More than €68,000 in surplus overseas development aid funds have been distributed to three non-governmental organisations for projects in different parts of Africa.
"This is not a Christmas present... We are putting the funds left from last year's budget (for overseas development aid, or ODA) to good use," Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said as he went on to introduce the three projects.
SOS Malta was given €21,480 to set up a rainwater harvesting system in Ethiopia.
The Museum Society benefitted from €21,250 for a computer laboratory within the existing Preca Vocational Training School in Kenya.
Education Aid was allotted €25,925 to promote socio-economic development by educating small businesses in Benin as part of a project carried out with Vie Nouvelle, an NGO based in Benin.
Dr Borg explained that the three NGOs were among more than 23 organisations that applied for funds under the 2009 ODA budget that increased by 43 per cent, to €333,000, over the previous one.
He added that the amounts given to the three NGOs did not cover the whole costs of the individual projects and expenditure will be monitored.
Earlier this year, Dr Borg declared that the bulk of the €230,000 the government allocated as ODA for this year went towards rescuing and accommodating refugees.
Through his declaration, he confirmed the concerns that NGOs had long been voicing when they repeatedly called on the government not to include refugee expenses and debt relief in the official reporting of ODA.
Skop, the national platform of Maltese NGOs, had also repeatedly asked the government for a transparent breakdown of the Malta ODA but this was never released. To achieve better transparency in the allocation of funds, Dr Borg said in September the government had launched a call for expressions of interest for NGOs who had an ODA project in mind. This led to over 23 applications.
As a signatory to the UN's Millennium Development Goals, Malta and another 188 nations pledged to halve extreme poverty, halt the spread of AIDS/HIV and provide universal primary education by 2015. Malta also undertook to give 0.33 per cent of its gross national income as ODA by that time.