Dan Neville
Ceist:186 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has considered the Dóchas report seeking the prioritising of human security during Ireland's EU Presidency. [21118/03]
Written Answers. - EU Presidency.
My Department enjoys a close relationship with Dóchas, the umbrella body for nongovernmental development organisations in Ireland. Dóchas has established an EU Presidency working group which is co-ordinating the priorities of the NGO community for the Presidency. As part of our preparations for Ireland's forthcoming Presidency of the EU, the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, has had a number of meetings with Dóchas representatives to discuss our priorities on the EU development agenda. I wish to acknowledge the constructive contribution of Dóchas in these discussions. We will continue to consult with Dóchas both before and during the Presidency.
The Dóchas report which the Deputy refers to calls upon the Government to prioritise human security during Ireland's EU Presidency. Specifically, Dóchas has highlighted human rights, trade, aid, participation and HIV/AIDS as dimensions of human security requiring EU action. Ireland is an active member of the human security network, a group of developed and developing countries dedicated to the promotion of the concept of human security in international relations. The elements that make up the concept of human security – the promotion of human rights, the advancement of human safety and the protection of human lives – are among the guiding principles of Irish foreign policy. The most recent meeting of the network which Ireland attended took place during the UN General Assembly in New York last week.
We are, therefore, sympathetic and receptive to many of the human security related suggestions made in the Dóchas report. On HIV/AIDS, for example, we will convene a high level international ministerial meeting in February 2004 on the issue of HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia. The conference will examine how the 53 countries concerned can work together in the fight against the disease in our region. In the area of conflict prevention the Irish EU Presidency, in co-operation with the European Centre for Conflict Prevention, will hold a major conference in Dublin to examine the contribution of NGOs and civil society in this area. This conference will bring NGOs from across Europe to Dublin. It will be an important contribution to a global conference on NGOs and conflict prevention which the UN will convene in 2005.
On trade issues, Ireland, together with our EU partners and the European Commission, will stress the importance of a successful and balanced outcome to the Doha round of trade negotiations. Our Presidency will have to take account of the failure of the WTO ministerial meeting at Cancún, and of developments at the WTO between now and December 2003. We will work to maintain an open and constructive dialogue with all of the stakeholders in the WTO negotiations with a view to putting the talks back on track.
In June 2001 the General Affairs and External Relations Council affirmed its commitment to "mainstreaming" human rights and democratisation objectives into all aspects of the EU's internal and external policies. In this way, the EU seeks to contribute to the promotion of the international trend towards integrating the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law into development co-operation, trade policies as well as the promotion of peace and security. Ireland will speak on behalf of the EU at the UN Commission on Human Rights which will hold its annual session in Geneva in April 2004. This will be a major opportunity to promote the EU's views and policies on human rights in a key international forum. The human security issues identified by Dóchas will, therefore, be an integral part of many of our EU Presidency activities. My Department looks forward to continued close co-operation with Dóchas in dealing with the key issues of human security on the EU's agenda.