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TUESDAY 14 MAY 2002 __________ Members present: Donald Anderson, in the Chair __________ BARONESS AMOS, a Member of the House of Lords, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, MR MARK LYALL GRANT (Director for Africa), MR JON ELLIOT, Head of Zimbabwe Section, Africa Department (Southern), examined. Chairman
(Baroness Amos) Mr Chairman, I do not think that it is an entirely fair assessment of what has happened since the elections. It is absolutely right that Zimbabwe has moved off the headlines and that the media is taking much less notice of what is going on, but I think that the international pressure that was a force before the elections, coupled with the Commonwealth troika decision and the work that the South Africans and the Nigerians have been doing to facilitate a dialogue between Zanu-PF and the MDC, means that Zimbabwe continues to be a country of international concern. The urgent humanitarian crisis has been in evidence there since last year. The UK Government was one of the first to acknowledge that there was a real crisis. I remember, when I visited Zimbabwe with a team, that the government of Zimbabwe at that time denied that there was going to be a crisis and indicated that they thought that grain would be three times higher this year than previously. All of this points to international concern, and the fact that we do not accept that the elections were a fait accompli. (Baroness Amos) Mr Chairman, you will know that the European Union made a decision that bilateral ministerial contact would not happen between EU member countries and Zimbabwe. However, we continue to have a High Commissioner resident in Zimbabwe, who is able to give us information about what is happening on the ground. (Baroness Amos) No, there are no restrictions on the High Commissioner and his staff. We continue to work through the Commonwealth. We continue to work through the European Union, and a European Union troika is due to visit the region on 20 May, although they will not go to Zimbabwe. We continue to be in contact with our other allies like the United States, and we continue to work also with the UN. The Committee will recall that we spoke about the UNDP mission that went into Zimbabwe to look at the land reform situation. After their technical assessment they judged that Zimbabwe's land reform policy was unsustainable, and that the conditions do not currently exist which would allow them to go and do further work. However, the UN will be carrying out an assessment mission of the humanitarian situation and will report back. (Baroness Amos) No, there have not been. (Baroness Amos) There are not any in prospect, although after we receive the outcome of the assessment from the UN humanitarian mission, there may well be the possibility of contact at that time; but no contact is planned. (Baroness Amos) No, none as far as I am aware. I will of course write to the Committee if that information is not correct. Mr Olner (Baroness Amos) We have made it absolutely clear, and we continue to make it clear that we deplore the continuing violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe. Committee members will be aware that the human rights NGO forum report, which continues to look at violence in Zimbabwe, has reported that up until the end of April there have been 55 politically motivated deaths in Zimbabwe, the majority of them being members of the MDS. We continue to deplore that violence and to make that absolutely clear to the government of Zimbabwe. Having said that - and I think I said this to the Committee when I gave evidence in December - we are very well aware that in terms of as the United Kingdom being able to influence what is going on in Zimbabwe, we have to work through our international partners because the government of Zimbabwe has sought to portray the difficulties that we have with respect to human rights, the harassing of the opposition, the harassing of the judiciary, as a bilateral issue between the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. This is absolutely not the case. International concern has been expressed over many months at a number of different levels, so the opportunities for the United Kingdom to influence are very much through our work with our European Union partners, through our contact with the United States, and through our membership of the Commonwealth. (Baroness Amos) Clearly, bilaterally we partly have a role to play in terms of our concerns about the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, and to date we have given some 10 million to support, for example, the emergency feeding programmes in Zimbabwe, support for the World Food Programme. We continue to try and influence, through our High Commissioner in Harare and through whatever other contacts are available to us. It is important, however, that the Committee recognises that the government of Zimbabwe seeks to show any kind of direct criticism which is made by the British Government as a form of the ex-colonial power somehow interfering in the internal workings of Zimbabwe. We do not accept that, but we think it is important to recognise the context in which we are operating, which is why we have worked so hard to ensure that our views are represented in international fora, for example the Commonwealth, where greater influence can be exercised on the government of Zimbabwe. (Baroness Amos) I totally agree. I hope I have not given the Committee the impression that we do not continue to speak out against the kind of harassment and intimidation which we sw before the elections, and which unfortunately continues after the elections. As I said, there have been 55 deaths, which have been attributed by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, to political motivation. This is absolutely terrible. We have seen harassment of the media. We have seen the continuing fast-track land reform programme, which