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Micro-Credit Scheme
20. Mr. Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department plans to give to the development of the world micro-credit scheme. [79123]
Clare Short: We are constantly expanding its support for microfinance institutions targeting some of the world's poorest communities who have no access to formal financial services. Our current commitments for ongoing and planned project activities in this sector amount to £75 million.
India
21. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her recent visit to India. [79124]
Clare Short:
I visited India from 22 to 27 March. India is of critical importance in achieving international targets for poverty elimination since 1 in 3 of the poor of the world live there. I agreed with the Indian Government a new country strategy which will soon be published and will focus DFID assistance in a few states which are committed to implementing essential reforms for poverty elimination. These include Orissa and Andhra Pradesh which I visited to discuss how to strengthen our development partnerships with them.
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The visit reinforced my view that India has the potential to make much more rapid progress in eliminating poverty. I confirmed Britain's commitment to support Indian partners who share that objective.
22. Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on aid to Zimbabwe. [79125]
Clare Short:
Our Country Strategy Paper for Zimbabwe will be published shortly. The strategy will focus on reducing poverty in Zimbabwe which is increasing because of economic mismanagement and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Copies of the Zimbabwe paper, like all our country strategies, will be placed in the Library of the House.
23. Mr. Forth:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the future of the UK's involvement in UNESCO. [79126]
Clare Short:
We are playing an active role in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). My Department is working to encourage UNESCO to contribute to the international goals for poverty eradication. The Government have published proposals for the design and establishment of a UK Commission for UNESCO.
24. Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is her policy in respect of the current WTO regime as it affects developing countries. [79127]
Clare Short:
The WTO provides a forum for all countries to participate in a global trading system which is rules based and which operates in an open and transparent way. All decisions are taken by consensus. This is particularly important for developing countries, who are sometimes at a disadvantage in negotiations with the developed world. My Department is working to strengthen the capacity of developing countries so that they can participate effectively in the existing system and in future negotiations. A copy of a recent speech in which I outlined our thinking on developing countries and the WTO will be sent to the hon. Gentleman. I will also place a copy in the Library of the House.
25. Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to link development aid to the provision of education to girls and women. [79128]
Clare Short:
We made clear in our White Paper in November 1997 that we are strongly committed to the international goals of universal primary education by 2015 and gender equity in primary and secondary education by 2005.
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In our bilateral programme we are supporting Governments that give priority to the education of girls and women. We have committed over £200 million to basic education in a number of countries including Ghana, India, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and our largest ever single education commitment of £67 million for Uganda.
We are also working in the multilateral agencies to increase the commitment to girls' and women's education.
These and new programmes being developed reflect strong international evidence that investment in the education of girls is the single most effective way to reduce poverty.
26. Mr. Gordon Marsden:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is her Department's assessment of the amount of debt cancellation for indebted poor countries that is required in order for the Government to meet their poverty reduction targets for 2015. [79129]
Clare Short:
It is impossible to calculate an amount of debt relief needed to meet the International Poverty eradication targets. The reduction of debt for heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs), with good policy performance and a commitment to reduce poverty, does however have a crucial part to play in the achievement of the international development goals. A review of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative is currently underway, and we are pressing for a link between debt relief and poverty reduction. In particular, the review needs to assess whether the amount and timing of the debt relief being provided is freeing up sufficient resources to allow governments to tackle poverty effectively. This has to be done on a country-by-country basis.
27. Dr. Palmer:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if it is her policy to maintain the current balance of expenditure on (a) direct bilateral aid, (b) aid in the EU, (c) contributions to United Nations agencies and (d) aid for voluntary organisations. [79130]
Clare Short:
In our 1999 Departmental Report we published detailed current and planned figures for all areas of development assistance. Actual expenditure will and should vary reflecting changes, for example, in a country's commitment to poverty reduction.
A copy of the 1999 Departmental Report is available in the Library of this House.
28. Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to support security sector reform in developing countries. [79131]
Clare Short:
On 9 March, I announced my Department's new plans to help developing countries reform their security sectors. The security sector consists of those who are responsible, or should be responsible, for protecting the state and communities within the state. Included in the security sector are military, paramilitary
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and intelligence services, as well as those civilian structures responsible for oversight and control of the security forces.
All countries have legitimate security needs. But a major obstacle to making progress in development and reducing poverty in many countries is the existence of bloated, secretive, repressive, undemocratic and badly structured security sectors. Reforming the security sector is therefore a priority. Eliminating violence and reducing insecurity is a precondition for development.
I outlined seven priority areas for future action which focus on the issues of good governance, conflict prevention, human rights promotion and post-conflict reconstruction. The priority areas are:
Within these priority areas, we plan to provide assistance to strengthen the democratic accountability and transparency of the security sector and facilitate the transition to peace; and second, to strengthen capacities of the uniformed security services, for example through training in conflict prevention and reduction. In doing this, we will work in co-operation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, but it is essential that authorities in developing countries both want our help and are committed to strengthening their effective control over their security sectors.
A copy of my speech and of our "Policy Statement on Poverty and the Security Sector" is available in the Library of the House.
29. Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to achieve the target of universal primary education by 2015. [79132]
Clare Short:
One of my key international poverty eradication targets is to secure primary education for all children in the world by 2015. Education is therefore of crucial importance in the work of my Department. We are working in the multilateral system to increase its commitment to the 2015 target. In the Government's first year in office (1997-98), we spent over £13 million of bilateral funds on primary education. This was an increase of £5 million over the previous year. Subsequent major commitments have been made of over £200 million to basic education in a number of countries including Ghana, India, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and our largest ever single education commitment of £67 million for Uganda. These and new programmes being developed reflect a major contribution
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to the challenge of achieving universal primary education and will substantially increase the proportion of our bilateral assistance invested in primary education.
Mr. Woodward:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department is giving to developing countries to achieve universal primary education. [79115]
Clare Short:
We made clear in our White Paper in November 1997 that we are strongly committed to the international development targets which include universal primary education by 2015. We are working to increase international commitment to meet the target. In our own programmes, we spent over £13 million of bilateral funds on primary education in 1997-98. This was an increase of £5 million over the previous year. Subsequent commitments of over £200 million have been made to basic education in a number of countries including Ghana, India, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and our largest ever single education commitment of £67 million for Uganda.
to integrate a security sector reform perspective into country aid programmes, and into the thinking of other donors and multilateral development institutions
to secure partnership programmes with the United Nations and with regional organisations who wish to co-operate with us on conflict and security issues
to expand the provision of human rights training for members of the military
to work internationally to reduce the number of children involved in wars
to reduce the proliferation of small arms and light weapons
to discourage excessive and inappropriate military expenditure
to help to build up the peacekeeping and peace support capacity of developing countries.
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