Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 248: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress he has made towards millennium development goal 5b, specifically with regards to the adolescent birth rate indicator; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30639/10]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will support the need to address the specific sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents as distinct from the health needs of children as set out in millennium development goal indicator 4.4 at the ten year review of the millennium development goals in New York in September 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30640/10]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 250: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the outcome of the latest meeting with the United Nations Population Fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30641/10]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 254: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights in achieving the millennium development goals will be reflected in Ireland's official statement at the forthcoming UN summit in September; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30692/10]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 248, 249, 250 and 254 together.

The achievement of universal access to reproductive health is one of the objectives of the Programme of Action agreed at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994. It is also an objective of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000. Specifically, the fifth of the eight MDGs is to reduce the maternal mortality rate by 75% and achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

The 2010 Report on progress towards the MDGs, which was launched recently by the UN Secretary General, notes that some progress has been achieved in reducing maternal mortality, with significant progress in a number of countries. However, the rate of reduction is still short of the progress needed if the MDG target is to be met. Fewer than half the women giving birth in Sub-Saharan Africa are attended by skilled health personnel. Poor women, especially in rural communities, face particular challenges in accessing antenatal care. The Report also notes that poverty and lack of education continue to contribute to high adolescent birth rates in poor countries. It recognises the link between slow progress on the achievement of universal access to reproductive health care and low levels of empowerment of women and lack of access by girls to secondary education.

The fourth of the MDGs is to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds by 2015. The UN Report notes that significant progress has been made in this regard. Globally, the number of children dying before their fifth birthday fell from 12.5 million in 1990 to 8.8 million in 2008. However, many regions will still not achieve the MDG target. Sub-Saharan Africa, the geographic focus of the Irish Aid programme, accounted for half the deaths of children under five in 2008. Ireland prioritises the most common childhood illnesses including malaria and HIV and AIDS in our health strategies under the aid programme. The UN Report also notes that one in every four children in the developing world is still underweight. Ireland is taking a lead internationally on the fight against world hunger. A core element of our programme is an emphasis on maternal and child nutrition.

Through Irish Aid, the Government is working in close cooperation with a number of key UN agencies to address maternal health issues in developing countries. The implementation of the Cairo Programme of Action forms part of the core mandate of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In recognition of the UNFPA's mandate, the Government has provided significant levels of funding to the agency, amounting to €26.5 million over the past six years.

Ireland is playing an important role in the preparations for the UN Summit to review progress on the MDGs in New York in September. The Government has been actively engaged at the UN and with our EU partners to ensure that, working together, developed and developing countries can maintain their commitments to the world's poorest people in the face of increased global challenges and continuing international economic difficulty. We are working to ensure there is a strong focus on the MDGs and the regions which have made least progress over the past ten years, including hunger and maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ireland has made a specific contribution in recent months to preparations for the review of progress on MDG 5. We organised a high level panel discussion on maternal mortality at the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN in New York in March. Discussions focused on defining a number of key actions for policy makers in advance of the Summit, including calling on Governments to integrate family planning and sexual and reproductive health into primary health care services.

In April, I met with the Executive Director of UNFPA during a visit to New York to prepare for the Review Summit. I highlighted the need to focus on those MDGs and regions making the least progress. On maternal mortality I referred to recent research which suggested that mortality rates were dropping significantly in areas where effective, targeted actions were being taken. The Executive Director agreed this was a direct result of the three key interventions promoted by UNFPA: access to family planning, skilled attendance at birth and provision of emergency obstetric care. We also discussed the impact of population growth on development, UN reform and funding levels.

Ireland was also represented at the annual Executive Board meeting of the UNFPA in Geneva from 21 to 23 June. Ireland's national statement highlighted our priorities for the MDG Summit, introduced the outcome of the event on Maternal Mortality which we organised in March and commended UNFPA for its positive role in efforts to reform the coordination mechanisms of the UN at national level.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 251: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he was represented, and in what capacity, at the 2010 UN Commission on the Status of Women; if there is a report available on his Department's participation in the delegation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30675/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW54), which took place in New York from 1-12 March 2010, was also the occasion of a fifteen year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Adopted in 1995, the Beijing Platform for Action is an agenda for women's empowerment which aims to ensure equality of access of women to their human rights and to remove all obstacles to women's active participation in public and private life.

The Irish delegation was led my colleague, John Moloney T.D., the then Minister of State for Equality, Disability and Mental Health. The delegation also included officials from the then Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, officials from this Department and representatives of civil society organisations. Minister of State Moloney addressed the High Level Plenary of CSW54 on 5 March 2010, setting out developments in Irish policy on gender equality in the context of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

By way of reporting on Ireland's participation, the Irish delegation played an active role at CSW54. A number of resolutions were adopted at the session, including on eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, women's economic empowerment, ending female genital mutilation and the impact of HIV and AIDS on women and girls. Members of the Irish delegation were actively involved in the negotiations on the various resolutions, including through coordinated action with our EU partners.