has partly contributed to the food crisis that we now have in Zimbabwe. We have made it absolutely clear that we share the international community's concerns not only about the economic situation but about the fact that the government of Zimbabwe appears to care not one jot for what is happening to its own people. Grain reserves are nil; there are reports that people are queuing for up to a week to have access to food. It is a terrible, urgent humanitarian situation, and there is no indication that the government of Zimbabwe is putting in place the kinds of economic policies needed to turn the country around. (Baroness Amos) We regard the MDC as a legitimate opposition, and have the kind of links with the MDC that we would have with an opposition in any country. For example, our High Commissioner will have meetings with the MDC as well as meetings with government. On occasion, if MDC members are passing through London they will have meetings with ministers. That has been the situation over many years. Sir John Stanley (Baroness Amos) There are two specific things that I would point to in relation to that. Members of the Committee will know that South Africa and Nigeria are overseeing talks between the MDC and Zanu-PF. We have been disappointed that the round of talks that was due to happen yesterday did not happen. We have been supporting our partners in Africa because we feel very clearly that it is Robert Mugabe's peers in Africa to whom he might listen. One of the key elements of that discussion, as I understand it, is to ensure that the economic future for Zimbabwe is secure, but also that Zimbabwe's political future is secured, which means that discussions of the rule of law and human rights would have to be a central part of those discussions. That is why we are so concerned that those discussions did not happen yesterday. In addition, the Commonwealth troika, which made the decision to suspend Zimbabwe from the Councils of the Commonwealth in March, made it absolutely clear that in looking again at that decision in a year's time, they would be very much focussing on the extent to which Zimbabwe not only recognised but implemented the Harare principles, which at their core have the rule of law and respect for human rights. So we continue to work through our partners, like South Africa and Nigeria. We continue to work with the Commonwealth. I myself had a meeting with the Commonwealth Secretary General ten days ago to talk through some of these issues; but we also continue to work through our partners in the European Union, for example, to ensure that where we can exercise some influence, and if the opportunity does arise, we are able to make our views on these matters absolutely clear. (Baroness Amos) Unfortunately, we have seen no evidence of that since the elections. We have had this dialogue process which broke down yesterday. As I said in answer to earlier questions, we remain concerned, as I know do Zimbabwe's Southern African neighbours, about the continuing economic collapse of Zimbabwe. There is no indication at this point in time of the kinds of policies that are being put in place that would turn the country around. (Baroness Amos) It is very difficult at this point in time to say whether these talks will continue, and whether they will continue successfully. The MDC published a statement yesterday, and if the Committee will allow me to read very briefly from the statement, they said that as far as they are concerned, Zanu-PF has pulled out of the talks and has repudiated its promise to Presidents Mbeki and Obasanjo by closing all doors for negotiating solutions to the political crisis facing Zimbabwe. I expect that the Presidents of South Africa and Nigeria will want to talk through this position urgently. We await some indication from them as to possible ... (Baroness Amos) As I think I made clear to you at the meeting in December and earlier, we absolutely deplore the kind of harassment and intimidation that we have seen of the media in Zimbabwe. We continue to believe that a free press is absolutely critical to a flourishing democracy, and we will try to sustain and support and assist in any way that we can. One of the questions that I was asked in December was with respect to assisting members of the press who perhaps had to flee Zimbabwe quickly. We will continue to look at cases like that. With respect to what is behind the question, which is whether or not we, for example, give any particular financial support to the independent media in Zimbabwe, I am not aware that we do; but in general terms there are courses and other mechanisms which the British Council run, which media from all over the world have access to. If I can add anything to that answer, I will alert the Committee. (Baroness Amos) I entirely agree. Mr Chidgey (Baroness Amos) I am afraid I cannot give the Committee that kind of assurance. We are all deeply frustrated by the situation in Zimbabwe. This is a country which in previous years has been the bread basket, as it were, of southern Africa. This is a country which, in the past, has put respect for human rights and democratic principles at the centre of its agenda. We need to remember that Zimbabwe is an independent country, and where you have a government that appears to care very little for what is happening to its own citizens and is not really prepared to take on board the concerns of the international community; where you have international financial institutions that have made it absolutely clear that they cannot engage with Zimbabwe because the government of Zimbabwe is not prepared to put in place the kind of economic policies that are appropriate, there is a limit to what the international community can achieve - not just the British Government. We have to continue to try to find all the levers that we can to continue to put pressure on that government. We have to give support to the very brave people in Zimbabwe who turned out