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Foreign Policy Review highlights key role of Irish Aid

Aid Effectiveness, News/feature, Ireland, 2015

Last week, Ireland launched the review of its foreign policy, entitled “The Global Island: Ireland’s Foreign Policy for a Changing World.

The review considers the challenges and opportunities for Ireland in a new globalised world under five main but closely linked themes:

  1.      Our People
  2.      Our Values
  3.      Our Prosperity
  4.      Our Place in Europe
  5.      Our Influence.

The second theme, Our Values, sets out Ireland’s support for a fairer, more just, more secure and more sustainable world through our development programme, human rights policies, peacekeeping, disarmament and security policies and growing engagement with emerging global issues including climate change.

Irish Aid, the government’s aid programme, is recognised as a key part of our foreign policy and a vital tool in addressing the complex factors behind poverty, hunger and inequality.

The Global Island sets out Ireland's support for a fairer, more just, more secure and more sustainable world.

The review highlights the important partnerships builtby Ireland with developing country governments, with civil society and within multilateral organisations such as the EU and UN. Our work to build a better, fairer and more sustainable world includes actions to tackle hunger, poverty, gender inequality, and to improve access to health, education and decision-making structures in developing countries.

The Global Island promises to continue to strengthen and broaden Ireland’s engagement in Africa, including trade and investment opportunities, climate change, disarmament, peacekeeping, human rights and hunger. 

The issue of climate change is very prominent in the review, with a recognition of the strong links between climate change and poverty, and a commitment to maintain our engagement as a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and to meet the obligations arising from them. 

The Global Island notes that Irish Aid is recognised as one of the best aid programmes in the world, and commits to continuing the spirit of openness, transparency and accountability typical of our aid programme to date.


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The Global Island: Ireland’s Foreign Policy

Ireland’s last major statement of foreign policy priorities was published almost 20 years ago, in the 1996 White Paper Challenges and Opportunities Abroad. In the intervening years, we have witnessed rapid and significant change – shifting patterns of power and influence...Download PDF (7,644KB)