Written answers

Thursday, 21 September 2017

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Photo of Maureen O'SullivanMaureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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31. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to provide funding for UNFPA supplies in budget 2018 in view of the global contraceptive funding gap and Ireland's commitment to the 2030 agenda and the sustainable development goals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39823/17]

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Hundreds of thousands of women and girls die each year in developing countries from complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Improved maternal and reproductive health, including access to contraception, is an important focus of our aid programme and is critical to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.There is an important link between Ireland's support for improved maternal and reproductive health in developing countries and improved education outcomes for girls, also an important priority of Ireland's aid programme.

The UNFPA is one of Ireland’s longstanding UN partners, and the agency’s work is closely aligned with many of the priority areas identified in Ireland’s Policy for International Development ‘One World, One Future’. Ireland values the partnership with the UNFPA. We provide significant core funding to the agency, which amounted to €2.8 million both this year and last. Core funding allows UNFPA to respond to the most important needs as they arise. In addition to core funding, we provide funding in our partner countries for specific programmes to improve maternal and reproductive health. This amounted to over €1.5 million in 2016.My officials attended the UNFPA Executive Board meeting in New York earlier this month, and we will be considering our indicative budget for 2018 shortly.

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