Donal Carey
Ceist:6 Mr. D. Carey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government has reduced State aid to the Rwandan Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8872/99]
Written Answers. - Overseas Development Aid.
Michael Creed
Ceist:62 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason his Department reduced its foreign aid to the Rwandan Government in 1998; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8105/99]
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Andrews): I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 62 together.
Rwanda, one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is recovering from an officially-orchestrated genocide in 1994 which killed between 500,000 and 800,000 people. The ensuing conflict and chaos resulted in a massive displacement of people both internally and to neighbouring countries. The Irish Government and people responded very generously to the suffering of the Rwandan people and official and very practical expression was given to this outpouring of sympathy by three visits undertaken by the President to Rwanda.
Following this immediate and much needed humanitarian assistance phase, the focus of our efforts, together with those of other members of the international community, is now on trying to establish the necessary conditions for peace, stability and development based on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. This is in line with EU policy which supports the process undertaken by the Rwandan Government to recover from genocide, promote national reconciliation and reconstruction and transition to democracy. Important elements in this process are the strengthening of civil society and the rehabilitation of the institutions of government so that they are fair, inclusive and responsive to all sectors of this very divided society. The overall aim is to address the complex internal situation in Rwanda with a view to creating the necessary conditions for lasting stability at both national and regional level.
Annual assistance levels for Rwanda are determined by needs on the ground and Irish aid funding priorities, the number and quality of projects received, the capacity of implementing partners on the ground, and the needs of the population as a whole. Irish assistance is targeted at the most vulnerable. Survival is a priority and our programme of assistance continues to focus, in the first instance, on meeting basic needs in the areas of shelter, food security and primary health care. However, Rwanda needs to be assisted to assume these and other tasks of government itself and Ireland, with other donors and the UN agencies, has provided assistance for clearly identified activities of the Rwandan Government in the areas of justice, housing and health.
Assistance to the Rwandan Government in 1997 reflected the demands placed on it by the return of approximately 1.4 million Rwandan refugees from Tanzania and the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Grants were made to the Ministries of Family, Health, and Interior to support the resettlement and reintegration of the returnees, the construction of housing, the training of trauma counsellors and the extension of counselling services. There was not the same need for support of this kind in 1998.
The bulk of Irish assistance is channelled through the Irish NGOs, Concern and Trócaire, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Development Programme and UNICEF. A number of the international agencies contribute via the UNDP trust fund to Rwandan Government programmes and cooperate with them in rebuilding institutions and civil society. Given that we do not have resident representation in Rwanda, it makes administrative sense to work as much as possible through implementing agencies located there.
Monitoring and assessment teams from the Department of Foreign Affairs travel at least twice yearly to Rwanda to monitor existing projects and assess future needs. In addition, the chargé d'affaires in Uganda, who is accredited to Rwanda, visits Rwanda regularly.