€260,000 donation to UN’s food aid organisation

Food Minister Noel Treacy yesterday announced a donation of €260,000 to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.

He said Ireland was playing and would continue to play its full part in order to help overcome the lack of internal capacity that blocks many developing countries from effective participation in international trade.

"This is the only viable long-term solution," he said, going on to announce that €50,000 of yesterday's donation was being directed towards the joint FAO and World Health Organisation (WHO) Trust Fund.

A further €60,000 is being donated to plant genetic resources.

Minister Treacy said the largest payment of €150,000 was being focussed on an FAO trade-related capacity building programme.

This is directed at Tanzania, one of the seven countries of the Irish Overseas Aid Programme, in response to a recent request for assistance in the area.

The programme has a two-prong approach of immediate, directly-related support to member countries for multilateral trade negotiations, and is also aimed at building human resource and institutional capacity over the medium term in order to take full advantage of trading opportunities.

This funding follows from Minister Treacy's participation at the 32nd session of the FAO Conference in Rome earlier this month, where he acknowledged that capacity constraints can be a key obstacle preventing developing countries from participating in a global economy.

The FAO has a major role to play in providing important information and analysis on various trade issues and also in building human capacity and providing support to member countries for negotiations, he said.

Since being founded in 1945, the FAO has worked diligently to alleviate poverty and hunger by promoting agricultural development, improved nutrition and the pursuit of food security.

The Department of Agriculture and Food pays an annual subscription to support the work of FAO, which amounted to nearly €900,000 in 2003.

During this year, the Department also donated €4.4 million to the World Food Programme, the UN food aid organisation.