to vote in the face of some very, very difficult circumstances. We have to continue to support the NGOs and the work of the independent media. Sir John Stanley pressed me particularly on those areas. There are areas where we can work to give support, but if the government of Zimbabwe is not prepared to listen to its neighbours - and it is having an extremely detrimental effect on the economies of neighbouring countries - to SADC, to the Commonwealth or the UN, there is a limit to what the international community can do. That is very frustrating indeed. (Baroness Amos) Will suspension make a difference? I think it is too soon to tell. As I have indicated to the Committee, it is certainly not clear now, in the middle of May, what impact that suspension has had. I have indicated to the Committee our concerns about the fact that the dialogue set up for yesterday did not happen. We have to wait and see what Presidents Mbeki and Obasanjo decide with respect to next steps, because the Commonwealth troika decision and the communiqué makes clear that one of the elements the Commonwealth wanted to see what the dialogue. With respect to the conditions against which Zimbabwe is being measured, the communiqué made it absolutely clear that Zimbabwe would be measured against the Harare principles, and I am aware that the Commonwealth Secretary General would like a Commonwealth team to visit Zimbabwe, to enable the Commonwealth to begin to gather information and evidence, so that the troika will have information and evidence available with which to make a decision. We continue to talk to our Commonwealth department. I have spoken to the Secretary General. There is a CMAG Commonwealth ministerial action group meeting in Botswana, between 15 and 17 May. I have no doubt that Zimbabwe will be one of the big issues on the agenda of CMAG. Again, the Committee will be aware that Zimbabwe challenged the fact that the Commonwealth ministerial action group had discussed Zimbabwe on previous occasions. We continue to believe that that was entirely appropriate and that with the broadening of CMAG's mandate, which happened at the recent Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Coolum, there is absolutely no doubt that CMAG has the remit to discuss Zimbabwe. (Baroness Amos) There have been a number of discussions with officials in NePAD, as well as with the members of the NePAD implementation committee, which includes 15 heads of state. (Baroness Amos) No, it does not include Zimbabwe. The discussions have been about issues of political and economic governance. It would be true to say that there has been concern, and that concern has been on a number of different levels. First, there was a concern that Zimbabwe would be used as a kind of test for the entire NePAD process. There was a very strong feeling amongst the leaders that I have spoken to that one country should not be used to judge an entire continent. There is also a very strong feeling that NePAD is at the early stages of a process. This is a long-term development agenda for the entire continent. NePAD leaders see it as a minimum 20-year strategy. The NePAD secretariat has been working on these issues only since last year. They agreed at their meeting in Abuja in March the principles for economic and political governance codes, and the Economic Commission for Africa was asked to go away and work on the detail of those codes. I understand that that will then be put to the NePAD implementation committee members in the middle of June. There is serious work which is ongoing and certainly the President of NePAD, who is one of five steering committee presidents, has made absolutely clear that he feels that the action that was taken around the elections in Zimbabwe was entirely inappropriate. The President of Ghana, who is closely associated with the NePAD process - although they are not on the implantation committee - has also made his views absolutely clear. With respect to the question about whether or not any within NePAD see President Mugabe as a hero, I am not aware of that, although in the discussions we had at Coolum, when we discussed Zimbabwe in the context of the Commonwealth, there were a number of African Commonwealth countries that not so much presented Robert Mugabe as a hero, but talked in terms of Zimbabwe's political history and its relationship to Britain, and felt that this was an issue which should be tackled within Africa. Chairman (Baroness Amos) I would like to answer that question in two parts, if I may. It is very important to say what the core of the G8 action plan is intended to be. The G8 action plan is intended to identify those areas where the G8, as the G8, can add value to the NePAD process. It is not a response to the entire NePAD document, and we have made that absolutely clear to our NePAD partners. The second thing in relation to that general point that I would like to make clear is that the G8 are absolutely clear that this is about identifying those countries in Africa with commitment to reform that are willing to probe all development, so that they will then be in a position to move into an enhanced development partnership with G8 member countries and others. At its core, lies the notion of selectivity. We are also absolutely clear that issues to do with economic growth and investment need to be central to the G8 Africa Action Plan because we all know that development resources are helpful and useful, but will not provide the kind of engine for growth in Africa which is needed if we are to meet the millennium development goals. On average, we need 7 per cent growth in Africa, and the majority of countries are nowhere near that. That means that not only do we have to attract foreign direct investment to those countries, but we also have to retain capital within countries, because up to 40 per cent of savings, for example, leaves African countries, which could well be invested within those countries and make