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Reconstruction (South Africa)
29. Mr. Rathbone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last had discussions with representatives of the South African Government about Britain's contribution to reconstruction in that country; and if he will make a statement. [27695]
Mr. Hanley: We maintain a regular high-level dialogue with the South African Government. My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development and my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade have all visited recently. Bilateral relations are excellent and British aid to the transition process is highly valued.
Mr. Rathbone: While I welcome that statement and endorse those efforts, what advance is being made in the European Union to establish a better trading relationship between South Africa and the European Union, which that country desperately needs?
Mr. Hanley: I thank my hon. Friend for that question because Britain is highly committed to giving South Africa better access to the EU market as an important way of contributing to its growth. We have argued throughout that the new arrangements should be as generous as possible. However, some EU member states wanted to limit the scope of the agreement by excluding, from the outset of the negotiations, many South African agricultural exports; we have consistently opposed that.
After several months of talks within the European Union, the 25 March meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers had before it a draft mandate to open negotiations with South Africa. The mandate was not as liberal as we wanted, and we had the option of blocking it, but the South Africans told us that they wanted to begin negotiations as soon as possible so we decided to abstain. We have nevertheless issued a declaration outlining our concerns, with which Sweden associated itself.
I agree with my hon. Friend that we need to improve the relationship between the EU and South Africa, primarily to further the cause of improving South Africa.
Miss Emma Nicholson:
Is the Minister able to assure us that he is doing everything he can in the Council of Ministers to gain entry into the full Lome convention for South Africa, as that would be of such benefit to South Africa's reconstruction plan?
Mr. Hanley:
Yes. The Commission recently opened direct negotiations with South Africa to work out the details of the trade agreement. The mandate contains an explicit commitment to regional economic co-operation and integration, and states that South Africa will be encouraged to provide improved market access opportunities to its southern African neighbours.
On EU-South African liberalisation, the Commission has made it clear that it will return to the Council to ask for greater negotiating flexibility if the current mandate proves too restrictive.
Mr. Batiste:
Does my right hon. Friend agree that trade is a very important ingredient in the reconstruction of South Africa? Will he have a word with his colleagues at the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure that, at a time when funding for trade missions is very tight, trade missions to South Africa have some measure of continuity from year to year so as to encourage mutual arrangements between small businesses in the respective countries?
Mr. Hanley:
I thoroughly agree with my hon. Friend: trade and investment is the key to South Africa's long-term prosperity. The Government are committed to developing commercial links with South Africa, but there is still a role for well-targeted aid. Our aid is designed to help to develop sound policies, to establish models of sustainable development and to focus on disadvantaged groups. We must improve our trade links, and my hon. Friend points in a useful direction with trade missions.
30. Mr. William O'Brien:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to meet the Christian Aid group to discuss world poverty; and if he will make a statement. [27696]
Mr. Hanley:
My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary met representatives of Christian Aid and other non-governmental organisations in the development field on 23 January and plans to have a follow-up meeting with them later this year. I met a number of NGOs, including Christian Aid, at a Foreign Office seminar on 25 April. My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development and her officials have frequent contacts with those organisations, the next such meeting being on 16 May. Our discussions with the NGOs cover a wide range of issues affecting developing countries, including poverty reduction.
Mr. O'Brien:
In view of the Minister's response, will he assure me that he will support the campaign by the Christian Aid group to eradicate poverty in Africa? In 1994, the poor people of Africa paid £10 billion to the country's wealthy creditors and obviously assistance is going in the wrong direction. Will the Minister support Christian Aid's campaign to try to reverse that process?
Mr. Hanley:
Yes, I certainly believe that that is the main focus of our aid to Africa. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that we have written off £1.2 billion in Overseas Development Administration debt for 31 countries--of which 18 were African--since the 1970s. Poverty reduction in Africa is an important part of all of our programmes. It is one of the reasons why at the spring meeting of the World bank and the International Monetary Fund last month it was agreed that several heavily indebted, poor countries have an unsustainable burden of debt and that action must be taken to reduce it so as not to put their reform efforts at risk. That action is being taken on the multilateral debt side. We are leading not only the European Union but the world community in trying to alleviate poverty in Africa.
Miss Lestor:
Can the Minister confirm that at the recent conference in Oslo, which an ODA representative attended, the NGOs made it clear that they believe that the 20:20 compact--endorsed on a voluntary basis by the British Government at the world summit in Copenhagen last year--forms a vital part of a comprehensive strategy for the alleviation of poverty? Given that the Government have reduced this year's aid budget by £124 million; that, on current plans, the proportion of gross national product devoted to aid will fall to an all-time low of 0.26 per cent. by 2000; and that the fundamental expenditure review does not refer to the 20:20 compact, what plans does the
Mr. Hanley:
The 20:20 concept has attracted a good deal of attention because it is a superficially straightforward idea. However, it is unsatisfactory because it emphasises only the quantity of resources at a time of increasing donor awareness about the need to focus on impact, quality and effectiveness. It is an old-fashioned emphasis on inputs rather than outputs, and we want to avoid a return to the 1970s approach of top down, vertically targeted activities which failed to involve the beneficiaries in any assessment of their needs and priorities.
In answer to the hon. Lady's fifth or six question, we still have a substantial aid programme. I repeat that the United Kingdom remains the fifth largest donor despite the small budget reduction this year. We have a substantial budget of £2.154 billion in 1996-97. In 1994, our aid programme was 0.31 per cent. of GNP, which is above average for all donors, and the quality of British aid is extremely high. We still have an excellent record in aid. I do not accept the hon. Lady's criticisms. If she wants to make a financial commitment to increasing aid to 0.7 per cent., I would be grateful if she would say so clearly in the House.
31. Mr. Jacques Arnold:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Britain's emergency disaster relief work. [27698]
Mr. Hanley:
Since 1 April, the ODA has responded to new emergencies in Bolivia, Chad, Ecuador, Georgia, Lebanon and Mongolia, with grants totalling £844,000. It has also continued funding action in more than 20 other long-term situations.
Mr. Arnold:
Is it not the case that the United Kingdom has achieved an enviable reputation for flexibility, speed and effectiveness in the overseas aid that it provides to emergency disaster relief?
Mr. Hanley:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Our response to emergencies is highly regarded, but we cannot do everything. So it is important that we concentrate on what we can do best: supporting the excellent British specialist non-governmental organisations, running a limited number of direct operations and acting swiftly through our diplomatic posts, as we have in the past month in Bolivia, Lebanon and Mongolia. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Our emergency response is excellent.
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