Election 2024 - ODA and Global South

This edition of our Election 2024 Spotlight series examines things a new Government can do to support sustainable development in the Global South and reach our ODA commitments.

Global South

The present situation - a snapshot of some key issues

Migration

• In 2023, more than 117 million people were forcibly displaced due to violence, conflict, human rights violations, or other events.  This equates to 1.5 per cent of the entire world’s population.
• Internally displaced people account for the majority of those forcibly displaced, with more than 68 million people internally displaced in 2023.  Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo account for the three largest internally displace populations. 

Climate Change 

• There are growing links between displacement and climate vulnerability, at the end of 2023, almost 3 in 4 forcibly displaced people were living in countries with high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards.
• The ten countries most affected by climate change in 2024 are all in the developing world.  Of the ten countries most affected by climate change between 1997 and 2021, nine were developing countries in the low or lower-middle income country groups. 

Global Inequality

• Today, average life expectancy is 20 years higher for people in the richest countries compared to those in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• According to Oxfam the wealth of the five richest people in the world has more than doubled since 2020, while 5 billion people have become poorer.  Billionaire wealth has grown at three times the rate of inflation, with billionaires now 34 per cent richer than they were at the start of 2020

Overseas Development Assistance

• Ireland’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget reached 0.59 per cent of GNP in 2008. This was the closest that Ireland has ever come to reaching the UN-agreed target of 0.70 per cent of national income. During the years of the financial crisis Ireland’s ODA budget as a proportion of national income fell considerably, and after modest recovery it is now projected to be 0.48 per cent of new modified GNI (also known as GNI*) in 2024.
• Reaching the UN goal of 0.7 per cent of income in ODA requires increased effort in the years ahead.

What is the purpose of policy in this area?

• To ensure that Ireland plays an active and effective part in promoting sustainable development in the Global South and to ensure that all of Ireland’s policies are consistent with such development.

Things a new Government can do to support sustainable development in the Global South

• Renew its commitment to meeting the UN target of contributing 0.7 per cent of national income to ODA by 2029 and set a clear pathway to achieve this.
• Develop and publish a strategy to reach the 0.7 per cent ODA target, with a pathway of incremental increases to move from 0.48 per cent of GNI* in 2024 to 0.7 per cent of GNI* in 2029.
• Disaggregate our commitments to Climate Finance and Loss and Damage and increases in expenditure in respect of the Ukrainian crisis from our ODA target.
• Work to accelerate progress in the fulfilment of international and European commitments to Climate Finance and Loss and Damage.
• Take a far more proactive stance at government level on ensuring that Irish and EU policies towards countries in the Global South are just and in line with human rights obligations.
• Leverage our diplomatic ties to advocate for tighter regulation of the global arms trade.
• Champion a human rights-based approach to migration and challenge any breaches of humanitarian obligations by EU member states and agencies.
• Play a prominent role in the support and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Continue to support the international campaign for the liberation of the poorest nations from the burden of unpayable debt and take steps to further progress.
• Work for changes in the existing international trading regimes to encourage fairer and sustainable forms of trade.
• Take a leadership position within European and broader international arenas to encourage other states to fund programmes and research aimed at taking a person-centred approach to the HIV/AIDS crisis.