a difference. The attraction of foreign direct investment is absolutely crucial. In the discussions that I have had with businesses that are currently investing in different countries in Africa or are thinking about investing in Africa, there is absolutely no doubt that the situation in Zimbabwe has really damaged the perception that businesses have of the continent as a whole, and makes companies much more wary about investing in Africa. We have already seen the knock-on economic impact that the situation in Zimbabwe has had in southern African countries. It means that that situation will be much more long-term than perhaps those countries had anticipated. That means that in the NePAD context, what African leaders are trying to achieve in terms of turning the continent around, will be much harder to deliver. Mr Maples (Baroness Amos) It is very hard to know. The Committee will understand that I am probably the last person, or one of the last people who could speak in terms of what Robert Mugabe might be thinking or feeling, but what I will say is that we know that the Commonwealth is one of the few international institutions that Robert Mugabe holds dear. I would be very surprised indeed if he had not been shocked by the decision of the Commonwealth troika. (Baroness Amos) The troika undertook to review their decision a year after it was made, so of course a number of options will then be open to the troika, depending on the progress that Zimbabwe has made, against the areas which the troika identified in their communiqué, including adherence to the Harare principles. (Baroness Amos) They are causing some degree of inconvenience. The Committee will know that Robert Mugabe recently went to New York to attend the UN session on children. Because it was a UN meeting, he was able to go to New York because there are special circumstances for heads of government and heads of state attending UN meetings, which was limited to being within 22 miles of the UN whilst in the United States, because the United States has a travel ban. He had to transit through Paris and had to remain at the airport in Paris rather than being able to go into France, precisely because of the UN travel ban. It is causing some inconvenience. It is too soon to judge the long-term impact. (Baroness Amos) There is a travel ban which is inconvenient, but there is also the assets freeze as part of the European Union sanctions, which is targeted at 20 members of the regime. The Committee will understand that I am not able to go into any details with respect to that. (Baroness Amos) That is certainly the area that has potential for very real difficulty for members of the regime. (Baroness Amos) If there is a solution, it has to come from within the leadership within Africa. We have made clear that the people who Robert Mugabe might listen to and take seriously are his peers. That is why SADC have a very important role to play here. There have been a number of discussions and debates, which are ongoing. Many of those discussions we do not know the conclusions of. I cannot speak, obviously, for the President of South Africa or other leaders in the region, but I am aware that there is a great deal of concern about the current economic impact on the region and also the long-term economic impact. If anything is going to make a difference, it will be the recognition of that, and the fact that those leaders feel strongly that something will have to be done. Clearly, I cannot speak on behalf of those leaders. Mr Pope (Baroness Amos) The next GOC meeting is on 17 June. The European Union has made it clear that that is the point at which they will look again at the situation in Zimbabwe. We have all been looking at the dialogue process, which is being mediated between South Africa and Nigeria. I think what we clearly now have to do in the light of the failure of those talks yesterday, is to talk to our partners, and in particular talk to South Africa and Nigeria about the next steps. The GOC will come to a conclusion on 17 June, and there are a number of different factors that we will have to look at that point. (Baroness Amos) It would be important first of all to make absolutely clear that the Scandinavians were not colonialists, and would be concerned if we thought that they were. You have pointed to the real complexity of the situation that we are dealing with here. Of course, there is a history that many African countries share when they look at the situation in Zimbabwe. There is also what happened during the various fights for freedom in different African countries, and it is very important that we do not forget what happened them, in terms of the different front-line states, for example, giving sanctuary to those who were fighting for freedom. There are other complexities too. I sometimes think that it is important for us to remember that in our own relationship, for example with the European Union, to our partner governments, or with the United States or other allies, that what we say in public does not always match what we say in private. We are dealing very often with complex diplomatic issues. We are always weighing up the extent to which something which is said privately might have a lot more impact than something which is said publicly. There are degrees of influence exercised through the diplomatic process. I see that every day in the work that I do, and I have absolutely no doubt that that is happening the whole time, in terms of the relationships that different African leaders and African governments have with each other. They have to take on board the history but they also have to take on board the reality of their influence and how that might best be exercised. Whilst there is no doubt that there has been some disappointment about the lack of public statements from some African countries, it would be wrong for us to assume that there are robust and difficult discussions going on behind the scenes. (Baroness