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Commission for Africa

4. Mr. Huw Edwards (Monmouth) (Lab): When he next plans to meet Sir Bob Geldof to discuss poverty relief in Africa. [172238]

The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn): The next scheduled meeting I have with Sir Bob Geldof will be the second meeting of the Commission for Africa planned for the autumn this year.

I would like to express my thanks to Sir Bob Geldof for his tireless dedication to Africa over the past 20 years, and for his persistence in focusing our attention on Africa.

Mr. Edwards : I am sure that my right hon. Friend will join me in acknowledging the dogged determination that Sir Bob Geldof has shown and his impatience with the world's rich countries. While he cites the figures of 6,000 people a day dying of AIDS in Africa and only one in 400 having access to anti-retroviral drugs, what assurance can my right hon. Friend give that, when the G8 countries meet next year, the needs of Africa will be at the centre of the discussions?

Hilary Benn: The G8 countries will have the report of the Commission for Africa before them when they meet next year. It is partly intended to ensure that the world continues to pay attention to the condition of that continent. If we, as a world community, do not tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which affects sub-Saharan Africa more than anywhere else, the prospects for development are bleak. Last year, just under 2.5 million Africans died of AIDS. Increased resources and the falling price of anti-retrovirals mean that we have the opportunity to do more to treat people in Africa. As well as providing the resources, the international community must ensure that our money, effort and enthusiasm are deployed to support the developing country
 
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Governments rather than add to their burdens. The more we can pool our money, the greater effect it can have.

Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury) (Con): In seeking to relieve debt in Africa, especially in communities where there is an interface between Islam and Christianity, is there any evidence to show that the damaged reputation of the United States of America and the United Kingdom in Iraq is making it harder to act to relieve debt?

Hilary Benn: No, there is no such evidence because the obstacle to further relief of debt in Africa for those countries that have not yet been able to access the heavily indebted poor countries scheme is the fact that they have been emerging from conflict or that they do not qualify for the debt relief programme. So far, 23 countries have reached decision point. I am anxious that the other countries should be able to access the scheme. When they have done that, the second task is to ensure that they leave the scheme with a sustainable amount of debt. In that respect, I am sure that the recent decision to award topping up to Niger and Ethiopia will be widely welcomed.

HIV/AIDS

5. Christine Russell (Chester, City of) (Lab): What recent representations he has received on the need to tackle HIV/AIDS globally. [172239]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas): Following the Government's call for action on HIV/AIDS, we are developing a new UK strategy for our response to help tackle the epidemic. We are conducting a wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector and developing country Governments. We aim to publish the strategy later this year.

Christine Russell: I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware of a recent World Health Organisation report that calls on the rich nations of the world to do more to help the poorer countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS is such a problem. Does he share my anxiety that, if we do not do more, we will find it difficult to reach the millennium goals for the reduction of maternal and infant mortality? I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for his commitment to put AIDS high on the agenda when Britain takes over the presidency of the European Union and the G8 next year.

Mr. Thomas: My hon. Friend is right to say that HIV/AIDS is reversing many of the development gains of the past 20 years. It will continue to hamper progress towards those millennium development goals. She is right to say that we in the UK and the international community have to do much more to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic, not least because I believe that the worst is yet to come. Estimates suggest that there will be some 25 million orphans and vulnerable children in
 
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Africa alone by 2010. That is one reason for prioritising HIV/AIDS for the extra £320 million that we are committing to Africa by the end of 2005–06.

Mr. Julian Brazier (Canterbury) (Con): The Minister's answer is welcome, but, as always, it focuses heavily on money. The Government would do well to look at the example of Uganda, which has achieved a truly terrific reduction in the incidence of HIV, saving tens or even hundreds of thousands of lives. Its ABC programme involves abstinence, being faithful to one's partner, and the use of condoms. May I urge the Minister to look at best practice as the best way of saving lives?

Mr. Thomas: As I said a moment ago, we are consulting a whole range of organisations about the best practice that we should deploy as a response to HIV/AIDS. He is absolutely right to say that Uganda has set a great example. The single most important factor in tackling the epidemic in-country is to have strong political leadership on the issue, and President Museveni has set a great example to other countries in Africa in that regard. The example of stronger, more high profile political leadership is the key requirement if we are to tackle HIV/AIDS properly.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

7. Mr. David Chaytor (Bury, North) (Lab): If he will make a statement on the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [172241]

The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn): Conflict resolution in Africa is a key priority for the UK Government. We continue to be actively engaged with our African, EU and UN partners in promoting the peace process in the great lakes region, and in supporting the transitional national Government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was installed in June last year—[Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker: Order. There are important matters before the House. Hon. Members should be quiet.

Hilary Benn: This is a major step forward for peace and stability. We also continue to work for improved relations between DRC and its neighbours, which is critical to peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr. Chaytor : In the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 3 million people were killed and almost 3.5 million people were displaced. This is a conflict in which cannibalism and rape were used as weapons of war. What assessment has my right hon. Friend made of the incidence of HIV/AIDS as a result of the conflict, and what steps is he taking to deal with this problem in the DRC?

Hilary Benn: My hon. Friend is right to characterise what has happened in the DRC in that way. It is for that reason that it has been described as Africa's hidden first world war. HIV/AIDS is a problem, and part of the programme that we are undertaking involves work on dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, the
 
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single biggest challenge that the DRC faces is for the transitional Government to establish in the minds of the people the idea of a state, and the idea that there might be something called government that could have something to offer to the people of a country that has never had a Government. Now is therefore the moment for the international community to come in and support the transitional Government, and that is why the UK's aid programme in the DRC is increasing substantially.

Mr. John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): It so often appears that Africa is the forgotten continent when it comes to the international community's response. Will the Secretary of State use the good offices of the British Government to get the UN to take the problems of Africa in general, and the Congo in particular, far more seriously, and to put some energy into resolving conflicts and establishing the good governance for which that continent is crying out?

Hilary Benn: I do not think that there is a shortage of energy, effort or interest in that regard. Indeed, the most important development that has taken place in recent years has involved the energy, effort and interest shown by the countries of Africa themselves through the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development. If the right hon. Gentleman looks at the work that Said Djinnit, the peace and security commissioner, is now undertaking on the peace and security protocol, at the force that is in Burundi, at the work that has been done to put troops into Liberia, and at the effort being made to deploy monitors in Darfur, he will see that they are all signs of the steps that need to be taken. They also demonstrate that Africa is now acting to help itself, which is something that the whole House will welcome.

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