The delegation also organised a well-attended High Level side event on the theme "Maternal Mortality: Overcoming Barriers and Accelerating Progress to Achieve MDG5". Ireland's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Anne Anderson, chaired the panel discussion, which saw contributions from Minister of State Moloney, Mrs Mary Robinson, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer, Minister for Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs of Sierra Leone, Dr Soccoh Alex Kabia and Tanzanian MP, Ms Gertrude Mongella. An outcome document from the side event has been circulated to interested parties to inform Ireland's preparations for the MDG review summit on 20-22 September 2010, with a particular focus on MDG 5 on improving maternal health. Ireland also co-sponsored UNAID's High Level side event to launch the "Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV".

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 252: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the details of the way in which Irish aid to Uganda is being used to assist refugees and internally displaced persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30689/10]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Uganda is one of nine priority countries for the Government's overseas development assistance programme. It is one of the poorest in the world, ranking 157th out of 182 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index. The 2010 budget allocation provided for the Uganda country programme administered by Irish Aid is €33.25 million. In addition, the Government channels funding to Uganda through NGOs, missionaries and civil society organisations and through the provision of humanitarian aid.

Uganda is recognised internationally for its generosity in hosting refugees from neighbouring countries. Insecurity in the region has led to large influxes of refugees. It is estimated that there are currently some 130,000 refugees in Uganda. The recent conflict in Northern Uganda has also resulted in a large number of internally displaced people who are resident in camps and transit sites in the country. Ireland, through the Irish Aid Country Strategy Plan 2010-2014, is supporting the Ugandan Government's Peace, Recovery and Development Programme for Northern Uganda. This programme is aimed at rebuilding communities and revitalising the economy in the region after decades of conflict. The emphasis in the programme is initially on the provision of essential basic services and infrastructure, including schools, clinics, roads and water supply. Irish Aid has allocated over €22 million for this programme over the next five years.

The Government has also provided some €1million in humanitarian assistance to Northern Uganda since 2009. This aid is channelled through Irish, international and local NGOs, including Trócaire, Goal, World Vision and Oxfam, and through UN agencies. It is focused on assisting internally displaced people, with a particular emphasis on helping people return to their homes. Irish Aid is also currently supporting the work of two Irish United Nations Volunteers working with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to promote the protection of the human rights of internally displaced persons in Northern Uganda. €75,000 has been allocated to support these two assignments in 2010.

Uganda's refugees are largely from conflicts in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Rwanda. A programme of assistance to refuges was launched jointly by the UNHCR and the Government of Uganda in 2004. This programme has been extended for the period 2009-2013. Ireland supports the programme through its core support to the UNHCR. In 2010, the Government allocated €6 million to UNHCR. In addition, through an agreement with the UNHCR, 71 Sudanese refugees in Uganda were identified for resettlement in Ireland in 2008.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the details of the way in which Irish aid to Ethiopia is being used to assist refugees and internally displaced persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30690/10]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Ethiopia is ranked 171st out of 182 countries on the UN Human Development Index. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and a priority country for the Government's development assistance programme, where we have a commitment to long term strategic assistance. The 2010 budget allocation for the Ethiopia country programme is €26.05 million, with additional funding channelled through NGOs, missionaries and civil society organisations and through the provision of humanitarian aid.

Ethiopia is located in a politically fragile region. In recent years, tensions in the Horn of Africa have led many thousands of people to seek refuge in Ethiopia, arriving principally from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan. It is estimated that there are some 110,000 refugees in the country at present. The Government of Ethiopia and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) work closely in providing protection and services for this particularly vulnerable group of people.

The Government of Ireland supports this work through our core funding for the UNHCR. This gives UNHCR the flexibility to decide how best to use the resources available on the basis of need. Through Irish Aid, the Government is providing €6 million in core funding to UNHCR this year. In addition Irish Aid is supporting the work of four Irish United Nations Volunteers in Ethiopia who are working with refugees. The four volunteers work with UNHCR in Addis Ababa and in the Somali Region of Ethiopia focusing on the provision of community services for refugees. This year, €145,000 has been allocated to support these assignments.

In addition, since 2008 Ireland has provided more than €5.7 million in funding for humanitarian relief projects in Ethiopia being implemented by NGOs partners Concern, Goal, Trócaire and UN agencies. Five members of the Irish Aid Rapid Response Corps were also deployed during 2008 and 2009 to assist UN agencies and Concern in their humanitarian efforts.