Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Dóchas is the Irish association of non-governmental development organisations. Its mission is to enable international development and humanitarian organisations in Ireland to achieve greater impact in their work by working together. The Tánaiste and I met Dóchas and the CEOs of key Irish international NGOs on 22 February 2023. I was keen to meet with these stakeholders as a group as early as possible in my new role and had earlier held bilateral meetings with each of the CEOs who were at that meeting. The OECD has commended Ireland on the quality of our partnerships with NGOs, calling it the hallmark of our development co-operation. The Irish international NGO sector has a strong international reputation. Irish NGOs carry out important work supporting development and delivering humanitarian assistance and protection. They are well-placed to ensure aid reaches those to whom it is intended and are very well informed of the realities on the ground. I was personally very pleased to visit Zambia over the Easter break and see this happening on the ground and the impact they were having on family lives. At the meeting with Dóchas, the Tánaiste and I discussed a wide range of issues, including the global humanitarian system, the importance of gender equality and how we can effectively reach those who are furthest behind. The increasing number of humanitarian crises was noted as presenting a risk to hard-won development gains and shrinking civil society space was highlighted as a significant challenge by the NGOs. The sector acknowledged Ireland’s agility as a development partner, especially during the Covid-19 crisis. We expressed our appreciation for the impressive work carried out by the Irish international NGOs in the context of increased conflict, climate change, extreme violence against women and girls, and growing inequality. We also acknowledged the valuable information which the sector shared with us during our term on the UN Security Council. The Tánaiste and I will continue to meet with the sector on a regular basis.

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