House of Commons Hansard Debates for 14 May 1990

Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has considered the proposals recently put to him by a consortium of non-governmental organisations for aid to Vietnam ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Chalker : I am still considering these proposals. I hope to make a statement shortly.

68. Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent contact Her Majesty's Government have had with the Government of Vietnam about the funding of an aid programme in that country.

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 16 January at column 178. We have made it clear to the Vietnamese authorities that we expect them to meet their responsibilities towards their own people, including the boat people in Hong Kong, as a precondition for starting a Government-to-Government aid programme. I have since received proposals for NGO programmes in Vietnam, which are being considered.

Eastern Europe

62. Mr. McWilliam : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the development assistance committee of the OECD is expected to decide how to treat aid to eastern Europe in calculating official development assistance.

Mrs. Chalker : The development assistance committee has proposed that assistance to eastern Europe should not be included in its calculation of official development assistance as a proportion of GNP. The United Kingdom has supported this conclusion.

97. Mr. Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to deploy aid and trade provision to eastern Europe.

Mrs. Chalker : No. The aid and trade provision is part of the overseas aid budget for developing countries. Economic assistance to eastern Europe is provided from a separate ODA PES sub-programme.

Debt Relief

63. Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the debt relief gained by developing countries since the Brady plan was announced.

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Mrs. Chalker : The Government welcome progress under the strengthened debt strategy, most recently reaffirmed at the interim committee of the IMF on 7 May. The strategy, including the associated economic reforms, will have a significant impact on debt problems facing those countries which participate. But it is early days to reach any definite conclusion.

96. Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the Government are taking to encourage the writing off of debt owed by developing countries to the European Investment Bank.

Mrs. Chalker : None. Like all the multilateral development banks, the European Investment Bank is a preferred creditor and we believe that it should be repaid on time.

88. Mr. Eastham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the levels of debt relief provided under the Toronto plan for the poorer countries in Africa.

76. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the levels of debt relief received by poorer African countries under the Toronto plan.

Mrs. Chalker : According to World Bank estimates, the first 12 concessional reschedulings of official debt obtained by the poorest countries under the Toronto plan reduced these countries' debt servicing obligations in 1989 by an additional $50 million relative to conventional Paris Club reschedulings. These benefits will increase over time as more eligible countries reschedule under the Toronto terms (16 have now done so), and as progressively more of the debt stock is covered in successive Toronto reschedulings.

79. Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what he perceives as the actual benefits gained by developing countries from the Brady plan.

Nicaragua

64. Mr. Allen McKay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to give bilateral aid to Nicaragua.

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng) on 2 April 1990, Official Report , column 415 .

Ethiopia

65. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest information he has received concerning the famine in Ethiopia.

89. Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest information he has received on the famine in Ethiopia.

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41. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest information he has received on the famine in Ethiopia.

Mrs. Chalker : Military activities continue to pose a serious obstacle to the relief effort and attempts to secure agreement on the reopening of the port of Massawa have so far proved unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the southern line operation from Assab to northern Wollo and Tigray is proceeding, with the co-operation of the Ethiopian Government and the rebel side ; an airlift of emergency items for vulnerable groups in the Eritrean capital of Asmara is under way ; and recent reports indicate that cross-border operations from Sudan are making a significant contribution to the supply of food. This provides grounds for limited optimism that it may prove possible to avoid the worst problems of mass starvation and mass migration, but the situation remains delicately balanced.

67. Mr. Moss : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Minister for Overseas Development discussed the situation in Ethiopia during her recent visit to the United States of America.

82. Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on Ethiopia following the discussions of the right hon. Member for Wallasey (Mrs. Chalker) in the United States of America.

Mrs. Chalker : During my visit to the United States I discussed the situation in Ethiopia with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, with senior members of the United States Administration, and with Ministers and senior officials of other major donor countries, as well as with the Ethiopian Minister for Planning and the Commissioner for Relief and Rehabilitation. Throughout I stressed the need for early peace negotiations, and for the full co-operation of all parties in ensuring that relief supplies reach people in need in all parts of Ethiopia.

I welcomed the progress of the southern line operation for transporting food across the lines of conflict into northern Wello and Tigray. I emphasised, however, that this alone could not meet the full needs of northern Ethiopia, and that every effort should be made to negotiate arrangements for re-opening the port of Massawa for relief supplies. During my visit, I joined other donor Ministers in issuing the following statement of principles :

Statement of principles for humanitarian relief efforts in Ethiopia We, the representatives of Canada, the European Community and its Member States, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States of America, do hereby call upon all parties to the conflict to observe strictly the following principles to ensure speedy and effective humanitarian relief to the victims of drought and conflict in Ethiopia in order to prevent large-scale starvation.

