Millennium a suitable time for renewed commitment to developing world - Burton

Ireland's relationship with the developing world needed to be examined and consolidated in preparation for the next Millennium, said Minister of State Joan Burton TD, at a seminar she hosted to launch a consultation process with NGOs, aid workers and others interested in the developing world.

The Minister said that the best Millennium present for the developing world would be additional debt relief for the poorest countries and the reversal of the present trend towards reductions in overall aid budgets. Ireland will take a leading role within the EU and the UN institutions to support these aims. Developing countries, for their part, would be able to use the resources which were formerly used for servicing debt for investment in health, sanitation and education. There would be a new type of "structural adjustment" where the developing countries would reduce their spending in armaments and increase their social spending.

Ireland's own ODA programme should continue to be expanded. The average increase over the past four years was 25% per annum. A continuation of this level of increase would bring Irish Aid to just over £200m in the year 2000.

The hallmarks of Ireland's relationship with the developing world in the year 2000 should be:

- an expanding aid programme with multi-annual funding for the bilateral programme;

- a commitment to the eradication of poverty in the developing world in tandem with a similar commitment at home;

- a commitment to developing the skills and abilities of people in the developing world.

The primary focus of Irish Aid would continue to be sub-Saharan Africa - the poorest region of the world. Ireland would continue to support Irish people working in the developing world where their skills were required, and demand for such skilled people was at an all-time high. This support would be accompanied by a policy of ensuring that there would be local counterparts trained and local capacity developed. The relationship should be one of solidarity and partnership in the implementation of progressive and humane social policies.Top