Today and tomorrow, Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela and Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib will be in Dublin, Ireland, to participate in the informal ministerial Council on Development under the Irish Presidency of the EU that will be dedicated to discuss the future of development. They will also meet with representatives of partner countries, the Irish government and address the national parliament.
Today, Commissioner Lahbib is meeting with the Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin to discuss how the EU is leading the way on international development and EU humanitarian action, as well as the EU’s and Ireland’s overall preparedness.
Ireland is a strong partner on humanitarian aid, consistently supporting needs-based, principled EU action, and has a long-standing record of commitment to multilateralism and to the most vulnerable. The Commissioner will also address the EU Affairs Committee of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament, and meet with civil society organisation Sanctuary Runners, which works to build solidarity through sport activities, with a focus on asylum seekers and refugees.
Later in the afternoon, Commissioner Lahbib will hold bilateral meetings with the Irish Ministers of State for International Development and the Diaspora, Neale Richmond, and for European Affairs and Defence and British Development Minister Kirsty McNeill, with whom she will discuss the challenges facing development globally, and common ways to deliver help and defend the dignity of those in need.
On Friday, the informal Council will focus on the unprecedented challenges facing development cooperation and the importance of building strong and mutually beneficial partnerships globally. Following the meeting, Commissioner Síkela and Commissioner Lahbib will participate in the press conference, which will be broadcast on EBS.
On the margins of the informal Council, Commissioner Síkela will meet with Åsmund Grøver Aukrust, Norwegian Minister for Development, and Commissioner Lahbib will meet with Thomas Byrne, Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defence.
