Ireland:Members of an umbrella group representing most of Ireland's leading aid agencies will today discuss challenges faced by the Government's overseas development programme a year after the publication of a White Paper outlining its strategies for the future.
Those attending the meeting called by Dochas, which represents 37 development organisations, will discuss their response toinitiatives recently launched by Irish Aid, the Department of Foreign Affairs' overseas development division.
These include the setting up of an Inter-Departmental Committee on Development and the launch of a Hunger Task Force.
The taskforce, which met for the first time last week, draws on Irish and international expertise to identify how Ireland can contribute to efforts to tackle the root causes of food scarcity, particularly in Africa. Dochas members are also expected to discuss the contours of a management review initially recommended in the White Paper.
The scale of Irish Aid's programme and the challenges it faces, "justify a fundamental review of [ its] systems, structures and procedures" the paper advised.
A consultancy firm was recently charged with carrying out the review of Irish Aid's current and future staffing and management needs. Its recommendations are expected in December.
Hans Zomer, director of Dochas, said the issues discussed at today's meeting will be presented to the Government later this month, when the umbrella group makes its formal submissions on Irish Aid's strategy.
A particular focus, he said, will be on the need for a coherent cross-government approach to overseas development.
Following lobbying from NGOs on this issue, the Government set up the Inter-Departmental Committee on Development earlier this year.
"By publishing the White Paper, the Government acknowledged the huge public pressure to deliver more and better aid. In our submissions, we will be calling on the Government to follow through on this positive step, and invest in the mechanisms that are needed to ensure that aid from Ireland can grow without losing its high quality, and without being undermined by other areas of Government policy," Mr Zomer said.
"You cannot double the aid budget in five years without investing in the expertise to administer it, and you cannot allow trade rules, agricultural subsidies or EU fisheries policies to undo the good work that is being undertaken - and that is making a real difference in the lives of the poorest of the poor."