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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Rwanda
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department is currently giving to Rwanda; and if she will make a statement. [35747]
Clare Short: A £25 million support programme is being targeted at the rehabilitation priorities of the Government of Rwanda.
Technical support is helping the Ministry of Finance to address the key objective of increasing revenue; support for the Ministry of Gender and Social Affairs is helping to tackle problems faced by the large number of female-headed households and support for the Ministry of Education is helping to strengthen their planning and resource allocation capacity. We are providing financial support for the Government's efforts to establish an unarmed community police force and to demobilise members of the armed forces. We are the largest bilateral donor in the area of human rights monitoring and protection in Rwanda.
In addition to our rehabilitation support, we continue to respond to requests for humanitarian assistance and are providing financial support to NGO's involved in food security for vulnerable groups.
We are working closely with the World bank and the IMF. We have financed technical inputs to expert teams advising the Government of Rwanda on longer term economic strategies and are liaising closely with the Government and the International Financial Institutions (IFI) on initiatives being considered to address debt.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the projects for the improved provision of (a) primary and (b) adult basic education in Bosnia and Herzegovina funded by her Department. [36313]
Clare Short:
My Department has no projects dealing directly with primary or adult basic education in Bosnia. As a single donor it is not possible for us to tackle every sector. Our contributions in selected sectors have been very large, and other donors have focused on other sectors such as education. That said, we have made substantial contributions to education through our community micro-projects. This has included repair and refurbishment of many primary and secondary schools and provision of materials and school equipment over a wide area of Western Bosnia, in both entities.
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Following consultation with the authorities in Bosnia, the focus of our activities for the forthcoming year will be refugee return and reconciliation, health system reform, media training, development of the small and medium sized enterprise sector, regional development, management training, and institutional development. We shall also conclude activities in inter-entity electricity transmission reconstruction. In addition we expect to provide advice and support to the Government of Republika Srpska and we are considering how we might help further with demining.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the programmes funded by her Department in China on (a) education, (b) health, (c) the environment and (d) economic and administrative reform, together with their costs for (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 1997-98. [36312]
Clare Short:
The information requested is set out in the table. Figures for expenditure in 1997-98 are estimated. There are presently no projects in the health sector, but we are planning a mission to China to explore the possibilities for future involvement in this area.
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Multilateral Agreement on Investment
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received from non-Governmental organisations about the Multilateral Agreement on Investment; and if she will make a statement. [36980]
Clare Short: There have been ongoing consultations with NGOs by Government Ministers and officials on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). My right hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development met NGO representatives on Thursday 26 March to discuss the findings of the recently published report commissioned by the Department for International Development on the development implications of the MAI.
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has made to the OECD about the Multilateral Investment Agreement; and if she will make a statement. [36837]
Clare Short:
The Government are engaged as a negotiating party in discussion of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), on which the Department of Trade and Industry leads. My Department is fully engaged in this process. The report commissioned by the Department for International Development on the development implications of the MAI, which has been placed in the libraries of both
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Houses, will be made available to our negotiating partners. I will be making a response for the Government shortly.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received from business sources about the Multilateral Agreement on Investment; and if she will make a statement. [36836]
Clare Short:
Consultation with business sources is part of the Government's ongoing process of consultations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) with all interested parties. The Business and Industry Advisory Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has also been regularly consulted during the negotiations. My Department's particular concern is that the interests of developing countries should be protected and, if possible, enhanced by the MAI.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact multilateral investment agreements will have on poorer developing countries; and how that impact will be reflected in her Department's policies. [37006]
Clare Short:
I have placed copies of the report that my Department commissioned on the development implications of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in the Libraries of both Houses. We welcome the conclusion that accession to the MAI could offer substantial opportunities for developing countries. The report contains a number of specific recommendations. We are now studying these and other issues raised in the report urgently.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received from the TUC about the Multilateral Agreement on Investment; and if she will make a statement. [36838]
Clare Short:
Consultation with the TUC is part of the Government's ongoing process of consultations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) with all interested parties. The Trade Union Advisory Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has also been regularly consulted during the negotiations. My Department's particular concern is that the interests of developing countries should be protected and, if possible, enhanced by the MAI.
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