Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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A Better World, the Government's policy for international development, establishes gender equality as a policy priority.

Ireland is consistently among those OECD countries with the highest annual proportion of official development assistance (ODA) invested in gender equality measures. The 2019 annual report on Government of Ireland ODA had a particular focus on the wider Irish Aid support for gender equality, while in 2020, approximately €290 million of Ireland’s bilateral allocable aid contributed to gender equality.

In 2021, my Department, through the Irish Aid programme, committed to provide approximately €15 million annually to address GBV in emergencies and Female Genital Mutilation, beginning this year. This built on the €10 million Irish Aid invested during 2020 on specific actions to mitigate or prevent gender-based violence, or in support of those who have suffered from GBV. Among the key Irish Aid partnerships Ireland's long-standing partnership with the International Rescue Committee supports their work to prevent and respond to GBV, with a commitment of €1.8 million in funding for 2022. It is planned to increase this to reach an annual budget of €3m by 2024.

The Department is a member of the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence, an Irish based alliance of International human rights, humanitarian and development organisations, including International NGO’s, Irish Aid and the Defence Forces. Amongst other things, the Consortium facilitates advocacy and lesson-sharing, as well as developing the capacity of Irish NGOs to respond to GBV. My Department provides €70,000 annually to enable the work of the Consortium.

Multilateral efforts are an essential component of our work to prevent and respond to GBV. This includes Irish Aid funding of €250,000 in 2021 to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, supporting efforts to address GBV at grassroots level in over 80 countries. My Department will double this support to €500,000 in 2022.

Irish Aid provides €3.5 million per year to UNFPA (the UN Population Fund). UNFPA’s core mandate includes the objective of addressing GBV in development and humanitarian settings, through its provision of sexual and reproductive health services, and through explicit efforts to address harmful practices such as genital mutilation and child marriage.

Over 20% of Ireland's ODA funding goes through EU channels, where Ireland is a strong advocate for coordinated work to reduce sexual and gender-based violence. European initiatives on this matter include the global Spotlight Initiative, launched in 2017 with funding of €500 million, and a high-level partnership with the UN to highlight gender equality and women’s empowerment as a driver for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The table below sets out funding from headquarters departments to international initiatives and partners. It does not include Ireland’s share of EU funding, nor does it include funding through bilateral missions overseas or Irish NGOs. The final outturn for 2021 Irish Aid expenditure on GBV and other gender equality measures is currently being calculated against agreed OECD markers, with the full expenditure profile to be published in the 2021 annual report on Government of Ireland ODA.

The table below sets out Irish Aid funding to specific international initiatives and partners during 2021 and projected funding for 2022. It does not include Ireland’s share of EU funding, nor does it include relevant 2021 funding through bilateral missions overseas or Irish NGOs, which is currently being calculated.