Amos) I think it is important that all the channels that are available to us, in terms of working with our South African partners, are utilised. We continue to use our government-to-government contacts. There are parliamentary contacts, NGO contacts, business contacts and trade union contacts, which are important for a variety of reasons. It is very, very important indeed that our African partners really understand the reality of the position. When I was last in South Africa, for example, I did one of these radio telephone programmes and people were surprised to hear that since independence the British Government has given the government of Zimbabwe over £500 million in bilateral development assistance. The British Government continues in the work it is doing with HIV/AIDS, which impacts on the poor, and is the biggest bilateral donor to Zimbabwe. Other donors have pulled out. This is work that we are doing with NGOs and others because it has a direct impact on what is happening to the poor. We set up complementary feeding programmes in Zimbabwe last year, long before the government of Zimbabwe even admitted that they had problems. These are things that not only the people of Zimbabwe do not know, but the people in South Arica, in Malawi and associated countries do not know and do not understand, and they absolutely cut across the kind of propaganda that the government of Zimbabwe is trying to use about the British position. We have also made it absolutely clear that we support land reform in Zimbabwe, which is absolutely critical to development. We gave money post independence to land reform. In fact, some of it was returned by the government of Zimbabwe. So in all the ways that we can, through our parliamentary and government contacts, and through NGOs and so on, we should be making those messages absolutely clear so that the British position is understood. Andrew Mackinlay (Baroness Amos) It is very, very difficult to answer that question int hose terms, and can I say why? You have not only in Africa but also in the developing world more generally, a country that is doing well on some criteria and bad on others. But the situation also changes over time, so you can have a country that may have been doing well two years ago, which, today, for a variety of reasons, is not doing so well. We have to look at a complex set of issues, and this is what NePAD is currently grappling with. At the last count, they had come up with something like 86 indicators that would measure a country's achievement on democratic and political governance standards. You can have a country that is doing well on 80, but the absolutely critical ones in terms of human rights and rule of law are not being met. That is why it is so difficult to answer the question. However, I would say that if we look at issues related to economic reform, for example, we have a country where the IFIs are refusing to engage, and where the majority of donors have pulled out, in terms of bilateral assistance, and will only give humanitarian aid. On the absolutely key political governance indicators, we have a country where we have seen interference with the judiciary and the media; we have seen human rights abuse and we have seen a deeply flawed election. All of that gives us deep cause for concern, but it is very difficult to have a league table in that way without going into detail of the kind of standards that NePAD are currently looking at. (Baroness Amos) Let me try and answer the different elements in that question. First of all, as the Minister responsible for the British Government's policy in Zimbabwe, can I say I certainly do not feel guilty. (Baroness Amos) I think there is a history which we have to acknowledge. I think we have to acknowledge the failure of some of our policy in Zimbabwe; and we have to be absolutely clear about what we want to achieve, and we have been: which is that we want to restore the rule of law; we want democracy to be implemented, and part of that is in elections; we want to see development; and we want the poor of Zimbabwe to have the opportunity to exercise their rights and their choices. That is what drives British Government policy. I have been pressed on many occasions about the fact that there is a large British community which is the thing driving our policy in Zimbabwe - that is absolutely not true. Clearly, we also have a responsibility to the British community of Zimbabwe, but they want precisely the same things that ordinary black Zimbabweans want. They want a free press. They want the rule of law to be adhered to. They want to have the right to be able to eat. They want security. They want economic stability. I think all Zimbabweans want pretty much the same thing. On your question about how do we assess a country - you are absolutely right - NePAD are working on a series of codes of standards to look at economic and political governance. We also do that in a number of different ways. We do it partly in terms of development agenda. One of the standards we have, for example, is the nature of the elections process. There are a number of areas in which that process was flawed. We have the facts that absolutely tell us that. What I am resisting doing is saying that Zimbabwe comes ten out of ten because, firstly, I do not think it is helpful to do that; but, secondly, the situation is more complicated than that. I think just the kind of list that says a country comes towards the bottom or in the middle is not necessarily helpful without additional information to tell us exactly what that means. I hope in my answer to your question you did not feel we did not have a criteria against which we look at countries; we absolutely do. We will continue to refine those; but also to work with our African partners on ways of making those more concrete and more applicable to the African situation. Within a Commonwealth context that is why we have CMAG. That is why the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group's