Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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134. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of funding provided for youth programmes through Irish Aid in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49464/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Irish Aid works on behalf of the Irish people to address poverty and hunger in some of the poorest countries in the world. Support to children and young people is an integral part of Irish Aid’s focus, and is mainstreamed especially through our health and education programmes.

Support to our hunger programmes, which accounts for twenty per cent of the Overseas Development Assistance budget, includes targeting of maternal and child nutrition and child mortality. Addressing gender based violence, including against young women is also an area of particular concern of our aid programme. Ireland also contributes to the UN Children’s Organisation UNICEF which has as its core mandate supporting the children of the world. Given the wide range of supports targeted both directly and indirectly at young people across a very diverse range of Irish Aid programmes and funding streams, including NGOs and organizations assisting young people, it is not possible to give a precise figure for this expenditure in 2013. A full list of the projects and programmes supported by Irish Aid is given in the Annual Reports which are available on line and in hard copy.

Irish Aid’s Development Education Strategy (2007-2015) specifically sets out our continued commitment to supporting development education in the youth sector in Ireland. A budget of €3 million was made available in 2013 for development education activities in Ireland. As part of this funding, Irish Aid provides support to a range of programmes in Ireland that target young people, both in the formal setting of schools, as well as the more informal environment of clubs and youth organisations. The overall aim of these programmes is to deepen the understanding of young people and build the capacity of their educators on issues related to global poverty and development.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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139. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the international community continue to monitor and assist the various locations throughout Africa which continue to suffer from human rights abuse, war, famine and genocide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49534/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Ireland, along with our EU Partners, pursues a strategic and comprehensive approach to countries in Africa suffering the consequences of conflict or natural disaster. This approach encompasses political and diplomatic engagement, development cooperation programming, humanitarian assistance, and support for peacekeeping operations.

The progress in African countries, particularly those emerging from conflict, and the approach the EU should take to promote peace and security and development, is discussed at the EU Foreign Affairs Council. The Tánaiste participated in a discussion on the latest developments in some of Africa's most troubled regions -the Great Lakes, Somalia and Mali - at the Foreign Affairs Council in July.

The EU is the largest donor to African countries providing approximately €21 billion in assistance annually, while Ireland channels some 80% of its development assistance to Africa. Together with other donor countries, we have worked particularly closely with the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to put in place new systems to improve the way in which aid is delivered and to ensure that coordination on the ground is improved through enhanced monitoring systems. The EU, and Ireland as a bilateral donor, also provide very significant humanitarian support across Africa, in close cooperation with regional bodies, including the African Union.

Significant progress has been made on regional security with the support of EU Common Security and Defence Policy missions. Somalia is a good example of the EU’s Comprehensive Approach in action, with the Horn of Africa Strategy acting within the wider framework for EU action in Africa. One element of this approach is Operation Atalanta, the EU’s first CSDP Maritime Mission which aims to protect World Food Program and merchant shipping transiting the Gulf of Aden against piracy. Another element is the EU’s Military Training Mission which has been training Somali soldiers since 2010, and which is currently led by an Irish Mission Commander, Brigadier General Gerald Aherne. Last year a civilian maritime capacity building mission, EUCAP NESTOR, was launched, which is mandated to enhance the capacities of five countries in the Horn of Africa to tackle maritime security issues, including piracy. An initiative proposed by Ireland on enhancing the EU’s contribution to UN peacekeeping was further strengthened during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU earlier this year. Ireland has and will continue to deploy personnel to civilian and military EU and UN missions.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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140. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps that have been taken to ensure that international aid reaches those for whom it was intended throughout the African continent with particular reference to countries in respect of which difficulties have arisen in this regard in the past; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49535/13]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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147. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the countries worldwide now deemed to be the top ten world’s poorest countries; the extent to which the international community continues to engage in a coordinated effort to address the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49542/13]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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155. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which Irish aid workers continue to be allowed to engage in their work without interference at local level throughout the African continent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49550/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 140, 147 and 155 together.

As Minister of State with responsibility for Ireland’s Official Development Assistance, I am very conscious of the need to have a high level of assurance that our development assistance is fully accountable and that it makes a real difference to the lives of the world’s poorest people, reaches those most in need and without interference.

All proposals for funding are rigorously appraised by Irish Aid staff using clear criteria, including quality of intended impact, sustainability, cost effectiveness and efficiency in the use of resources. All partners in receipt of Irish Aid funds are obliged to report regularly on the results being achieved. The programmes are subject to regular internal and external monitoring and are evaluated and audited by independent experts, as well as by my Department’s Evaluation and Audit Unit.

The top ten poorest countries in the world are in Africa. The UN Human Development Index classifies Niger as the poorest, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Guinea and Burundi. In an effort to help the continent to confront these far-reaching challenges, we allocate some 80% of Ireland’s development assistance to Africa.

The international community’s efforts to address global poverty in a comprehensive and coordinated way are encapsulated in the focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals, established in 2000 have set clear targets to be reached by 2015. Overall there has been good progress to date, although there are significant gaps in certain countries and in some of the social sectors. There is now a real push globally to make further progress by 2015 and to look beyond that timeframe to replace the MDGs with a new and updated vision for development.

The commitment and dedication of Irish aid workers is well known and greatly respected, both in Ireland and around the world. They bring technical excellence and solid experience in their field, which enables them to meet the needs of local communities in often demanding environments.

The engagement of Irish citizens includes a wide range of groups from Missionaries and NGOs, to personnel within UN and other international organisations, the Defence Forces and an Garda Síochána as well as from my own Department. The skills that our aid workers bring to Africa and the programmes in which they work reflect the needs and demands of the host countries.

In recent years, the aid community has had to face, in particular, the growing problem of insecurity, especially in humanitarian contexts. Irish-based aid NGOs have not been immune to such difficulties, operating as they do in some of the most volatile and insecure environments in the world.

Against this challenging backdrop, my Department developed guidelines this year on NGO Professional Safety and Security risk Management. The guidelines were designed to help our NGO partners fulfill both their legal obligations as employers and their duty of care responsibilities towards their own staff, especially through an enhanced implementation of their own existing governance processes.