Priority areas for action
IRELAND’S POLICY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ESSENTIAL SERVICES Improving access to quality essential social services such as health, education, services related to HIV and AIDS, and social protection is key to the realisation of human rights, the reduction of poverty, hunger and inequality and the promotion of inclusive economic growth.
What we will do > We will continue to invest in improving access by vulnerable people to essential social services, and support local efforts to monitor service delivery. To improve service delivery, we will support institutional changes so as to strengthen relationships of accountability - between policymakers, service providers, and citizens.
> We will work towards the provision of more and better education in developing countries. This means improving access to education, particularly for those who are marginalised. The quality of education, so that all children attending school achieve basic numeracy and literacy skills, will also be addressed.
> We will continue to focus on girls’ education beyond primary school level in the knowledge that girls’ education leads to improved health and nutrition in society.
> We will work to ensure that education systems are developed to meet the demands of emerging labour markets. Whilst maintaining a focus on quality primary schooling, we will also support secondary and, where feasible, tertiary education programmes, seeking to link in with economic growth opportunities.
> We will support the development of vocational skills through support for youth training, vital in tackling youth unemployment.
> In health, we will concentrate on the strengthening of systems including a trained health workforce to oversee and deliver quality, basic health services, reaching those most in need. This requires understanding and addressing the barriers that exist to achieving equal access to health services.
> Consistent with the ‘Cairo Programme of Action’, we will support efforts that reduce maternal and infant mortality, and promote universal access to
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reproductive healthcare, including ante-natal care and family planning services. Access to quality maternal and reproductive healthcare, supporting safe motherhood and allowing women to control their fertility, within the context of national legislative frameworks, is central to women’s empowerment and the health of nations.
> Building on the international respect Ireland has earned through our work on HIV and AIDS, we will continue to invest globally, regionally and at country levels to overcome this pandemic. In particular, future priorities will draw more attention to effective prevention, including by addressing inequality and gender-based violence.
> We will support the implementation of appropriate and sustainable social protection programmes that address inequality by focussing on the very poorest households, women and children in particular, and improve access to basic services. This will include social assistance, cash transfers, and safety net programmes.
> Across our programme we will work to ensure that people with disabilities can fulfil their full potential, by accessing services and through empowerment, including in fragile settings and in humanitarian responses in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
> Access to services needs to be complemented with access by the poor to information and essential products. We will support efforts to increase both information flows, including through the use of appropriate media and the availability of essential commodities through the private sector (such as bed nets to prevent malaria, contraceptives, water purifying tablets and soap).