THE GOVERNMENT remains committed to the UN target of allocating 0.7 per cent of national income to overseas development by 2012, Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power insisted yesterday, but he acknowledged that may change before the end of the year.
In July the McCarthy report recommended that the target be pushed back three years to 2015. Aid agencies are concerned the Government’s commitment to the original target is wavering.
“We’re still working towards that target of 2012. It’s an incredibly ambitious target . . . it was obviously made at a time when we did not envisage the crisis that we face at the moment,” Mr Power said. “Without a doubt the current economic climate does make it more difficult to reach that target, but we won’t be able to reach a judgment on that until later this year.”
Mr Power was speaking at the launch of the 2008 annual report for Irish Aid, the Government’s overseas development programme. The report details Irish Aid’s work in its nine programme countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and in priority areas including Gaza, the West Bank and Central Asia. It pays attention to Ireland’s contribution to the fight against global hunger.
“Even before the onset of the international economic crisis, it was clear that the world was facing a hunger crisis, destroying the lives of many of the poorest people and communities,” Mr Power said. “Aid budgets internationally are now under pressure, including our own, but we remain determined to focus our efforts more effectively on this most basic of issues.”
Aid spending last year reached a high of €920 million, but this has since been reduced by almost a quarter. Mr Power said the decision to cut the overseas development assistance (ODA) budget by some €222 million was “difficult and painful” but he argued it had to be done to help restore the State’s public finances, and provide a foundation for future expansion of the aid programme.
“This week alone we will borrow €480 million to pay for doctors, nurses and gardaí on the streets,” he said. “In 10 days’ time we will have borrowed the equivalent of the entire amount we spend on overseas aid.
“We have a responsibility as a Government to make sure our finances are sustainable, without which we couldn’t continue with overseas aid in the future.”
Mr Power noted that despite this year’s cuts, Ireland still ranks as the sixth largest donor in the world in per capita terms. The OECD earlier this year described Ireland as a “champion” at making aid more effective.
“We have refocused our programme on eradicating hunger and poverty and are committed to making our aid even more effective. Ireland’s engagement in overseas development is as strong as ever,” Mr Power said.
“Last year, Irish Aid supported 13 million Ethiopians at risk of hunger, and supplied fertilisers and seeds to more than 1.5 million families in Malawi to allow them to escape from hunger and poverty . . . These are just some of the real and tangible achievements of Ireland’s aid programme.”