Written answers

Wednesday, 2 February 2005

Department of Foreign Affairs

Humanitarian Assistance

9:00 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views as to how best to co-ordinate and deliver famine or disaster relief; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3147/05]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 247: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, at EU or UN level, he has voiced opinions on the best way in which the logistics of disaster relief can be delivered expeditiously; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3149/05]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views as to how best to combat starvation and war in Africa, through the EU or UN; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3151/05]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 251: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the ten most serious starvation or war-torn trouble spots; and his views as to how best to assist. [3186/05]

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 245, 247, 249 and 251 together.

The effective co-ordination of humanitarian relief is a key objective for all donors and organisations involved in responding to emergencies. Poor co-ordination can lead to duplication of effort, waste of scarce resources, poor identification of the most vulnerable and can ultimately cost lives.

Ireland is actively engaged in actions designed to improve global co-ordination of emergency relief. Ireland fully participates in the Good Humanitarian Donorship, GHD, initiative. The GHD agenda is improved delivery of humanitarian aid through a series of actions that donors can take to strengthen and enhance their emergency response. One of these actions is better co-ordination. The optimal way to assist co-ordination is to support the central role of the United Nations. For its part, the Government has appointed former Minister of State, Mr. Chris Flood, the current chairman of the Advisory Board for Development Co-operation Ireland, as a special envoy to the tsunami-affected region to monitor Irish funding allocated in response to this disaster, including how aid is being co-ordinated. He will track the use of Ireland's funds and ensure that these are employed in line with best international practice.

The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNOCHA, has the responsibility to co-ordinate humanitarian action in emergencies. UNOCHA is playing a key role in co-ordination in the region affected by the tsunami. The agency is also playing a vital role in Sudan and other parts of Africa. Ireland supports UNOCHA through direct assistance to its operations. Ireland also funds the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination, UNDAC, teams, which are available to be deployed to emergencies at short notice.

The EU also has an important role to play in effective humanitarian response. The EU is the largest donor of development assistance in the world and through ECHO, the humanitarian aid service of the EU, plays an important role in emergency assistance. The recent tragic events in south Asia have focused the EU on the need for an even more co-ordinated and effective response to this type of emergency. As early as this week EU Foreign Ministers adopted a plan of action designed to improve the EU's capacity to respond to the tsunami and similar emergencies. Ireland fully supports this plan which will help save lives and rebuild livelihoods.

Ireland's programme of development co-operation has sub-Saharan Africa as its core focus. Most of the humanitarian emergencies in the world still occur there. Humanitarian situations in countries such as Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Eritrea pose enormous challenges both to their Governments and international aid donors. These situations need to be resolved if the populations concerned are to progress towards the achievement of the millennium development goals by 2015.

In the longer term, Ireland's development programme tackles the structural reasons underlying endemic poverty. One of the main ways in which this is pursued is through our strong development partnerships with six countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Through these partnerships, Ireland fully engages with Governments, local communities, donors, EU and UN agencies on the basis of poverty reduction strategy plans, PRSPs, which prioritise a country's resources and expenditures to reduce poverty and also to foster a culture of respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The challenges are enormous. However, through the range of initiatives being pursued in the humanitarian and development spheres, I am confident that we are making progress in addressing the needs of vulnerable communities in some of the poorest countries in the world.

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