2007 Foreign Aid Target Binned [Article]

Thomond Pk

Govt not to meet 2007 aid target

11 September 2005 14:15
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, has said it will not possible for the Government to reach its spending target on oversees development aid.

The Government had pledged to spend 0.7% of the country's Gross National Product on oversees aid by the end of 2007.

Mr Ahern said competing demands on the exchequer meant this was now impossible.

Reacting to the news, the Primate of All Ireland, Dr Seán Brady, said he was disappointed Ireland had not reached its targets.

He called on the Government to ensure it reaches any new target the Taoiseach may announce at the United Nations conference in New York this week.

Well it appears Bertie isn't an International socialist

DadaKopf

This is very disappointing, but to be expected. Ireland has never met a funding target. Most countries haven't, and the government won't until the public can hold them to account and make it an electable issue.

If we're not going to meet the 2007 target, 2010 will be too late to reach the MDGs by 2015. Ahern and Lenihan say they're calling for 2012. Other similarly sized donors have set 2014 as the target, although the EU target is 2015.

Bertie will probably 'solemnly' declare 2010 or 2012 as the target, safe in the knowledge he'll appeal to constituents and that we'll miss the target, again.

zuma

Foreign Aid will NEVER be an electable issue.

Its as simple as that.

DadaKopf

You've got to look at the countries that have reached the target, and surpassed it, and work out why they did it.

It's a historical thing, cultural thing, and a political thing - it depends on the relative power of certain groups in society.

It might take a long time, but if the voters want it, the politicians will provide the cash. Doing this takes a huge amount of articulation by NGOs, the media and politicians, and education from the cradle to the grave.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

DadaKopf

No, it's official development assistance, which is public money.

Anything on top of the (roughly) 0.35% we currently donate is privately donated. Official development assistance has a role to play: private charities can't influence governments or undertake large infrastructural projects, as much as governments anyway. It's just the way the world works, and isn't necessarily a good thing.

Our current levels include direct funding to governments in developing countries, Irish and developing country NGOs, development education in Ireland and includes our donations to the UN. The Department of Finance looks after 'replenishments' the the IMF and World Bank.

DadaKopf

The target is now 2012. NGOs, Unions and TDs will be pushing for a clear timetable. They may also push for this timetable to be made law - it's been quasi-law since the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.

But I can imagine the government not wanting to be tied down. However, if enough public and parliamentary pressure can be applied, and 2012 can be made law, the 0.7% issue could be an electable issue. 2012 puts the target beyond the FF/PD coalition's term of office - if they want in again, they better do the job. That's politics.

walshb

So we missed a deadline target, what's the big bloody deal. Do people really expect these deadlines to be set in stone, absolute definites. What if over the next few yrs, god forbid...Ireland goes into a major recession, not an impossibility, are we still going to call on our people to hand over our money to foreign countries, even though we are struggling. Most of these countries are run by corrupt regimes...who plough the money into weapons and tyrants. The accountability is a disgrace. I say we should be cutting back the funding of these countries, let the US, French, British and the other colonial powers who wrecked many of these countries to start with sort it out. Why do we the Irish always want to 'save the world'....????

walshb

The other thing is that most of the people berating the government for not meeting the target are wealthy, and don't have to worry about mortgages, petrol prices, insurance costs, tax, food and clothes prices etc etc. It's easy for those who have money to talk about throwing it around like bloody confetti.....I know for a fact I and hundreds and thousands of other Irish citizens could do a lot with a small percentage of the money our government squanders on Africa and Asia and anywhere bloody else. Whose money are the do gooders throwing around like confetti???, I can bet it's not coming out of their pockets......

DadaKopf

So we missed a deadline target, what's the big bloody deal.

0.7% is a financial measure of a country's moral commitment to use its national wealth to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people. 0.7% is an important political commitment. It's a moving target because it's a percentage of Gross National Product, but it represents only a modest and achievable absolute volume of aid as a percentage of total government expenditure.

Do people really expect these deadlines to be set in stone, absolute definites.

As I said, the volume is a moveable target, but 0.7% is an internationally agreed target. A number of countries have already reached and surpassed 0.7%, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.

What if over the next few yrs, god forbid...Ireland goes into a major recession, not an impossibility, are we still going to call on our people to hand over our money to foreign countries, even though we are struggling.

Then the absolute volume decreases, but the proportion stays the same. In any case, there are economic arguments to be made for sharing our wealth to increase global prosperity.

Most of these countries are run by corrupt regimes...who plough the money into weapons and tyrants. The accountability is a disgrace.

First of all, you live in Ireland. Apart from that, that's a sweeping generalisation and ignores the positive steps that are being made across Africa. Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda and many other countries are being lauded for tackling corruption. Of course, you also have to understand that corruption is caused by poverty (a lack of resources) as much as it causes it and because of widespread poverty and post-colonial culture, it's a fabric of social life that is going to take time to change. It's also grossly incorrect, and, frankly, insulting to the majority of Africans, and especially those involved in trying to solve Africa's crisis, to brand them all as corrupt. This is a typically cynical excuse by a rich person (compared with the global South) to keep the money for themselves.

I say we should be cutting back the funding of these countries, let the US, French, British and the other colonial powers who wrecked many of these countries to start with sort it out. Why do we the Irish always want to 'save the world'....????

Ireland recently withheld funding to Uganda due to a dispute over levels of government military expenditure. The government backed down. Aid can also have a positive influence. But this is not a reason to allow developing countries to remain aid dependent.

The other thing is that most of the people berating the government for not meeting the target are wealthy, and don't have to worry about mortgages, petrol prices, insurance costs, tax, food and clothes prices etc etc.

That's not my experience, but I'd like to ask you where you got this information from.

I know for a fact I and hundreds and thousands of other Irish citizens could do a lot with a small percentage of the money our government squanders on Africa and Asia and anywhere bloody else.

Please tell me. Also, how is this money "squandered"? A number of studies have shown Ireland's national aid programme to be of the highest quality and provides excellent 'value for money'. But if you have evidence to the contrary, I'd like to see it.

I look forward to your arguments.