Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 17 Dec 2002

Vol. 559 No. 5

Written Answers. - Human Rights Abuses.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

170 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he proposes any initiatives to address the ongoing strife and humanitarian abuses in various locations throughout Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26793/02]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen)

Conflict prevention and the alleviation of humanitarian crises in Africa are foreign policy priorities. During its two-year period of membership of the UN Security Council, Ireland has contributed actively to efforts to resolve conflicts in many regions of Africa, including the Great Lakes region – Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, the Horn of Africa – Ethiopia-Eritrea and Somalia, the Mano River Union region of West Africa – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and Angola. Significant progress has been made towards securing peace in many of these countries. The wars in Sierra Leone, Angola and Ethiopia and Eritrea are over, the belligerents in the DRC have just reached an agreement to form a transitional Government, one of the major rebel groups in Burundi recently signed a ceasefire agreement with the Government and the Somali factions are currently engaged in peace negotiations in Kenya.

During our period of membership, Ireland took part in Security Council missions to the Great Lakes region and to Ethiopia and Eritrea. We have contributed financially to the Ethiopia-Eritrea boundary commission, the Sierra Leone special court and the truth and reconciliation commission set up to ensure that there is no impunity for crimes committed during the decade-long civil war. We have also contributed to the inter-Congolese dialogue in the DRC and, most recently, to the UN trust fund for peace building in Somalia.

Ireland also works to resolve conflicts and alleviate humanitarian suffering in Africa through our membership of the European Union and, bilaterally, through the Ireland Aid programme. The European Union is, in most cases, the biggest financial contributor to peace processes in Africa, especially in regard to the inter-Congolese dialogue in the DRC and to efforts by the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, to resolve the conflict which has recently erupted in Côte d'Ivoire. The EU also uses the instruments available through its common foreign and security policy such as Council declarations and common positions to attempt to positively influence circumstances in conflict countries in Africa.

The European Union is a major contributor to efforts to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of people affected by disasters in Africa. This year, both the European Union and Ireland Aid have placed a particular emphasis on the food shortages affecting six southern African countries, including Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and on the emerging food crisis in Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 2002 alone, Ireland Aid has delivered almost €9 million in emergency humanitarian relief for southern Africa and over €7 million for the Horn of Africa. In our contributions to efforts by the Security Council and by the EU to resolve crises in Africa, Ireland has consistently sought to maintain a focus on the need to tackle the human rights abuses and humanitarian emergencies that so often accompany these conflicts. We will continue to maintain that foreign policy emphasis in the lead-up to our EU Council Presidency in 2004.