Dan Boyle
Ceist:239 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the assistance which has been given from the overseas development aid budget towards the charity Bóthar. [16927/03]
Written Answers. - Overseas Development Aid.
Bóthar has received co-financing support from the Government's official development assistance budget for its food and livelihood security projects in the developing world since 1996. In the period 1996 to date, Bóthar has been granted a total of approximately €468,000 towards the costs of projects in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Albania. In addition to this, Bóthar received a grant of IR£3,000 in 1998 from the National Council for Development Education towards the cost of its work in raising awareness of development issues in Irish schools.
Dan Boyle
Ceist:240 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the level of assistance that has been given to recent victims of flooding in Sri Lanka. [16928/03]
Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Kitt): Following the recent flooding in Sri Lanka, the International Federation of the Red Cross issued an emergency appeal for funding to assist up to 700,000 victims of the floods. This appeal included essential relief items such as food, non-food, clothing, and health needs, with a particular emphasis on water and sanitation requirements for a six month period. The Government approved funding of €150,000 to the IFRC appeal on the 26 May 2003.
The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, SLRCS, was quickly mobilised in the aftermath of the disaster. They were involved in activities which included distribution of relief items, transportation-evacuation, search and rescue, first aid and education on water borne diseases. The SLRCS is part of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC, and the federation has mobilised international emergency response units with specialised knowledge in disaster management.
The IFRC is a valued partner of Ireland Aid, the Government's official programme of development co-operation. The IFRC's rapid response to the disaster in Sri Lanka emphasises, once again, the importance played by local organisations in responding immediately to local emergencies. Experience has taught us that many of the lives saved in the immediate aftermath of a disaster are saved by the local communities themselves and their organisations and agencies. International assistance is also vital, but there is an increasing emphasis now being placed on building local capacity for disaster preparedness.
Ireland Aid has embarked on a strategic partnership with the IFRC designed,inter alia, to assist in building the capacity of local Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Africa to build their disaster response capability. An initial amount of €750,000 has been made available to the IFRC for this purpose.
Dan Boyle
Ceist:241 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the merit of Ireland following the US example of establishing a separate budget heading for HIV-AIDS education in developing world countries. [16929/03]
The Government recognises that HIV-AIDS is a major public health and development challenge in poorer countries which are recipients of development assistance and that progress in poverty reduction in these countries cannot be made in the absence of an urgent, resourced and sustained response to HIV-AIDS. A growing aid budget has facilitated substantial increases in the volume of financial resources allocated by Ireland Aid to programmes which respond to the HIV-AIDS pandemic.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV-AIDS in 2001, the Taoiseach emphasised the importance of political leadership, improved co-ordination and more financial resources in combatting the HIV-AIDS pandemic. He announced that additional resources of $30 million would be spent each year within the Ireland Aid programme as part of the Government's response to this crisis.
In line with this commitment, some €30.5 million will be set aside in 2003 for a dedicated HIV-AIDS budget line under subhead B of my Department's Vote for International Co-operation. In addition, funds are available for HIV-AIDS-related activities under a variety of other budget lines across the Vote, bringing total expenditure on the sector to more than €50 million in 2003.
HIV-AIDS represents a core focus of our aid programme. The approach taken by Ireland Aid to the issue is guided by the Government's strategy document, "An HIV-AIDS Strategy for the Ireland Aid Programme", published in 2000. Individual HIV-AIDS strategies, furthermore, have been approved for each programme country benefiting from Ireland Aid support. In addition, funding is also allocated through UN agencies, NGOs and bilaterally in our programme countries.
Support for education and raising awareness of HIV-AIDS is, and will continue to be, an integral component of the approach under the Ireland Aid programme. The approach within the programme countries is to support ministries of education at central and district levels to mainstream their approach. This encompasses the inclusion of HIV-AIDS as part of the teacher training curriculum and also ensuring that education material is available to pupils in schools. A particular focus within the education sector is the education of girls regarding HIV-AIDS transmission as they are more vulnerable to HIV-AIDS and in many instances become the carers for those who become ill with the disease.
Ireland is also a member of the inter-agency task team on education, IATTE, which promotes a more co-ordinated approach to dealing with HIV-AIDS within the education sector. We will host a meeting of the IATTE in November. The IATTE have also held a number of regional workshops in Africa to enable education officials to share experiences across the countries and to plan a more comprehensive response.
We need to retain a flexible and holistic approach to the HIV-AIDS crisis which will focus on all factors, including education. Against the backdrop of the integrated approach and the priority accorded to education within our HIV-AIDS strategy, the establishment of a separate budget heading for HIV-AIDS education is not considered necessary.
Dan Boyle
Ceist:242 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his estimate of the point in the future Ireland will attain the UN overseas development aid target of 0.7% of GDP. [16930/03]
The programme for Government states that the UN target of 0.7% of GNP for overseas aid will be achieved by the end of 2007.
Pursuant to this commitment, total official development assistance, ODA, has increased from €320 million, or 0.33% of GNP, in 2001 to an expected €450 million, or 0.41% of GNP, in 2003. This is our highest ever level of spending on development co-operation.