role was enhanced at Coolum: because there was a recognition that the Commonwealth also had a role to play; that it had principles that it expected Commonwealth countries to adhere to; and that there needed to be a process against which we could measure that adherence. (Baroness Amos) Of course, as part of our policy planning and our thinking, we are constantly looking at different possibilities and different kinds of scenario. That is something we do in all of the countries in which we work. One small thing changes and opportunities are created. We know that there are some members of the Government of Zimbabwe who are more reform-minded than others, for example. We will continue that kind of analysis, which we will feed into our policymaking and policy contingency processes. It would be difficult to say more than that. Mr Olner (Baroness Amos) There is no doubt that Abuja has been overtaken by events since we visited last year. I think when the Foreign Secretary and I came away from Abuja we felt we had worked extremely hard to get an agreement that was credible and doable, if the Government of Zimbabwe actually adhered to the commitments that were made within the Abuja agreement. Within days of leaving Nigeria the agreement was being broken. It is very hard to see where we can go next on land reform without some of the critical areas in terms of economic policy and human rights actually being put in place. Part of the Abuja agreement was that UNDP would go in and do assessment and come out with proposals in terms of the next steps, which the UK and other donors would then look to support. UNDP went in; they did a report; and basically they said that the land reform programming in Zimbabwe is unsustainable, but they had difficulty actually making suggestions about the next steps because of the nature of the political environment in Zimbabwe. It is very, very difficult to see where we can go from here. In addition to that, the Zimbabwe Government has recently passed the Land Acquisition Act which basically means that the farmers can be informed that their land has been taken and they have to move within three months. So they have made law something they were doing by presidential decree before the elections. So fast track, which has been deemed to be unsustainable and which has led to some of the problems that we are now seeing with respect to food shortages, continues. (Baroness Amos) Some of it undoubtedly is due to the drought. We have seen the situation in the region as a whole. Maize production this year is down 60 per cent on last year. The percentage is much lower in other countries in the region. Of course, some of it is due to drought; but I would say that the majority of it is due to mis-management of the economy. (Baroness Amos) There is some evidence of that. A UN assessment mission will be going in to look at the humanitarian situation. I think that further evidence will emerge from that. Of course, once that report is available I will send it to the Committee. (Baroness Amos) I would certainly not want to say that all was lost, but I think that we are very, very dependent on the role which is being played by countries in the region, particularly by South Africa and Nigeria, in terms of them facilitating some kind of process that might lead to an agreement of next steps. What we need is for the Government of Zimbabwe and the Opposition to actually agree that the welfare and the needs of the people of Zimbabwe come first; and to then think about the kinds of economic and political policies that would deliver that. Chairman (Baroness Amos) It is highly unlikely that anyone will plant on the basis of three months' notice. We have already seen problems with the wheat crop where, because of what has been happening in terms of fast track, little or no planting has happened, which will have a further impact on food shortages; and the same will apply to tobacco farming which has historically contributed so much to the economy. Mr Pope (Baroness Amos) At the moment we are talking about a situation as being a crisis, rather than a famine. I think it is very important that we use our words carefully, obviously. I have mentioned the UN assessment before; that is going to be absolutely critical in terms of giving us the facts and evidence we need that will let us know whether or not the situation has gone beyond being a crisis in the south and east, to becoming something that is a great deal more serious in terms of famine. We are working with the World Food Programme. There is a group of donors who have formed themselves into a humanitarian group which includes the UN organisation and ourselves, which is dealing with the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe. We have a monitoring process as well to ensure that the money we give for emergency feeding and food aid is being used properly and is not being diverted. We will continue to do that, and we will continue to work with our international partners. There is a possibility that after the UN Assessment Commission they will launch a further appeal on Zimbabwe. There is a concern that an appeal might be launched and the amount of money that is required may not be met because of concerns about the divergence of money. One of the things we absolutely have to be clear about is that food aid goes on food and that it is available to all people in Zimbabwe who require it. We and other donors are absolutely firm about that. Last year there was some talk by the Government of Zimbabwe that urgent humanitarian assistance could only be channelled through the Government. All donors challenged that, and that situation did not occur. (Baroness Amos) I am not sure. What is difficult at the moment is that there is a regional problem. We have a problem in Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Zambia as well as Zimbabwe. The real problem is partly the possibility of shortages across the region