Gaza: Reconstruction
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Northover
We were very clear at the Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo that movement, including access restrictions, needed to be improved to have the kind of meaningful reconstruction that my noble friend is talking about. We have welcomed the agreement on the UN mechanism for importing construction materials as an important first step. Egypt’s actions in this regard are less than helpful, but Israel has primary responsibility as the occupying power and we continue to urge it to ease restrictions and reach a durable ceasefire agreement.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, at the Cairo conference, the DfID Minister declared on his return that a key ingredient for stability is a long-term strategy for Palestinian economic growth. What action is the department taking to ensure that that comes into place?
Baroness Northover
This leads back to the previous question. What is extremely important here is lifting many of the Israeli restrictions. Lifting restrictions in Area C alone, as he probably knows, could increase Palestinian GDP by $3.4 billion.
Malawi
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I, too, want to thank my noble friend for initiating this debate tonight. As we have heard, Malawi is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world, ranking 170 out of 187 in the Human Development Index and with rural poverty increasing in the last decade to 57% of the rural population.
Although fragile and despite many challenges, DfID’s latest annual report—which, I accept, is a little out of date—shows that Malawi’s macroeconomy is displaying some signs of improvement. There is no doubt that progress has been achieved through DfID’s focusing on the key priorities of attacking poverty and inequality, and through investment in education, health, agriculture, water and sanitation, with an emphasis on the rights of girls and women—that is absolutely right. DfID has promoted wealth creation and economic growth by expanding its private sector development portfolio to improve growth in the agricultural sector.
More women are being helped to access finance through village savings and loan schemes. Of the 26,000 additional people supported to access credit through DfID in 2013-14, 21,000 were women. DfID’s work in resilience is helping to improve rural incomes and reduce the vulnerability of farmers to external shocks. An additional 74,000 people were supported to cope with natural disasters in the 2013-14 period. In the same period it helped 140,000 people to have access to clean water and improved sanitation, and by 2015 it will have supported 750,000 people in that way.
Despite DfID’s work supporting accountability reforms and preparing for the 2014 general elections, poor governance and corruption continue to prevent Malawi from achieving its full potential. As we heard from noble Lords tonight, DfID has frozen its direct budget support to Malawi as a result of the so-called “cashgate” scandal, which saw substantial sums of aid funds going missing, with the Government of the then President, President Banda, being heavily implicated in the diversion of funds. This is the second suspension of direct aid arising from corruption in the past three years. As we have heard, the suspension is ongoing despite the May 2014 elections, which saw the removal of President Banda and her replacement with Peter Mutharika.
Clearly, we support the move to suspend aid if there is strong cause to believe that misappropriation is happening. However, for a country so dependent on aid, this is a huge hit, especially when other donor nations have also frozen budget support. I am of course aware that DfID believes that sufficient action has not been taken to address financial and management issues under the new Administration. However, in these circumstances there is a need for DfID to engage closely with the new Malawi Government to ensure that there is a clear road map of steps that can be taken that will lead to the reinstatement of budget support.
In that respect there are a number of questions that I would like to ask the Minister, which have been reflected already by noble Lords, particularly my noble friend. First, have DfID Ministers met with Malawi Government representatives to discuss progress on tackling corruption and steps towards the resumption of budget support? Secondly, what assessment has been made of the willingness of the new Government to take serious steps to improve financial management? Thirdly, what was the outcome of the DfID-funded forensic audit team operating in Lilongwe to attempt to identify misappropriated funds?
Despite the progress I have referred to, Malawi still faces huge challenges in health and education, where just 66% of young people complete their secondary school education. Can the Minister highlight for noble Lords what impact the suspension of budget support is having on public services? Is the department happy that the continuing funding for NGO-based programmes in Malawi is proving effective at limiting that impact? Moreover, as and when budget support recommences, is there the potential for back payments to be made that will help to reverse the negative impact of funding shortages on public services?
