Madam, - I have recently returned from Mozambique where the presidential elections were held freely and fairly. This means economic and social reforms can continue to take place in a stable political climate. The Irish Government's largest donor aid programme is in Mozambique, where €116 million is being allocated between 2004 and 2006. This amounts to €1 milllion every 10 days. Some €26 million is going to combat AIDS under a framework agreement signed between the Irish Government and the Clinton Foundation in the summer of 2003.
Irish development aid money is helping to provide medical treatment to over 4,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers in Maputo alone. It is an objective of the Irish Government to be in a position to provide treatments to help over 100,000 aids sufferers in Mozambique in the coming years.
The European Parliament delegation monitoring these elections officially met former US president Jimmy Carter, who was in Mozambique.
The fact that the Carter Foundation, the European Union and the United Nations were monitoring these elections is testament to their importance for the future of the people living in Mozambique and for regional stability in the southern continent of Africa. - Yours, etc.,
EOIN RYAN, TD, MEP,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.