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Kosovo
4. Mr. Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington): What assistance the Government are providing for demining activities in Kosovo; and if she will make a statement. [89755]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. George Foulkes): We have provided resources, through the United Nations mine action service, to establish the co-ordination centre in Pristina. We have also funded the Halo Trust to survey the main areas of risk, and the deployment of 12 rapid response teams. So far, we have committed £1.7 million to this work.
Mr. Brake: I welcome that news, but can the Minister tell us how many casualties have been reported as a result of land mine incidents? Can he also tell us what has been done to educate and inform refugees in the camps of the dangers before they return to Kosovo?
Mr. Foulkes: We are not certain about the exact number, but it is about five a day. That is tragic, but there are fewer casualties than we feared initially. We are funding education programmes, and we are helped by the fact that the Yugoslav army has identified 425 of the 625 mine fields. We have information about the unexploded ordnance, and we are passing that information on to people, particularly families with young children who might be vulnerable.
Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow): I applaud the work of the Halo Trust and the brave men who work for it. How do the Government see Serbia's role in helping to clear the mines?
Mr. Foulkes: Serbia has been very helpful in providing us with detailed information about where the mines were laid. We must admit that that has been helpful in our work of trying to clear mine fields as quickly as possible.
Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby): I welcome what the Minister has said, but has he had any discussions with the
Ministry of Defence to ensure that Royal Engineers can assist in that vital work before the winter sets in and snow covers up the mines, although it will not lessen their destructive impact? Will he accept my assurance that hon. Members on both sides of the House welcome the money being put into the reconstruction of Kosovo, and believe that we should give as much as we can, commensurate with the amount that we spent on bombing Serbia during the conflict?
Mr. Foulkes: I have already said that we have put in a significantly large amount. Other countries and agencies are, of course, also contributing. The armed forces are undertaking some mine clearance, but that is increasingly being taken over by civilian organisations, which we are funding. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will agree that Britain is making a substantial contribution to mine clearance, just as it has to all humanitarian work in Kosovo.
6. Mr. Vernon Coaker (Gedling): What assessment she has made of the educational and medical needs of refugee children in Kosovo; and if she will make a statement. [89757]
The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short): Assessments of children's needs are the responsibility of the United Nation mission in Kosovo. We are providing financial and other support to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, which, among other things, are trying to ensure that all children are back at school by September.
Mr. Coaker: I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Following my visits to the area, may I ask whether she agrees that one of the most important things for children in Kosovo is psycho-social support, which is necessary to help them overcome the trauma that they have experienced over the past few months? Will she also do all that she can to help children in the region who have special needs?
Clare Short: There are two views on psycho-social support for people who have been traumatised, but the predominant view is that getting back to normality is the most important thing--getting children back home and back to school, and getting normal society up and running. They might need additional help, but what they really need is a sense of normal life returning.
As for children with disabilities, obviously we have to stop people, particularly children, being hurt in mine accidents, but we need to get the schools and the health systems up and running. Rather than providing special projects, we need to support the UN mission and the World Health Organisation in getting the health and social services working in Kosovo--and that is what we are doing.
Mr. Tim Boswell (Daventry):
I in no sense disagree with the exchanges so far, but will the Secretary of State remember the importance of ensuring that people who have children in their care, such as teachers and others, are advised and encouraged by those with experience of dealing with traumatised children? It is important that teachers come to terms with the difficulties that their pupils are suffering.
Clare Short:
The hon. Gentleman is right, but the question is how best to do that. Much effort was made to
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
7. Mr. Andrew Reed (Loughborough): What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on measures to increase the priority given to poverty reduction within the heavily indebted poor countries initiative. [89758]
The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short): The Chancellor of the Exchequer and I--good timing; my right hon. Friend has just arrived--strongly believe that the purpose of debt relief is to enable Governments to tackle poverty more effectively. We welcome the G7 Cologne statement that the central objective of the HIPC initiative is to release resources for programmes to reduce poverty. The second phase of that review is under way, and is examining ways in which the link between debt relief and poverty reduction can be strengthened. We have submitted our ideas to the review team and will push for a strong poverty link to be agreed at the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in September.
Mr. Reed: I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply--and the Chancellor for coming to listen to my question. Does she agree that, in the past 11 months, we have made tremendous strides, and gone much further than many Labour Members would have dreamt possible? However, will she ensure that, while we are on that roll, we manage to push in the forthcoming negotiations for real change in the IMF structural adjustment programmes, so that they--unlike current programmes, which many believe push the poorest into increasing poverty--really make a difference to the world's poor?
Clare Short: My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Although we want deeper and quicker debt relief, we also want the general IMF conditionality to protect social spending benefiting the poor, and the economic policies that promote economic growth and will reduce poverty. We are currently working on that side of the equation. Although we have made good progress on deeper debt relief, we do not yet have all the funding for it that was agreed at Cologne; we need countries to come forward and make pledges. We hope to persuade the European Commission to make a considerable pledge, so that we can operate the improved formula agreed at Cologne.
Mr. William Cash (Stone): Does the Secretary of State, who mentioned her close working relationship with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, accept that there is very deep disquiet about the relationship between gold sales and the reduction of third world debt? Does she accept that Mr. Bobby Godsell, the president of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, and Mr. Motlatsi, the president of the South African National Union of Mineworkers, are in the United Kingdom precisely because there is such deep disquiet? Does she also accept that there is no point in
selling gold if the effect of such sales is to depress the opportunities of people in South Africa, and in other parts of Africa and the rest of the world, to get jobs? Does she agree--I hope that she will answer this question--that there is no point in causing job losses that would cause even more poverty than that caused by debt?
Clare Short: I doubt whether the hon. Gentleman supported many of the previous Administration's policies, but he probably did support their policy of gold sales to fund debt relief--[Interruption.] Conservative Members supported gold sales to fund debt relief, and it is not a good idea for them suddenly, when the idea has become popular, to change their minds. Although we are all concerned about the people who work in South Africa's gold mines, there has been a long-term decline in the gold price. Around the world, banks are no longer using gold to back their currencies. The pretence that Britain's recent decision explains the recent decline in South African gold prices just does not hold up.
Mr. Peter L. Pike (Burnley): Debt relief is of great importance to my right hon. Friend--as it is to the rest of the Labour Government--but she has always been noted for her fair and blunt speaking. Does she believe that the countries that we are trying to help through debt relief fully understand her message that we cannot tolerate corruption in those countries, and that debt relief is sometimes subject to their putting their own houses in order?
Clare Short: My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Some of the enthusiasts for debt relief say that it should be unconditional, but we have made it absolutely clear that it should not be unconditional, but must be designed to reduce poverty, and that the countries concerned will have to bear down on corruption. We are ensuring that, in the detail of the way in which debt relief is linked to poverty reduction, debt relief will not be used to support corrupt regimes that are simply wasting resources. My hon. Friend is absolutely right.
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