Sustained youth unemployment, underemployment and low pay are a severe drag on the nation’s ability to tackle poverty levels, a situation that is set to be exacerbated in a nation where almost 47% of the population is under the age of 14. As I have indicated, the UK’s development programme for Malawi rightly includes a substantial private sector development programme, but it is not clear that it is adequately focused on the particular issues of youth unemployment or on moving people from precarious work into more secure and properly remunerated jobs. The private sector development programme concentrates particularly on the oil seed sector and on reforms that would help to grow it as an export sector, but as with much agricultural work in Malawi, wage levels and working conditions are extremely poor. Is there enough focus on encouraging sustainable, properly remunerated employment in this sector, and how is DfID ensuring that its funding and support for agricultural regulatory reform strikes the right balance in enabling private sector led employment growth while protecting the small-scale farmers who make up the bulk of Malawi’s rural population from land grabs and unfair practices?
Some 20,000 farmers in Malawi currently benefit from fair trade schemes, particularly in the tea, coffee and groundnut sectors, with premiums being reinvested in rural schools, healthcare and infrastructure. However, with 90% of the population working in agriculture, there is clearly enormous scope for further expansion. Yesterday, along with my noble friend, I met with members of the team from the CDC Group who highlighted the direct investment being made in a company in the DRC to develop palm oil—in a very difficult situation for arable operations. This has already resulted in improved wages. I discovered that the negotiations with the trade unions were carried out on television, so they were there for everyone to see; it is a practice that we could perhaps adopt here because it might improve things. A major ingredient of the success which the CDC highlighted was the level of co-operation between DfID officials locally and the CDC in assessing the resilience and sustainability of what is clearly going to be a long-term investment. Does DfID’s private sector development programme in Malawi provide a specific focus on and assistance to the fair trade sector? Also, in encouraging British investment in Malawi, does the department, along with the high commissioner, actively seek to promote fair and ethical trade opportunities?
The noble Lord, Lord Steel, and my noble friend have raised the issue of visas, and I want to repeat their questions. In the end I would ask the Minister to ensure that there is a review of the current operation to assess its effectiveness, proportionality and impact on the current system of civic and community links. As my noble friend so ably put it, we must recognise the essential role that civic society can and should play in Malawi and among its partners in the United Kingdom—particularly, as we have heard in the debate, in Scotland. We must strengthen both economic growth and good governance.
Health: Ebola
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 2 months ago)
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Baroness Northover
The noble Baroness is quite right about the importance of public health in strengthening health systems and changing various cultural practices. I again pay tribute to those who are working there at the moment.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
Universal health coverage is an essential element. Will the Minister explain why the Government oppose that at the UN in terms of post-2015 objectives?
Baroness Northover
The United Kingdom supports the development of health systems in developing countries, and health is part of the approach to the new MDGs.
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Northover
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his thanks to the Government on this. I was a guest at a same-sex marriage very recently and found it extremely moving. The couple had had to overcome so many hurdles to get to a point that so many of us simply take for granted. My noble friend will know that the Bill sought to protect the position of religious organisations and that this is a matter for the Church of England. We hear what he says, and it is worth also bearing in mind that things can evolve. For example, it is good that we should soon see women bishops.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I know that the Minister is aware of the disappointment felt by many over the regulations tabled for debate yesterday. Although they made the administrative process easy, they failed to recognise that many in a civil partnership would wish to celebrate their marriage in the same way as all other same-sex couples have since March. I know that the noble Baroness understands the importance of setting the date. Will she therefore update the House on when the revised regulations will be published and tabled for debate? Perhaps on this occasion she could even offer to share a draft before they are tabled. Will she reassure us that they will still come into force on 10 December?
Baroness Northover
We are indeed determined that the regulations will be in place by 10 December so that civil partnerships can be converted to marriages. As the noble Lord will remember, in the consultation prior to the Act, the emphasis that came through from people feeding in their views on this was that they wanted to make sure that their civil partnership was properly marked and could be translated into an equal marriage. They wanted that to be as straightforward as possible with as few hurdles as possible. That was what was built into the Bill.
