Ireland
EU member states are becoming increasingly inward-looking and eager to promote aid policies which prioritise foreign or domestic policy objectives. These are the main conclusions of the annual AidWatch report by CONCORD, released on May 19th in Brussels.
Despite being the world’s biggest aid donor, only nine countries met their EU aid targets in 2010, with the bloc as a whole falling...
With €53.8 billion (0.43% of its GDP), the European Union’s official development aid (ODA) reached a record level in 2010, up by €4.5 billion on 2009. “The EU remains incontestably the world’s leading donor,” declared Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, while admitting that it has failed to honour its pledge to jointly allocate 0.56% of its gross domestic...
On 27 June, Iceland began in-depth negotiations on entry to the European Union. The negotiations should run smoothly, with the exception of a disagreement on the fisheries industry, which is of great importance to the island’s economy.
The close ties between Iceland and the European Union are deep rooted and still very much alive. They are also a reflection of the economic situation, as...
EU public gives big ‘yes’ to development aid
Nine out of ten European Union (EU) citizens say that aid for developing countries is very important or fairly important, according to the EU’s ‘Eurobarometer’ poll on ‘Europeans, development aid and the Millennium Development Goals’. It canvassed 26,500 EU citizens across all 27 EU Member States in June...
European aid is likely to reach 0.46 per cent of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010. This is a long way short of the 0.56 per cent intermediate target set for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The EU is therefore going to have to step on the accelerator if it is to honour its pledge, restated on 17 June, to increase its aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2015. It...
The visit to Botswana in March 2009 of James Anaya, United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous peoples, seems to have produced results. The Bushmen, driven from their ancestral lands in the Kalahari in 2002, will have their case heard once again by the High Court on 9 June.
The question was also raised at the European Parliament in March this year by Irish MEP Brian Crowley. He asked...
In the run up to the September Review conference in New York on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the European Commission has drafted a staff working paper on ‘More and Better Education in Developing Countries’, http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/SEC2010_0121_EN.pdf) and is in the midst of drawing up other thematic papers on health, food security, gender...
Off target: EU member states’ aid spending
European Union (EU) member states are not on track to reach the target of an average 0.51 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) to be spent on Official Development Assistance (ODA) by 2010, says a new review of the Paris-based Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The target was set in 2005 by 15 EU member states as an...
From Gaeltachts to Angela’s Ashes
From the Aran Islands, bird sanctuary and home to Gaelic, to Limerick, setting of Frank McCourt’s memoir and biopic Angela’s Ashes, the Shannon region epitomises Ireland’s literature and natural beauty.
Located in the far west of Ireland, the Aran Islands, windswept and difficult to reach, have charmed many mainlanders, not least...
Bands that play traditional Irish music are slowly abandoning the pubs to perform at concert venues. Especially at Glor. This cultural centre in Ennis, the main town in County Clare, has established itself as the nation’s leading traditional music venue within the space of eight years. But Glor’s ambitions do not end there.
If you stop at one of the pubs you often pass on the...
EU member states are becoming increasingly inward-looking and eager to promote aid policies which prioritise foreign or domestic policy objectives. These are the main conclusions of the annual AidWatch report by CONCORD, released on May 19th in Brussels.
Despite being the world’s biggest aid donor, only nine countries met their EU aid targets in 2010, with the bloc as a whole falling...
With €53.8 billion (0.43% of its GDP), the European Union’s official development aid (ODA) reached a record level in 2010, up by €4.5 billion on 2009. “The EU remains incontestably the world’s leading donor,” declared Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, while admitting that it has failed to honour its pledge to jointly allocate 0.56% of its gross domestic...
On 27 June, Iceland began in-depth negotiations on entry to the European Union. The negotiations should run smoothly, with the exception of a disagreement on the fisheries industry, which is of great importance to the island’s economy.
The close ties between Iceland and the European Union are deep rooted and still very much alive. They are also a reflection of the economic situation, as...
EU public gives big ‘yes’ to development aid
Nine out of ten European Union (EU) citizens say that aid for developing countries is very important or fairly important, according to the EU’s ‘Eurobarometer’ poll on ‘Europeans, development aid and the Millennium Development Goals’. It canvassed 26,500 EU citizens across all 27 EU Member States in June...
European aid is likely to reach 0.46 per cent of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010. This is a long way short of the 0.56 per cent intermediate target set for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The EU is therefore going to have to step on the accelerator if it is to honour its pledge, restated on 17 June, to increase its aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2015. It...
The visit to Botswana in March 2009 of James Anaya, United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous peoples, seems to have produced results. The Bushmen, driven from their ancestral lands in the Kalahari in 2002, will have their case heard once again by the High Court on 9 June.
The question was also raised at the European Parliament in March this year by Irish MEP Brian Crowley. He asked...
In the run up to the September Review conference in New York on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the European Commission has drafted a staff working paper on ‘More and Better Education in Developing Countries’, http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/SEC2010_0121_EN.pdf) and is in the midst of drawing up other thematic papers on health, food security, gender...
Off target: EU member states’ aid spending
European Union (EU) member states are not on track to reach the target of an average 0.51 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) to be spent on Official Development Assistance (ODA) by 2010, says a new review of the Paris-based Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The target was set in 2005 by 15 EU member states as an...
From Gaeltachts to Angela’s Ashes
From the Aran Islands, bird sanctuary and home to Gaelic, to Limerick, setting of Frank McCourt’s memoir and biopic Angela’s Ashes, the Shannon region epitomises Ireland’s literature and natural beauty.
Located in the far west of Ireland, the Aran Islands, windswept and difficult to reach, have charmed many mainlanders, not least...
Bands that play traditional Irish music are slowly abandoning the pubs to perform at concert venues. Especially at Glor. This cultural centre in Ennis, the main town in County Clare, has established itself as the nation’s leading traditional music venue within the space of eight years. But Glor’s ambitions do not end there.
If you stop at one of the pubs you often pass on the...
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