SLIP strongly welcomes the inclusion of Sierra Leone as a partner country by Irish Aid in their recently launched new Policy Paper titled One world, One Future. It is hoped that increased government to government discussion and communication will ensure more sustainable and better development projects in SL funded by the Irish people.
SLIP also welcomes the commitment in the policy paper to achieving the target of 0.7% of Gross National Income allocated to international development cooperation.
Extract from Policy Paper:
“Stronger focus on stability in countries that are fragile: We will focus within our programme on countries experiencing greater fragility – such as countries recovering after periods of conflict. This is where the needs are greater, and where human rights are most at risk. This is also where we can have the most impact. And while such work presents more risks, the risk of inaction is greater. a new Key partner country: To demonstrate our commitment to staying the course with countries emerging from conflict, we will deepen our engagement in Sierra Leone and Liberia. This will include Sierra Leone becoming one of our nine Key Partner Countries, the others being Ethiopia, Lesotho, malawi, mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia.
Changing relations: We will now term our Programme Countries as Key Partner Countries, reflecting the more rounded partnerships that we will pursue. In each Key Partner Country we will have different types of engagement, depending on the needs and opportunities that exist.the africa strategy: We will build towards stronger economic partnerships in Africa and work towards an exit from aid where possible. The Government’s Africa Strategy (available at www.dfat.ie) – designed to bring the different strands of the Government’s foreign policy engagement with Africa together – will guide our approach. We will strengthen our presence on the ground in East Africa as part of implementing the Africa Strategy, tapping into economic integration and trade in the region. This will also enable us to engage more strategically with humanitarian work in the region”.
The full document ONE WORLD, ONE FUTURE can be found on http://www.irishaid.gov.ie