As the noble Lord will know, since then some people have felt that they want to mark that transition. He will also know that the Bill and regulations allow ceremonies to be associated, but they want to make that link closer. We are determined to try to make sure that everything that people want in this situation can be done within the complexity that he is familiar with within the Bill. Indeed, we are determined to deliver this by 10 December, and we are happy to discuss those draft regulations.
India
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Northover
I thank my noble friend for his tribute to the Government. I am proud to be part of a Government who have finally met that 0.7% target. Everybody in this House knows how important that is, and how small a contribution it is in financial terms. That is something that we need to get across to the public as a whole. There is a moral case for this; it is extremely important.
My noble friend will also know that, as India grows, it is transitioning to looking after its own people; that is key. I have seen major Indian government projects in place supported with DfID technical expertise. That is the right way to head.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, 15 years ago there were just two dollar billionaires in India; now there are 46. The total net worth of the billionaire community in India has climbed from 1% to 12% of GDP. That is enough to eliminate absolute poverty twice over, with enough left over to double spending on health. What steps will the Government take to ensure that this fundamental issue of income inequality is properly addressed at the UN talks on post-2015 SDGs?
Baroness Northover
The noble Lord will know from our own history that poverty alleviation in our country was a slow process. India is moving very fast. Over the past decade, it has moved from having 37% living in extreme poverty to 22%. The important thing, as the noble Lord rightly identifies, is India’s investment in its own people. I have said that what the Indian Government have put on the record is very encouraging, as they seek to eliminate poverty among all their people with, as they stress, inclusiveness in doing so.
St Helena
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Shutt, for initiating this debate. Building the airport, which is scheduled for completion in 2016, will be a catalyst for change in the island. It provides great opportunities for growth and jobs, but without proper investment the cost of failure will be high. As is common to small islands, St Helena is dependent on importing even basic items. It has a limited economy focused on less than a handful of sectors, a large public service, and as we have heard, hundreds of Saints have left in the last decades to seek opportunities abroad.
As the noble Lord, Lord Jones, reminded us, there is no doubt that we need to support and develop sustainable enterprise if St Helena is to be weaned off that budget support of around £25 million to £30 million a year. This Government reviewed the postponement of the project when they came into office and concluded that, provided certain conditions were met, the best long-term solution from an economic and financial perspective for both Her Majesty’s Government and St Helena was to construct the airport.
The noble Lord, Lord Shutt, said the airport was on time and on budget, but I would be grateful if the Minister would update the Committee on the progress in meeting the specific conditions, not least on handling the risk of cost and time overruns. One other key condition in that decision was for the St Helena Government to implement the reforms needed to open up the island’s economy to inward investment and increased tourism. The opening of the airport, as we have heard, will clearly have a substantial effect on visitor numbers to St Helena, but in the absence of accurate data it is difficult to forecast precisely what the numbers will be. I know both Her Majesty’s Government and the St Helena Government have commissioned a number of studies into the potential demand for travel following the airport opening.
As we have heard, current tourist accommodation on St Helena is severely limited. Meeting the visitor targets relies on the expansion of island resources and hotel capacity, but the infrastructure required to maintain a vibrant tourist industry is not just reliant on hotel rooms—important as that is. I refer to the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, about the specific elements of what a successful tourist industry needs to be.
I also refer to Horatio Clare’s excellent article supplied in the Library brief for this debate. He highlighted that without the Caribbean’s beaches or climate, even locals are a little unsure about what a tourist might do on St Helena. One said:
“A mix of walking, fishing, diving, heritage, Napoleon and wildlife”,
which agrees with what the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, said. Even that mixture requires investment, with support to heritage sites and wildlife protection. It also means investment in skills to ensure that the island has people who are qualified to maintain its natural sites of scientific interest, which will be an incredible attraction to the sort of tourists that we seek.
Internet connections are also vital to develop new industries, especially in supporting tourism. As the noble Lord, Lord Shutt, said, the Government are investigating funding and construction options with the aim of completing a hotel around the time of the opening of the airport. We have heard about the development agency that is seeking to work with selected air providers to develop and implement a marketing plan. However, that is all difficult while we do not know who the air supplier is. It will be very difficult to square those things together.
