Irish Aid is the Government of Ireland’s programme of assistance to developing countries.
Ireland has had an official development assistance programme since 1974. It has grown steadily over the years from modest beginnings to its current size (total ODA in 2010 is estimated to be €671.4 million).
Ireland’s development cooperation policy is an integral part of Ireland’s wider foreign policy. Our aid philosophy is rooted in our foreign policy, in particular its objectives of peace and justice. Our development cooperation policy and programme reflect our longstanding commitment to human rights and fairness in international relations and are inseparable from Irish foreign policy as a whole.
Responsibility for Irish foreign policy, including assistance to developing countries (Irish Aid) lies in the first instance with the Minister for Foreign Affairs. However, particular responsibility for policy on Overseas Development Assistance is assigned to the Minister of State for Overseas Development at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Peter Power, T.D. The Development Cooperation Directorate, a Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs, is responsible for administering the Irish Aid programme. It also has a coordinating role in relation to Overseas Development Assistance by other Government Departments.
Key Principles of Irish Aid
• Poverty Focus
The Irish Aid programme has as its absolute priority the reduction of poverty, inequality and exclusion in developing countries. The reduction of poverty is a complex, challenging and controversial matter, requiring a strategic, multi-faceted and sophisticated approach. Anti-poverty strategies should seek to break the vicious circle of poverty through support for sustainable indigenous development. All of Irish Aid's policies and activities must be gauged against their contribution in this respect and against the progress they achieve towards the development targets set by the international community.
Irish Aid works in cooperation with governments in other countries, other donors, NGOs and international organisations as part of the global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. These targets, agreed by the UN at a series of international summit meetings, identify some of the main causes of extreme poverty in today’s world and underpin the poverty reduction policies and activities of Irish Aid. The Millennium Development Goals require the international community to:
• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
• Achieve universal primary education;
• Promote gender equality and empower women;
• Reduce child mortality;
• Improve maternal health;
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
• Ensure environmental sustainability;
• Develop a global partnership for development.
The Millennium Development Goals, and the specific targets set to enable their achievement to be measured, provide the context in which Irish Aid priority sectors are decided. These include education, health, agriculture and food security, water and sanitation, infrastructure and roads, trade, and good governance. Each sector represents a means of addressing a core cause of poverty; however, as the causes of poverty are interwoven to such a degree that one cannot be tackled in isolation from the others, a comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach is crucial, if a real and sustainable reduction in poverty is to be effected. Recognising this, Irish Aid's programme incorporates cross-sectoral strategies on gender, governance, HIV/AIDS, and the environment into all of its development activities.
• Geographic Focus
Since its inception in 1974, the Irish Aid programme has had a strong geographic focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 80% of Ireland’s Overseas Development Aid goes to Africa. Under the bilateral part of its programme, Irish Aid operates intensive and wide-ranging country programmes in six countries in Africa, namely Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Uganda. Malawi will become Ireland’s seventh programme country in Africa.
Timor-Leste and Vietnam, both in Asia, are Ireland’s remaining programme countries.
• Untied Aid
Irish Aid's programme has always been completely untied, that is to say, it is not conditional in any way on the use of Irish goods or services. It is Government policy that Irish Aid’s funding should remain untied, as it takes the view that tied aid is less effective in its impact, leads to a proliferation of different standards and technologies in developing countries and can be abused to provide hidden export subsidies.
• Partnership
Irish Aid works in close partnership with recipient countries, with other donors and multilateral organisations and with non-governmental organisations and missionaries. Partnership with the recipient countries is vital if the beneficiaries of Irish Aid programmes are to have ownership of their own development. Partnership with the Programme Countries is built on a structured framework for co-operation which sets out the responsibilities of both sides and facilitates regular, open dialogue and allows the recipient country to lead in the formulation of development strategies. This allows local capacity to be built or strengthened and sustainable progress to be achieved.
Irish Aid also works closely with the donor community. Donor coordination is an increasingly important part of the international development effort and offers Irish Aid the benefits of shared information, analysis and experience with other donors, and the opportunity to maximise the impact of the programme.
Coordination with international organisations such as the World Bank, IMF and the UN Funds and Programmes is important to Irish Aid as a means of enhancing the value of the programme. The EU is a critical partner for Irish Aid in maximising the effectiveness of its development assistance.
Irish Aid has a constructive partnership with NGOs and missionaries in many areas of development work and in its emergency and recovery work. A more systematic and structured working relationship is evolving with the introduction of the MAPS programme, the Missionary Fund and the establishment of the Development Forum.
• Effectiveness
Irish Aid is strongly committed to ensuring aid effectiveness, based on the principles of partnership, support for locally owned strategies, better donor coordination and policy coherence.
As an organisation, Irish Aid makes continuous efforts to improve reporting and monitoring and to promote a results-based culture. The formulation of Programme Country Strategies, the implementation and delivery of programmes, the various grant schemes, the evaluation and audit function and the internal organisation of Irish Aid are all informed by the need to maximise effectiveness.
Irish Aid operates strict monitoring and evaluation procedures and measures carefully the effectiveness of its interventions. Partner governments are encouraged to maintain adequate databases so as to facilitate the monitoring and evaluation process. Clear performance indicators are set in the different sectors of activity.
• Accountability
The management and expenditure of an expanding budget is a significant responsibility for Irish Aid. Like most public expenditure, the Irish Aid budget is voted expenditure, authorised by a vote of the Dáil each year (Vote 39 – International Cooperation), and must be managed in accordance with the public financial procedures governing the use of State resources.
In addition to the requirements of public financial procedures, rigorous systems are required to ensure full accountability and value for money for activities under all headings of the Irish Aid programme. The Evaluation and Audit Unit maintains the evaluation and audit function of Irish Aid. The process of internal audit provides assurances to management as to the effectiveness of the systems of internal control of Irish Aid and that public funds are being spent in accordance with the objectives of the programme. The evaluation reports of the E & A Unit are available to the public.
An Annual Report on Ireland’s Development Cooperation Programme, including detailed accounts of expenditure, has been published since 1978. The Annual Report is laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on publication.
• Coherence
Donor coordination is an increasingly important part of the international development effort, and is crucial to aid effectiveness and to sustainable development. Ireland supports and participates enthusiastically in a number of donor coordination mechanisms.
Irish Aid's development assistance programme is an integral part of the foreign policy of the Government of Ireland. Irish Aid, as a Directorate of the Department of Foreign Affairs, must ensure that Ireland’s development policies are consistent with all other aspects of Ireland’s foreign policy. At the broader policy level, Irish Aid works to promote coherence across the full range of Irish Government policies on issues such as agriculture, trade, the environment and fiscal matters.
Last updated: 11/12/09*
