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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Comprehensive Spending Review
8. Mr. Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she will take to monitor the effectiveness of her Department's increased support for education resulting from the Comprehensive Spending Review. [51327]
Clare Short: We are committed in our Development White Paper to mobilising the international community to meet the agreed target that every child should be in quality primary education by 2015. We are increasing our spending on this objective. We have also reviewed our scholarship programmes to ensure that we support training that assists development. We monitor and evaluate all our programmes and are strongly committed to the comprehensive spending review emphasis on measuring success by measuring outputs, which is why we place such stress on the poverty eradication targets.
21. Mr. Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how she intends to spend the increased resources made available for international development assistance following the outcome of the comprehensive spending review, with particular reference to anti-poverty programmes. [51342]
Clare Short:
Our budgetary increase of £1.6 billion provides substantial new resources for development. The additional resources will be used to fund partnerships with developing country Governments who are committed to policies which will reduce poverty and increase support to multilateral agencies committed to this objective. We plan to agree allocations in the autumn.
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9. Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what priority her Department gives to the activities of the British Council. [51328]
Clare Short:
We have concluded that it would be more efficient for the British Council to be responsible to a single department. The FCO will, therefore, assume responsibility for the British Council and the resources previously set aside in DFID's budget for the Council's grant in aid will transfer to the FCO. We have agreed that at the least the transferred element of the grant in aid must continue to benefit poorer countries and will therefore qualify as official development assistance.
11. Mr. Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money out of the increased resources allocated to her Department in the comprehensive spending review will be spent on bilateral aid. [51330]
Clare Short:
We will agree the allocation of our increased resources in the Autumn. The International Development White Paper makes clear that we are now giving greater priority to seeking to influence multilateral systems to achieve a stronger commitment to the international poverty eradication targets. We are also redirecting our bilateral efforts to this purpose.
23. Mr. Wilkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the principal priorities within her bilateral aid programmes on which the additional funding over the next three years announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 14 July will be spent. [51344]
Clare Short:
The primary objective of the development assistance programme, as our White Paper sets out, is to contribute to the elimination of poverty through the implementation of the international development strategy. The key target of the strategy is to reduce by one half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. The additional resources available to the Department for International Development (DFID) as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review will be allocated to contribute to the realisation of that target.
We have set out as part of the CSR some specific targets for DFID. For the twenty largest recipients of British assistance we will aim to achieve by 2002 an annual increase in GDP per capita for the poorest 20 per cent. of the population, a reduction in the under five and maternal mortality rates and an increase in the number of children in primary school.
12. Mr. Allan:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to increase British support for development projects in Latin America. [51331]
Mr. Foulkes:
We are not a major donor in Latin America, but our programmes are set to increase by 40 per cent. over the next 3 years and we contribute through our support for international agencies. We are also collaborating more closely with the major multilateral
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agencies in the region. Our support will be firmly focused on promoting the sustainable elimination of poverty, which includes improved management of environmental resources.
13. Mr. Heppell:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department has taken in respect of the immunisation of children in the Indian sub-continent since May 1997. [51332]
Clare Short:
Vaccine preventable diseases kill 9 million people every year. Immunisation programmes are the backbone of our efforts to meet the target of reducing by two-thirds the death rate of children under 5 years by 2015. In 1997, we committed £51 million to the polio eradication programme in India--the largest contribution to immunisation in developing countries Britain has ever made. We have also made new contributions to immunisation programmes in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In Sri Lanka, we are helping the Ministry of Health improve vaccination delivery to those displaced by conflict.
14. Dr. Iddon:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the help her Department gives to Tanzania. [51333]
Clare Short:
Our development assistance for Tanzania last year was £38 million. This included £25 million of support for debt relief, and support for projects in areas such as health, education and public administration. Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced a new £18 million commitment to work with the WHO to eradicate polio in East Africa which of course includes Tanzania. I plan to visit Tanzania next month and will be reviewing our strategy.
15. Mr. Clapham:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to assist the Government of Russia with economic and political reform. [51334]
Mr. Foulkes:
We are assisting the Russian Government, and other Russian organisations, with economic political and social reform.
We also provide assistance through multilateral agencies, especially the EU Tacis programme.
A copy of our new Country Strategy Paper for Russia, which places an increased emphasis on the need to reduce poverty, has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
16. Mr. Savidge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to reduce the debt burden of the world's poorest and most indebted countries. [51335]
Clare Short:
As part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative, my Department has provided over £6 million to help the African Development Bank meet its share of the costs for Uganda, as well as
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making £10 million funds available to help Mozambique qualify for HIPC relief. We have also provided over £25 million of interim debt relief to Tanzania and Mozambique. Part of a new £30 million pledge for Rwanda will be earmarked for a multilateral debt trust fund, established to ensure Rwanda is able to meet its debt obligations during the period leading up to HIPC eligibility. Under the Commonwealth Debt Initiative, eight countries have benefited so far, at a cost of £25 million, and we have provided £400,000 to enable Debt Relief International to assist countries with their debt management. With the additional resources provided under the Comprehensive Spending Review, I look forward to doing more to help reduce the constraints which debt imposes on development.
27. Sir Sydney Chapman:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on progress to reduce the debt of poorer developing nations. [51348]
Clare Short:
The Government's Mauritius Mandate presses for the speedy and flexible implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. This was endorsed by G8 Leaders at their Summit held in Birmingham in May. So far, six countries have qualified for debt relief under the Initiative, and decisions on a further three countries are expected this year. The IMF and World Bank are currently undertaking a review of HIPC which will be considered by Governors at the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in October.
17. Mr. Soley:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to assist small farmers in Caribbean countries to diversify their crops. [51337]
Clare Short:
Substantial EC resources to which we contribute are available to promote efficiency in the banana industry, agricultural and economic diversification. We also provide help for infrastructure and education. We are currently in the process of drafting a strategy paper for the Windwards. We are consulting widely and are open to ideas for new initiatives that have a poverty focus.
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