as a whole, and difficulties with distribution, which are more general problems, rather than problems associated with getting the food to the right places, rather than problems associated with the Government of Zimbabwe itself. We have not in the work that we have been doing, and that the World Food Programme has been doing, faced difficulties in terms of getting the food to the right place. This is something we continue to monitor. Mr Chidgey (Baroness Amos) In terms of our own NGO supplementary feeding programme, which comes to about £4 million, this is a programme which is directly monitored by our DFID team, we are absolutely confident that it is reaching its beneficiaries. We have had absolutely no reports of humanitarian aid being seized. Where there is a concern, where we have to continually look at the situation, is in respect of the World Food Programme. They are also distributing through NGOs. The Government of Zimbabwe have guaranteed distribution will not be manipulated; but beneficiaries for that programme are selected by committees at the ward and village levels, and this includes local chiefs and headmen, but it also includes NGOs and other civil society representatives. Because of that involvement of people at a more local level, there is clearly a greater possibility of divergence. WFP have made it absolutely clear that they will investigate any problems, and they will suspend distribution if there are problems, if those problems are reported, and the Government of Zimbabwe fail to act. Incidents have been reported from two of the 19 districts so far. Those have been investigated and have been dealt with. We are confident with the money we are giving for our emergency feeding programmes that there are no problems with that, but we will continue to monitor. We continue to have a residual concern - I will not put it any more highly than that - about the World Food Programme. They are absolutely clear they do not want their food to be diverted; that they will deal very, very quickly with any complaint. I think we also have to remember that when we are dealing with small communities like this, if a family is in urgent need of food and they do not get it because the local chief or headman says that family can get it rather than another, it is absolutely obvious in a small community and we expect to know about it. (Baroness Amos) I think it is not so much a problem about infrastructure in Zimbabwe; I think it is more the impact of needing to have a distribution chain and channel across the region as a whole, ensuring that there are enough trucks and other things to get the food to the right places. The Southern African Development Community and other donors will be meeting in South Africa in early June to look specifically at regional problems, and this will include Zimbabwe. I think one of the issues that would be very high on the agenda is the issue of distribution. There are other countries in southern Africa where the infrastructure is much poorer than it is in Zimbabwe. I think the issue is really going to be, do we have enough trucks, and do we actually have enough food to get to the six or seven countries suffering. (Baroness Amos) In terms of the management structure, this is something the World Food Programme has dealt with not only in southern Africa before but across the world. In addition to that NGOs, donors and the World Food Programme have set up a humanitarian aid response team to look at these issues as a result of our experiences elsewhere. I think in terms of the administrative structure we have sufficient experience of dealing with humanitarian crises. The Committee will remember the terrible famines we saw in Ethiopia, for example. I am confident that the administration will be okay. (Baroness Amos) I think the regional leaders are well aware of the implications and possible implications of migration. There is already an extremely large Zimbabwean community in South Africa, for example. In addition to that, you have a large number of farm workers in Zimbabwe who come from Mozambique and Malawi who are second and third generation. As a result of the Act that was passed just before the election, which stripped a number of people of Zimbabwean citizenship if they held dual nationality, there was a possibility that you would have farm workers trying to get back to Malawi and Mozambique who had really no connection with the country, apart from their grandparents having been born there. Regional leaders are well aware of the problems. Particularly with Mozambique and Malawi we are talking about fragile and vulnerable economies in their own right. This is a great concern, and I know has been something which they have discussed at length. Chairman (Baroness Amos) I think one of the things I said in answer to a question is that things can change very quickly politically in a country if one thing happens. We do not know what that one thing might be in Zimbabwe. Whilst the situation is frustrating, I come back to the point that we have a population which clearly wanted to exercise its democratic right. We saw that during the elections. We have a media that continue to try and ensure that there is a free press in Zimbabwe. I think that there are things which are happening in the country which could put more pressure on. As the months go on, if the situation does not change, I think the neighbouring governments may well have to review their strategy. Whilst I am frustrated by it, I continue to believe that there may well be something that happens that will make a critical difference. We saw it in Angola recently. We have seen it in other situations where one thing that was entirely unexpected happens and makes a change. I continue to hope that that will happen in Zimbabwe, because its people deserve better. Chairman: We travel in hope. You have been extremely helpful to us in dialogue with the Committee. I thank you, Baroness Amos, and thank your colleagues. |