| Irish:Cúnamh Éireann | |
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.jpg) Iveagh House inDublin, DFA headquarters | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1974 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Ireland |
| Headquarters | Iveagh House, 80St Stephen's Green,Dublin 2 Riverstone House, 23-27Henry Street,Limerick |
| Employees | 184 Irish Aid staff[1] 290 locally recruited staff[2] Total: 474 |
| Annual budget | €870 million(2019ODA)[3] |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Department of Foreign Affairs |
| Website | www |
Irish Aid (Irish:Cúnamh Éireann)[5] is theGovernment of Ireland's official international development aid programme. Irish Aid is managed by the Development Co-Operation and Africa Division (DCAD) of theDepartment of Foreign Affairs (DFA). According to theOECD, Ireland’s total ODA (USD 2.5 billion, preliminary data) increased in 2022, mostly due to higher in-donor refugee costs and higher contributions to international organisations. ODA represented 0.64% of gross national income (GNI).[6] The Irish Aid programme is an integral part of Ireland'sforeign policy.[7]
Ireland works towards achieving theSustainable Development Goals as set out by theUnited Nations. Accordingly, Irish Aid's priority areas are; Ending Poverty, Hunger, Gender Equality, Environment and Climate Change, Health,HIV/AIDS, Governance and Human Rights, Education, Trade and Economic Growth, Agriculture, Water and Sanitation.[8]
Irish Aid also responds tohumanitarian crisis around the world, including locations not in their area of operations, throughhumanitarian relief/assistance and supportingnon-governmental organizations (NGOs) with multilateral aid. The Irish AidRapid Response Corps (RRC) is a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals available to deploy at short notice to humanitarian emergencies anywhere in the world, working with theUNHCR,WFP,OCHA andUNICEF to identify and fill specific skills gaps in emergencies.
Ireland sits on theOECD's 30-memberDevelopment Assistance Committee (DAC).[9]
The main focus of Irish Aid is on East, West and Southern Africa. Long-term development assistance has been established in nine "Key Partner Countries", these are:
Irish Aid also works in a number of other countries affected by conflict, including;Liberia,Palestine,South Africa, andZimbabwe.[10]
In 2014, more than 80 countries benefited from Irish bilateral aid.[11]
Irish Aid operates its assistance programmes through the network ofIreland's overseas diplomatic missions.
The Irish Aid programme is managed by staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Recruitment is generally managed through the Public Appointments Services, with some positions advertised directly by the Department of Foreign Affairs on their website. Most positions are for permanent employment, and include general civil service, diplomat and development specialist positions. There are also temporary two-years contracts through the Junior Professional Internship (JPI) scheme. There are 145 permanent posts attached to Irish Aid's domestic headquarters inDublin andLimerick.[1] There are 39 permanent posts (excluding locally recruited staff) within Irish Aid missions in nine programme countries and a further 290 locally recruited overseas staff across all missions. This brings the agency's total number of employees to 474.[2]
Ireland allocated €870 million inofficial development assistance (ODA) in 2019.[3] This represents 0.32% ofgross national income (GNI).
Since the beginning of 2000 has been an overall expansion in the scale and scope of Ireland's development assistance programme which has seen the foreign aid budget rise from €255 million in 2000 to €870 million in 2019. The ODA GNP% peaked at 0.59% in 2008, later reducing to a consistent 0.32% since 2015.
According to theOECD, 2020official development assistance from Ireland decreased 4.1% to USD 972 million.[12]
Irish Aid's headquarters in Ireland are at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Iveagh House, 80 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 and Riverstone House, 23-27Henry Street,Limerick. Irish Aid has permanent offices in Irish embassies in; Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia.
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