral Assistance accounted for £30.3 million and Bilateral Assistance for £39.9 million.
Ireland's bilateral aid programme, concentrates on six priority countries; Lesotho, Tanzania, Zambia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. Ethiopia and Uganda were added to the list of priority countries in 1994. The programmes cover such diverse activities as rural development, agriculture, forestry, income generation, institution building and the provision of basic needs such as water, sanitation, primary health care and primary education. Individual project details are available in the report, "Ireland's Official Development Assistance" which is published annually by my Department.
Ivor Callely
Ceist:58 Mr. Callely asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the total amount of emergency funding given through UNICEF for specific projects over the past 24 months; if he will give a breakdown of the projects; the success of the projects; and an up to date progress report on each project.
The Government has allocated a total of £437,500 from the Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Fund to UNICEF since May 1992: £152,500 in 1992, £235,000 in 1993 and £50,000 to date in 1994. A more detailed breakdown of the emergency projects funded over this period of 24 months is set out below.
In September 1992 £100,000 was allocated to UNICEF Ireland to assist an emergency feeding programme with malnourished children in Somalia. In December 1992 £52,500 was given to UNICEF's emergency programme in Mozambique, and their emergency health and nutrition programme in Iraq.
In April 1993 £100,000 was given to UNICEF health, nutrition and water project as part of Operation LIFELINE Sudan (OLS). In December 1993 a further £95,000 was disbursed to UNICEF for a primary health care and vaccination programme for refugee children in the former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia — as part of the ECU 300,000 pledged at the European Council at Edinburgh in December 1992 — and £40,000 was given to assist the UNICEF emergency programme for displaced children in Armenia.
In March 1994, the Government allocated £50,000 to UNICEF Ireland to assist their ongoing health and nutrition relief programme in Southern Sudan in the context of the United Nations Operation LIFELINE Sudan (OLS).
The Government does not require UNICEF to submit specific progress reports of the emergency projects which we part-fund with other donor countries. UNICEF submit general reports of their global operations and we are confident that the emergency assistance channelled to UNICEF in both Africa and the former Yugoslavia Republics has reached children in need.