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PRIVATE BUSINESS

Tyne Tunnels Bill

Read the Third time, and passed.

25 Feb 1998 : Column 349

Oral Answers to Questions

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Secretary of State was asked--

Bosnia-Herzegovina

1. Dr. Naysmith: What assistance her Department is providing to Bosnia-Herzegovina; and what plans she has to visit that country. [29610]

The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short): My Department has provided more than £400 million of humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1992. I visited Bosnia from 1 to 4 February to review progress.

Our priority now is to strengthen Mr. Dodik's new Government in Republika Srpska, given his public support for the Dayton agreement, and to support and encourage refugee return. I am pleased to announce today additional funding of £1 million immediately in budgetary support for the new Government in Republika Srpska and £1.1 million for refugee return and reconciliation work with the stabilisation force and other partners.

Dr. Naysmith: I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Does she agree that the election of the new Government is really good news, particularly with regard to the possible return of refugees and the effect that that may have on implementing the Dayton agreement?

Clare Short: I agree completely with my hon. Friend: this is a massive opportunity to make significant progress in Bosnia. The new Government in Republika Srpska support the Dayton agreement and want to encourage refugee return. If the international community can reinforce that agreement, if people in Republika Srpska can feel the benefits that will flow from the involvement of the World bank, the European Union and Britain, and if the Government do well in the September elections, there is a chance of real progress in returning refugees. We must seize that opportunity.

Mr. Faber: I welcome the right hon. Lady's announcement that further funds will be made available for Bosnia. Bosnia is one of many east European and central Asian countries that currently receive funding from the European Union under the PHARE and TACIS democracy programmes. Can the right hon. Lady confirm that the Commission is currently conducting an internal review of those programmes, the focus of which is to remove funding from the majority of countries that need it most, such as Bosnia, and to reallocate it almost exclusively to the first wave of applicant countries for EU membership--supposedly to assist their accession to the European Union? Is that not a blatant attempt at empire building by the Commission at the expense of the more deserving developing democracies, such as Bosnia? Will the right hon. Lady do everything she can to fight any such misuse of aid during Britain's presidency of the EU?

Clare Short: I agree that the European Union has had difficulty disbursing its funds in the past. The process has

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been terribly slow and the programmes have not been as effective as they should. There is now a differentiation between the programmes that will help the accession countries and those that will assist the remaining transition countries. I think that that distinction is sensible because the tasks are different. The task of helping the more advanced countries to adjust to the rules of the European Union is different from helping the less advanced countries, which face terrible problems with poverty and high crime levels and are still only half way to building market economies and democracies. We must differentiate our efforts, but we need to ensure that both European programmes operate more effectively and do not ignore either need.

Development Assistance

2. Mr. Baldry: If she will make a statement on the role of non-governmental organisations in the delivery of development assistance. [29611]

Clare Short: We have strong links with British NGOs which, as the hon. Gentleman knows, are involved in a wide range of tasks supporting development. We also have strong links with community groups and other NGOs in developing countries. We intend to launch a formal consultation on how those relationships can be updated to complement the strategy outlined in the Government's White Paper.

Mr. Baldry: Everyone will welcome NGOs' being more involved in the development of Government policy. Does the right hon. Lady agree that when one considers Britain's contribution to development overseas, it is not just a matter of how much we give by way of gross domestic product; into that account should be put the enormous work and effort of the UK NGOs, which make a considerable contribution to promoting development overseas? For example, the British Red Cross, which yesterday received a new charter direct from the Queen, has done work in northern Turkey with the Kurds and in Angola. Every day, thousands of UK volunteers are working in various parts of the world. Their contribution should never be forgotten when we are considering the contribution that Britain as a whole makes to trying to ensure a fairer world.

Clare Short: I agree with the hon. Gentleman. It matters what we put in as a Government--how effectively we disburse our assistance--but the massive contribution of NGOs shows where the heart and the concerns of the British people lie. There is a long track record of engagement with and concern for people overseas, of support for development and in humanitarian disaster relief. We can be proud of the contribution of our NGOs and we should give them all honour and praise for the work that they have done over the years.

Mr. Dalyell: The House will recollect that at the end of his statement on Iraq yesterday, the Prime Minister referred to the role of NGOs. How does my right hon. Friend see NGOs bringing much-needed help to the people of Iraq, as opposed to the regime?

Clare Short: I have been talking with officials in my Department about how we can make a stronger

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contribution to bringing relief to the people of Iraq. The whole world is concerned at their suffering. We know that much of it is the responsibility of Saddam Hussein, but none the less we all feel for their suffering. My Department tells me that the number of NGOs working in Baghdad-ruled Iraq is limited; our capacity to disburse more funds is therefore limited, as there are relatively few people there. I can give my hon. Friend the assurance that we will do everything we can to increase our bilateral assistance to all parts of Iraq and to ensure that, when the oil-for-food swap is increased, we shall do all we can to ensure that relief in the form of food and drugs gets through to the people.

Sir Alastair Goodlad: Further to the point raised by the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) and the Prime Minister's statement, can the right hon. Lady say which NGOs are involved with British citizens and what advice has been given to them in respect of their personal safety in Iraq?

Clare Short: I am sorry; I shall have to write to the right hon. Gentleman. That is foolish, because I was discussing with my officials that very matter and what more we can do, but I cannot authoritatively recall the names of the organisations. I do not believe that there are currently any worries about security, especially after Kofi Annan's great success in getting the Saddam Hussein regime to back down on inspections. I shall look into the question that the right hon. Gentleman raises and write to him.

Development Programmes

3. Mr. MacShane: What recent contacts she has had with the Trades Union Congress about the role of trade unions in development programmes. [29612]

Clare Short: One of my priorities is to secure respect for the International Labour Organisation's core labour standards throughout the world. That is key to ensuring that the fruits of globalisation are fairly distributed, otherwise capital moves around the world chasing cheaper and cheaper labour. My Department is in frequent contact with the TUC to help to achieve that. We are working together on plans for a conference on trade unions, development and human rights, which I hope will generate widespread interest among union members.

Mr. MacShane: I am grateful for that answer. My right hon. Friend has answered my supplementary, so with your permission, Madam Speaker, I shall sit down.

Madam Speaker: Very sensible, too.

Mr. Garnier: Sadly, the right hon. Lady's reply did not answer my question. Can she be more precise? We listened with interest to her answer, but can she give us a little more detail and set out with greater clarity what she meant?

Clare Short: I am always happy to speak at greater length. The hon. and learned Gentleman will know that more and more major British companies are interested in working with my Department, with NGOs and with the trade union movement to get agreement on codes of

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conduct for sourcing produce overseas in order to satisfy the pressures from the ethical consumer movements that are growing and strengthening across society. One of the agreements involving people of good will, including employers, trade unionists and NGOs, is that respect for core labour standards--basically, the right of labour to organise, to protect health and safety and not to accept environmental degradation--is one of the fundamental principles of ethical sourcing. We agree with that. We support the work of the International Labour Organisation and we are working with various companies that agree with the principle. I agree with those who hope that there will be a human rights clause in the World Trade Organisation, which would mean basic rights for people worldwide and that capital will not be driven into seeking ever cheaper labour, with all the instability and the race to the bottom on environmental standards that that can entail.

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