From what I have read in the briefing, it appears that a game of chicken and egg is being played out between the development body and the group of investors with ambitions to build the hotel discussed in this debate. Enterprise St Helena wants the developers to commit to building their hotel so that it can attract airlines. The developers—Shelco—say that the agency should produce an airline before it begins work on the hotel. We have to break that cycle somehow. The Minister wrote at the end of last year that there is an expectation that an agreement will be reached with the airline in early 2015. Like other noble Lords, I would appreciate an update for the Committee on what progress is being made.
As the noble Lord, Lord Jones, said, time is clearly running out on this issue. In January, the Minister reported that passenger numbers for the airport over its first five years would be 14,000, of which 10,200 would be leisure visitors. In May, the noble Lord, Lord Bates, who I am pleased to see here, said that the UK Government expect tourism to be the driver of growth on St Helena once the airport opens. In June, the Minister said in a Written Answer that Enterprise St Helena, the development agency, is leading plans to develop the tourism industry and accommodation. In parallel, ESH is working with local businesses to ensure that the island’s tourist attractions are developed and accredited to international standards. I cannot stress the importance of the points that the noble Lord raised on this particular case.
However, it appears from newspaper reports that there is a little scepticism locally about the projected figures for tourists and the speed at which the necessary infrastructure can be developed. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Shutt, for letting me have sight of the report he referred to from last year’s CPA visit to the island following the general election. For me, an important element of that delegation was that it also embraced representatives from the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Wales. As a point of interest, my own family is from Bermuda so I am familiar with small, remote islands. Some are more beautiful than others, as they say.
When I was at the T&G—the Transport and General Workers’ Union—I also had responsibility for establishing a forum of union membership from the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar. As I said, such territories have many challenges in common. Sharing experiences is important not only to address the issue of isolation—which is an important factor of development in St Helena—but also for looking at how to develop best practice and new opportunities, and see common ways forward, as we saw from the excellent report produced. I am glad it was produced. It highlighted a range of options, not least not to restrict yourself to tourism as other industries need to be built upon.
To conclude, could there be renewed focus in the department to encourage exchanges on best practice, support and information with other Crown dependencies, specifically—obviously, in the case of St Helena—on the development of tourism and new employment opportunities. Could such exchanges embrace the full range of stakeholders in those societies?
South Sudan
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Northover
We are concerned about not only those in South Sudan but obviously those who have been displaced into the neighbouring countries, who indeed have a destabilising influence. We are supporting both those within South Sudan and those in the neighbouring countries, and are very concerned about the instability caused by that.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I pick up a theme that has already been partly covered. People in this country respond generously to disasters when they happen. Here we know that a disaster is going to happen and that millions may die; they have not died yet. Can we have an assurance from the Government that they will act now rather than wait for a disaster to happen?
Baroness Northover
I assure the noble Lord that not only are we acting now but we were one of the leaders in putting into place plans in anticipation of what might happen. We took very seriously the advice that was put forward a year or two ago about being early responders, and are implementing that.
United Nations International Widows’ Day
Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Loomba, for initiating this debate and for his strong commitment to the empowerment of widows. It is only because of his commitment that we have International Widows’ Day. As we have heard, over the past 16 years the Loomba Foundation has lobbied the UN and Governments, and has succeeded in being heard. In 2005 the foundation launched 23 June as International Widows’ Day and the UN adopted it in 2010. It gives us an opportunity to raise awareness and focus on action to bring the often invisible issues affecting widows to international attention.
In every society, women have endured exclusion from their communities and families, and have suffered the loss of their homes, livelihoods and identities, all brought on by an event completely out of their control: the death of a husband—their life partner. Fifty years ago, my own mother was left a widow with four dependent children. Like the noble Lord, Lord Loomba, I was 10. We lived in a house tied to my father’s job. In a very short period, she had to cope not only with the grief of losing her husband but the loss of our home, family income and status. Her determination to keep us together meant facing a court hearing to be rehoused following our eviction and quickly finding a job to maintain a household.
