Baroness Massey of Darwen
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how their development policies support child welfare in Pakistan.
Baroness Verma
My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, for all the hard work she does in ensuring that the welfare of children across the world is raised continuously. The UK Government’s development programme promotes child welfare in Pakistan in several ways. Our support in education will help 5 million more children to attend primary school by 2013. Our support to the national health facility has helped to save 200,000 children’s lives, stopped 800,000 children from becoming malnourished and prevented 15,000 mothers from dying. Our humanitarian support after the recent flooding has provided more than half a million malnourished children with food supplements.
Baroness Massey of Darwen
I thank the noble Baroness for her kind words and for her response. In doing so, I declare an interest as a trustee of UNICEF UK. How are those efforts by so many organisations in Pakistan being co-ordinated with respect to children’s welfare?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, the UN is responsible for co-ordinating the international humanitarian response. All of DfID’s humanitarian aid is directed through UN agencies or established NGOs, in line with standard humanitarian practice. Each key area—health, water, sanitation, shelter and food—has a separate cluster, with members including the Government of Pakistan, various UN agencies, NGOs, DfID and other donors. Members, including officials from the Department for International Development, meet regularly to share information within and across clusters to ensure a co-ordinated and efficient response. The Secretary of State said in his ministerial Statement on 12 October that the “scale and shifting patterns” of the crisis make it a challenging situation.
Lord Chidgey
My Lords, although I thank my noble friend for that response, is she aware that in the 12 months before the flooding in Pakistan, the infant mortality rate rose for the first time for seven years, by 7 per cent? Are the Government’s plans for child welfare aimed at reversing that trend, which is obviously alarming, as well as coping with the additional challenges caused by the recent flooding?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that important question. DfID is supporting female health workers in Pakistan. We have supported health workers through the national health facility, providing nutritional advice and distributing supplements to pregnant women, adolescent girls and children. At the UN summit, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State made a further commitment to ensuring that the lives of 50,000 more women are helped to be saved by providing additional nutrients and nourishing meals, as well as making sure that facilities are in place in the health service.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
My Lords, can the Minister give this House an assurance that no money in the budget of the Department for International Development for Pakistan or any other country will be used in future for purposes currently funded by the defence department?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, all of DfID’s funds are in line with the strict guidelines of the OECD.
Lord Elton
My Lords, is the funding of which my noble friend speaks delivered to the eventual beneficiary by agencies of the Government of Pakistan, by voluntary agencies or by other means—and, if so, what means?
Baroness Verma
I thank my noble friend for that question. All humanitarian aid is given through NGOs, but DfID government programmes go through a number of organisations, and some go through the Pakistan Government.
Lord Brett
My Lords, in pursuance of the previous question, while appreciating the efforts that have been made internationally, UNICEF and a number of NGOs have been very critical about the efficiency and speed with which aid is getting through to those most in need. Given the Government’s previous assurances, how in their present endeavours are they ensuring that that is improved in the coming months, particularly in the light of the flooding disaster?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, I am sure that the House agrees that it has been a disaster on a huge scale. We are looking to ensure that our response is in line with that of other agencies. It is a really big disaster. All that I can say to reassure the noble Lord is that we will play our part at the forefront; we in DfID will do our very best to help all other agencies.
Viscount Slim
My Lords, there is some good news in Pakistan. I declare an interest in that I am heavily connected to 17 eye hospitals throughout Pakistan. At this stage, we have probably restored sight, given succour and repaired the eyes of 2 million Pakistanis, and a large percentage of them are children. The problem is the lack of hygiene in the villages. The dirt affects the eyes. In this instance, the money is getting to the right people, and the Pakistani surgeons are of the highest quality.
Baroness Verma
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Viscount on all the hard work he does. We recognise that a lot of good work is being done, but the department is reviewing its bilateral and multilateral aid to make sure that where our aid is being used, it is being used to the best possible advantage.
The Earl of Listowel
My Lords, does the Minister agree that it is important that women are not only the recipients of aid but are also drawn as far as possible into the political processes? Does she look, for instance, to the example of the work of CARE International? Will she use her department’s influence and example as far as possible to ensure that women are fully drawn into any discussions in this area?
Baroness Verma
I thank the noble Earl. As he is aware, we have put women and the empowerment of women at the heart of our priorities. We will work very closely with other departments and nations to ensure that women are at the forefront of decision-making whether in the political process or at civic level, which is also key to ensuring the empowerment of women and girls.