We strongly urge all parties to the conflict :

1. To suspend hostilities immediately to facilitate relief operations, bearing in mind that the situation of internal conflict is a major obstacle to the humanitarian relief effort ;

2. To guarantee the safe-passage and facilitate distribution of humanitarian relief supplies via land, sea and air through neutral channels such as international organisations, churches and other NGO's ;

3. To recognise the co-ordinating role of the United Nations in relation to the international humanitarian relief effort ;

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4. To ensure the availability of the relevant ports and airfields and the associated road links for humanitarian relief activities ; and

5. To refrain from military attack on aircraft, ships and road vehicles delivering humanitarian supplies, thus ensuring the safe passage of food deliveries through all possible channels. ②ll humanitarian relief efforts by the international community will be undertaken fully respecting the principles adopted by the United Nations to govern such operations.

We call upon all donors to respond generously to all elements of the humanitarian relief program, including measures necessary to re-establish normal functioning of port and airfield facilities and associated road links.

Recalling that this situation of conflict is a major factor in the serious humanitarian situation in Ethiopia, we solemnly appeal most strongly to all parties to resume their efforts for peace and national reconciliation and to this end, to resolve outstanding procedural difficulties on the basis of flexibility, and to proceed to substantive negotiations with a view to achieving a lasting political settlement.

66. Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Catholic Fund for Overseas Development and Save the Children Fund on the internal purchase programmes of the Relief Society of Tigray.

Mrs. Chalker : I have regular and valuable discussions with the main agencies involved in famine relief in Ethiopia, including CAFOD and Save the Children Fund. These have included the issue of internal purchase of food in Tigray. The conclusion we have reached is that we should continue to concentrate our assistance upon alternative means of providing food for those in need.

Namibia

69. Mr. Mullin (Sunderland South) : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further aid the United Kingdom Government are planning to give to Namibia.

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 March to my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Mr. Powell) at column 612.

92. Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions he will take to help relieve the pre- independence debts incurred by Namibia.

Mr. Maude : The handling of pre-independence debt is among the issues currently being negotiated between the Governments of South Africa and Namibia.

Cambodia

70. Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will now publish a report on the visit of a British delegation to Cambodia.

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed(Mr. Beith) on 27 March at column 123.

74. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received concerning the need for medical aid in Cambodia.

Mrs. Chalker : The needs for medical assistance in Cambodia are widespread, particularly in primary health

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care and also to combat malaria and tuberculosis. We are assisting through UNICEF's programmes, and through the joint funding scheme for NGOs.

Chlorofluorocarbons

71. Mr. Frank Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid Her Majesty's Government are giving to developing countries to assist in implementing the Montreal protocol on chlorofluorocarbons.

81. Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid Her Majesty's Government are giving to assist developing countries to implement provisions of the Montreal protocol.

Mrs. Chalker : We are helping developing countries to assess the implications of their signing the Montreal protocol, and have committed more than £200,000 to a study of the options open to India for phasing out substances that deplete the ozone layer.

We are ready to give further help to developing countries and are taking an active part in international meetings at which those countries' needs are discussed, one of which will be the second meeting of parties to the Montreal protocol, to be held in London next month.

Mozambique

72. Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of aid to Mozambique is programme rather than project aid.

Mrs. Chalker : In 1988-89, the last financial year for which we have firm figures, gross British bilateral aid to Mozambique amounted to £34.7 million, of which nearly 52 per cent. was accounted for by programme aid and over 22 per cent. by project aid.

95. Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the meeting of donors at the United Nations on the emergency situation in Mozambique.

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to my answer earlier today to the hon. Member for Midlothian (Mr. Eadie).

90. Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on United Kingdom aid to Mozambique.

Mrs. Chalker : We have for a number of years maintained a significant bilateral aid programme for Mozambique : in 1988-89 gross British bilateral aid to Mozambique amounted to over £34 million. This assistance has focused on three main areas : balance of payments finance in support of the Mozambian Government's IMF-backed economic reform programme ; project aid, concentrating on rehabilitation of transport and energy infrastructure and associated technical assistance ; and emergency relief and refugee assistance.

Angola

75. Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the drought situation in Angola.

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Mrs. Chalker : There are reports that during late March and early April late season rains have fallen in southern Angola, which is the worst affected area. We continue to monitor the situation, although this is not easy given the difficulties of internal travel in Angola. The European Community has provided £11.9 million in food aid since 1988, the United Kingdom share of which is £2.3 million. We have allocated £1.25 million in all in emergency aid bilaterally over the same period, including most recently a grant to the world food programme to provide secure storage facilities for emergency food aid in the Angolan port of Namibe.

I am considering urgently our response to the 10 May appeal by the United Nations Secretary General.

Maldives

77. Sir Charles Morrison : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement about Britain's support for the republic of the Maldives.

86. Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement about aid to the Maldives following the visit there by the Minister for Overseas Development.

Mrs. Chalker : I visited the Maldives from 4 to 6 May to mark the 25th anniversary of their independence. During the visit I reviewed our aid programme to the country. British aid to the Maldives is planned to increase to £700,000 in 1991-92. About half of the programme is allocated to financing training for Maldivian students in the United Kingdom and, during the visit, the Maldivian Government requested more training places.

