Ms Emily Wigens:

I thank the members and the secretariat for the opportunity to speak, and to Dóchas for bringing us together. As others have said, the mid-term revision of the EU budget sends a damaging signal to the EU's international partners about where the European Union's priorities are. Our view at the One Campaign is that the bloc's ability to lead globally rests on whether or not it has the resources and, crucially, the credibility to shape how the world responds to global challenges. It is our view that the mid-term revision risks leaving the EU with neither of those things. What is particularly troubling is that this comes at a time when poverty in Africa is worsening for the first time in a generation. The World Bank recently published estimates to the effect that it anticipates one in four developing countries being poorer this year than was the case at the beginning of the pandemic. That is coupled with the fact that the share of the EU's development assistance to Africa is at its lowest historical level at approximately 20.5% of the EU's overall development budget. This is really a vital moment for the EU to rethink its approach as we head into negotiations on the next seven-year budget.

Others have already spoken of the scale of the challenge as being staggering. I will add one reflection from analysis the One Campaign recently carried out, which is that this year alone the global south will send back $50 billion dollars more in debt repayments than it receives in loans or grants. The money is flowing in the wrong direction. I also want to highlight that Europe needs Africa as much as Africa needs Europe. Europe is facing a range of complex global challenges, which it cannot solve alone. Looking just at population projections, Africa has a vibrant youth population and will add almost 800 million people to the workforce by 2050. That is compared with Europe, where our populations are ageing and our workforces will decline over the same period. It is similar if you look at the potential of renewable energy sources. Africa has 60% of the world's solar potential, but just one 1% of the constructed capacity. We really need EU investments in people and climate to be consistent in order to ensure that we are able to maximise Africa's potential and strengthen our relationships there to make sure we can work together to tackle issues like climate change or pandemic preparedness for the benefit of citizens on both continents.

I will now speak to what Ireland's role could be in all of this. Ireland has a credible voice in Brussels. Not only is it increasing its ODA budget, it also has the reputation for being forward looking and not inward looking. That makes Ireland an important champion and voice on development in the Brussels context. With the significant convening power it has, one of the most effective things that could happen ahead of Ireland's 2026 Presidency is to build a coalition of the willing to defend development and international climate action in the negotiations on the next long-term budget. As others have stated, it is also about increasing the focus on low-income and fragile contexts where grant financing is essential and badly needed, as well ensuring a sustained focus on human development, which is to say education and health investment. This group could operate like a friends of cohesion group, or the frugal countries that band together and flex their collective muscles in budget negotiations. It could perhaps be a friends of global Europe that would align strongly behind the need for the next budget to have a long-term outlook and use this group's collective influence to press all 27 member states on the need for EU investment to demonstrate to partners that the EU is a reliable partner, and that even in challenging times it will prioritise investment in shared challenges and not only its own interest. What is most vital is that we are working together to encourage our leaders to take a long-term view on the investment potential in Africa and in Europe's influence internationally.