Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2015
902. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans and objectives for the United Nations Financing for Development, Third International Conference to be held in Ethiopia on 13 to 16 July 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21914/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra2015 is a crucial year for international development. We are preparing for three interlinked international conferences: in Addis in July on financing for development, in New York in September on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals and in Paris in December on a new climate treaty. The outcome of Addis will be essential for success in the subsequent conferences. Ireland is playing a strong international role in the overall process to agree a new framework for global development to follow on from the Millennium Development Goals, post-2015.
The contours of a successful agreement at Addis will need to be broad if they are to support the new set of Sustainable Development Goals to be adopted at the major Summit at the UN in New York. Official Development Assistance (ODA) will be a vitally important element of the package, but agreement will also be needed on a much wider range of resources for development. It will be important to ensure that all countries contribute on an equitable basis and that the Conference can agree on measures to unlock all available sources of financing for development. These will need to include domestic resource mobilisation, the most rapidly growing component of development finance over the last decade, as well as ways of involving the private sector as inclusive partners in development and recognising the importance of science and technology.
While ODA will not be the sole focus of negotiations at Addis, it remains particularly important for the fight to end poverty in the Least Developed Countries, including many African countries and fragile states, countries which are the focus of Ireland’s aid programme. The Government remains firmly committed to reaching the 0.7% target and to making further progress towards it as our economic recovery consolidates. At the meeting of EU Development Ministers at the Foreign Affairs Council which I attended in Brussels on 26 May, agreement was reached to reconfirm the EU’s collective commitment to reaching the 0.7% target within the timeframe of the post 2015 agenda. We also agreed on the need to direct more aid to the Least Developed Countries, and especially to the poorest African countries. Ireland is a world leader in the proportion of our aid which we provide to the poorest countries.
I look forward to attending the Conference in Addis Ababa and to working with our EU and UN partners to secure an inclusive agreement that will support the new, transformative Sustainable Development Goals.