The rest of our assistance goes to support the establishment of an English language teaching centre to provide in-service teacher training from primary level upwards ; and, secondly, to support the Maldivian Government's programme of monitoring and improvement of the marine environment. We have been asked to help with the establishment of an environmental research unit and our high commissioner will be providing my officials with full details for consideration. VSO is very active in the Maldives. We support a project run by Voluntary Service Overseas to manage an integrated development programme in an outer atoll called Shaviyani, two islands of which I visited. I was most impressed by the dedication and effectiveness of our volunteers there and elsewhere, and of our other aid officers in the Maldives.

Clean Technology

78. Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid the United Kingdom is giving developing countries to assist in developing and adopting clean technology for industry, particularly for the energy sector.

83. Mr. Snape : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid the United Kingdom is giving for the development and transfer of environmentally clean technology for developing countries.

Mrs. Chalker : Projects funded through the bilateral aid programme are subject to scrutiny as set out in the ODA

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"Manual of Environmental Appraisal" in order to ensure that they comply with national environmental standards and international protocols, conventions and codes of conduct, to which the United Kingdom is party, aimed at safeguarding the environment.

Examples of projects intended to foster the introduction of environmentally clean technology include support for a Government of India study on a CFC- alternative strategy for India and support for a workshop in Malaysia to promote public awareness of the ozone problem.

With reference to the energy sector we are, together with the World Bank and bilateral donor Governments, preparing an environmental manual for power development in order to assist the adoption of consistent international standards for aid-funded projects. We are assisting the Government of Bangladesh to identify energy conservation opportunities in a range of industries.

South Africa

80. Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives from South Africa about assistance for projects to help black people in South Africa ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Chalker : I had a number of such discussions when I was in South Africa earlier this year, and representatives from South Africa are regular visitors to the ODA. I also refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes) on 19 March, at column 431.

Elephant Conservation

84. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has received any requests from African Governments for additional support for elephant conservation schemes.

Mrs. Chalker : We are considering a recent request from the Government of Kenya to fund a new project, costing some £400,000, for the provision of equipment to improve the communication systems in Tsavo (east and west) and Meru national parks.

Kashmir and Punjab

85. Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of India about the denial of human rights in Kashmir and the Punjab.

Mr. Sainsbury : We are in regular contact with the Indian Government who are well aware of our views on these issues.

Global Environment Fund

87. Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on discussions to set up a global environment fund at the World Bank-IMF meeting on 7 and 8 May.

91. Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy on setting up a global environment fund at the World Bank.

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Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave today to the hon. Member for Easington (Mr. Cummings).

Global Warming

93. Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid Her Majesty's Government intend to give developing countries to adapt to the possibility of global warming and a rise in the sea level.

Mrs. Chalker : We are aiming to help limit global warming and sea level rise by assisting developing countries through the aid programme in forestry, energy efficiency and CFC alternatives.

Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid he is planning to give developing countries to adapt to the possibility of global warming and sea level rise.

Mrs. Chalker : We are aiming to help limit global warming and sea level rise by assisting developing countries through the aid programme in foresty, energy efficiency and CFC alternatives.

Renewable Energy Sources

94. Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid the United Kingdom is giving to developing countries to assist in developing renewable energy sources.

Mrs. Chalker : In 1988 expenditure from the bilateral aid programme on the development of renewable energy sources was some £15 million. In addition renewable energy components such as solar and wind-powered pumps, solar-powered refrigerators, solar water distillation and solar water heating have been incorporated in projects which are not primarily energy focused.

Israel

Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial help the Government are providing to the Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch (Mr. Squire) on 8 May 1990 at columns 17-18.

Health Education

Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to increase assistance for health education in the developing world.

Mrs. Chalker : Health education is, and will continue to be, an essential component of many of our aid activities. Our bilateral health and population assistance is aimed at providing primary health care for the poorest people. Health education activities are an important part of these programmes. They also feature in other bilateral social sector programmes such as education ; clean water and sanitation ; and improved housing. We stand ready to do more if Governments ask for assistance in this important field.

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Rain Forests (Intellectual Property Rights)

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the response made to the proposals sent to the Overseas Development Administration by, and the administration's contacts with, Dr. Darrel Posey and Professor Fittkau, on the need to protect the intellectual property rights of native peoples in relation to the sale of rain forest pharmaceuticals and rain forest ice- cream.

Mrs. Chalker : The Overseas Development Administration has received no proposals from, or had contacts with, Dr. Darrel Posey and Professor Fittkau on this subject, though I understand Dr. Posey is in the United Kingdom this week and my officials may be able to contact him.

ENVIRONMENT

Local Government Finance

Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates his Department has made of by how much the average community charge would be reduced if the cost of police and fire services were removed from local authorities.

Mr. Chope : The effect of the average community charge on removing services from local authorities would depend upon the amount of revenue support grant that was removed at the same time.

Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his proposals to revise the operation of the standard community charge.

Mr. Portillo : We are collecting information from charging authorities on the use they have made of their discretion to set a standard charge of between 0 and 2 times the personal community charge for their area and to specify classes of property for special treatment in addition to those already prescribed by the Secretary of State. I shall consider this information.

Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 9 May to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East, if he will list all those grants which fall outside aggregate Exchequer finance.

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