David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of the overseas development aid budget for 2010 being spent on the three priority areas identified by the hunger task force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46647/09]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 78 together.

The Government is committed to giving effect to the recommendations of the Report of the Hunger Task Force, which it commissioned and which was launched by the Taoiseach at the United Nations in New York in September 2008 in the presence of the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon. In particular, we are concentrating on the three specific thematic areas identified in the report, namely:

· Supporting smallholder agricultural productivity in Africa;

· Targeting maternal and infant under-nutrition; and

· Promoting greater international leadership and action in tackling global hunger.

By addressing these three priorities I am confident that we will make an effective contribution to reducing world hunger, and I am very happy to report that we are making good progress in this respect.

We are currently allocating significant resources to the fight against global hunger by supporting programmes and projects which directly or indirectly address hunger reduction. In particular, we have undertaken to direct up to 20 percent of our Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) spending to hunger-related actions by the end of 2012, and we are well on track to meeting this target, even in the current challenging budgetary situation. A reorientation of the aid programme is underway and will continue in the years ahead as we focus increasingly on hunger reduction and associated sectors across our aid programme and as we appraise programmes through a "hunger lens". We will of course ensure that our hunger actions are well coordinated with other key priorities such as the fight against HIV/AIDS and the promotion of good governance and access to education and health.

A Hunger Unit is established within the Department and has been tasked with the coordination of Irish Aid's response to the key recommendations of the Task Force. In addition, the Special Envoy for Hunger, Mr. Kevin Farrell, is reviewing Irish Aid programming and advising on how Irish-funded programmes can achieve their full potential in reducing hunger. We are determined to make a difference on the ground in reducing hunger and we continue to advocate for sustained action by the international community to eradicate this scourge once and for all.