Funferal

Irish government to launch consultation process on ODA?

Early in the New Year I emailed An Taoiseach (the Irish Prime Minister) regarding ODA. As regular readers will be aware the Irish government recently abandoned a pledge to reach the 0.7% ODA target by 2007. I’ve just got a reply, which includes some information I haven’t seen elsewhere and which may be of interest:

The Government remains strongly committed to achieving the UN target. In the coming months, Development Cooperation Ireland will launch a consultative process that will lead to the first ever Government White Paper on development assistance. All interested stakeholders will be asked for their views.
The issue of how best to meet the UN target, and in what timeframe, will be taken into account in the preparation of the White Paper and the Taoiseach looks forward to a good dialogue with the development NGOs, the Missionaries and all those who support our ODA programme as we move forward. The Government share a common determination that the UN’s Millennium Development Goals must be achieved in sub Saharan Africa, the region where extreme poverty is at its most concentrated and where little progress is being made.

I’ll keep track of this issue and keep readers informed once the consultation process is launched.