IRISH NGOs chose yesterday’s World Aids Day to highlight how reduction to Ireland’s overseas development budget have led to the cutting or scaling back of projects related to fighting the disease in developing countries.
In the last year, the State’s aid budget has been slashed by €222 million or almost one-quarter. Aid agencies are concerned there may be further cuts in the budget.
Among the HIV and Aids-related programmes affected so far is a Concern project in Zambia supporting 2,000 children and their carers, which has been put on hold. Another Concern project, aimed at providing 28,000 people in Uganda with information about preventing the spread of HIV, has also been stopped.
Dochas, an umbrella group for 44 NGOs, said: “Now is not the time for Ireland to ignore its promise to some of the world’s poorest and most marginalised populations, and weaken the international efforts to halt the spread of HIV.”