Ahern pledges four-fold increase in Irish aid

Ireland's aid to the underdeveloped world is likely to quadruple to over £800 million following a commitment given by the Taoiseach…

Ireland's aid to the underdeveloped world is likely to quadruple to over £800 million following a commitment given by the Taoiseach to the United Nations yesterday, a Government spokesman has said.

Addressing the Millennium Summit of world leaders, Mr Ahern pledged that Irish aid would reach the level set out by the UN within seven years.

"I wish in this forum publicly to make a commitment to fully meeting the United Nations target of spending 0.7 per cent of Gross National Product on Official Development Assistance," Mr Ahern said. "We are putting in place an interim target for the expansion of the programme by the end of 2002 of 0.45 per cent of GNP and we will reach the UN target by the end of 2007."

Successive governments have been lobbied by voluntary aid organisations and others to meet the UN target. "This is now going to happen," a Government spokesman said. He said the current aid budget would increase from £198 million to "over £800 million" by 2007.

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The Taoiseach told the UN gathering: "We will, however, maintain a clear focus on poverty alleviation and our policies will reflect the essential link between human rights and human development. We will particularly work to expand access to primary education, tackle the AIDS epidemic and improve the position of some of the world's most vulnerable groups."

The statistics of poverty and inequality in the world were "shocking and shameful", with over a billion people struggling on less than $1 per day. "Ireland's current prosperity places a particular responsibility on our shoulders. One hundred and fifty years ago we were a country ravaged by famine. When we joined the United Nations in 1955, we were markedly poorer than most of our European neighbours. Today, we are one of the fastest growing economies in the world."

On the subject of UN renewal, he said that, although Ireland was "deeply committed" to the international body, this week's summit should go beyond re statements of commitment.

"This must be a summit of plain speaking and precise objectives," he said. There was a new focus on the organisation's fundamental tasks of "dealing with war and dealing with want".

"There was much talk some years ago of a `new world order'. A new order is indeed dawning. The capacity of globalisation to transform our economies and societies is enormous. But, unless shaped by a value system, globalisation will mean an ever more lopsided world. The level playing field will remain an illusion as long as a majority of players are ill-fed, ill-trained and ill-equipped.

"Perhaps the phrase `fair world order' better sums up what we should strive for. It recognises that we live in a society, not a market place. It admits of concepts of justice and human solidarity. It acknowledges that, while not everyone will live in the same way, we are all entitled to dignity and decency."

The Security Council must become more representative: "Ireland wants to play its full part in this exercise of renewal. That is why, for only the third time ever and for the first time in 20 years, we are seeking a seat on the Security Council in next month's elections. Never has there been a more critical and challenging time to be a Security Council member. But we believe that our experience and our commitment fit us to rise to the challenge."

Ireland had taken a consistent position over four decades in support of nuclear disarmament but was "deeply concerned" that opportunities in the aftermath of the Cold War were not being fully grasped.