Since then, we have seen progress in this country, with legislation for equal pay and against sex discrimination. Those changes in the law enabled my mother to become an economically active individual rather than dependent on the state—an issue so ably highlighted by the noble Baroness, Lady Nicholson. Today, widows in the West still face social isolation and commonly live with severe insecurity and poverty due to lack of employment. Persecution of and abuse against widows and their children is not a crisis limited to the developing world: large groups of widows can be found in those circumstances in Europe, including Russia, and central Asia.
Global research commissioned by the Loomba Foundation in 2009 revealed that 245 million widows and more than 500 million children suffer in silence worldwide. As the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, highlighted, more than 100 million widows live in poverty, struggling to survive. Many of these women and their children are malnourished, exposed to disease and, in some cases, subject to slavery. Widowed women experience targeted murder, rape, prostitution, forced marriage, property theft, eviction and social isolation.
As we have heard, today there are many more widows than ever before due to armed conflict, the AIDS pandemic and the age difference between partners, with many young women being married off to much older men. As we have heard in previous debates, among the survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide were thousands of women widowed during the conflict. In some parts of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, around 50% of women are widows. As the noble Baroness, Lady Nicholson, said, there are estimated to be millions in Iraq who have been placed in that situation, and 70,000 in Kabul, in Afghanistan.
In post-conflict situations, high numbers of children depend on widowed mothers—often young women, sometimes children themselves—as their sole support. The response of agencies such as UN Women has been to work in countries such as Rwanda, Pakistan and Afghanistan to advance widow’s rights—we have heard the noble Baroness, Lady Nicholson, talk about Iraq—through targeted programmes as part of their work to support women’s economic empowerment, political leadership and participation and, more importantly, a role in peace and security.
As the noble Lord, Lord Loomba, highlighted, Ban Ki-moon said last week when marking the 2014 International Widows’ Day that we need,
“stronger action to empower women, promote gender equality and end all forms of violence against women”.
Violence against women is one of the most widespread violations of human rights, affecting women of all backgrounds, ages, cultures and countries. Widows are no exception and may in fact be at particularly high risk of violence. In many countries, but particularly across Africa and Asia, widows find themselves the victims of physical and mental violence, including sexual abuse, related to inheritance, land and property disputes.
Last year, in a speech to the House of Lords, Lakshmi Puri said that the lack of reliable hard data remains one of the major obstacles to developing the policies and programmes to address the poverty, violence and discrimination suffered by widows. There is a need for more research and statistics disaggregated by marital status, sex and age, to help to reveal the incidence of widow abuse and illustrate the situation of widows.
Empowering widows through access to adequate healthcare, education—highlighted by the noble Baroness, Lady Nicholson—decent work, full participation in decision-making and public life and lives free from violence and abuse would give them a chance to build a secure life after treatment. Importantly, creating opportunities for widows can also help to protect their children and avoid the cycle of intergenerational poverty and deprivation.
At this point, I again pay tribute to the Government and, in particular, the Foreign Secretary, for leading the international community through hosting the recent Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. I welcome the Government’s support for initiatives that support widows through broader programmes working on women’s empowerment, asset ownership and inheritance and, through that, the targeting of cash transfer programmes. I should like to hear from the Minister how she believes such programmes are progressing and whether she can highlight those that we know are working more effectively and update us on their extension.
In a recent debate, I raised the conclusion of this year’s session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which I believe can make a significant contribution to this debate. The denial of the rights of women and girls remains the most widespread driver of inequality in today’s world. Gender-based violence, taking many forms, is a major element of that massive and continuing failure of human rights. What specific actions have the Government formulated to carry through the declaration and decisions of the New York meeting and to face up to the challenges identified by the commission both domestically and internationally?
Today’s debate is about our joint efforts to erase the stigma of widowhood, the barriers widows face to resources and economic opportunities to survive and the high risk to widows of sexual abuse and exploitation. I know from personal experience that widows are more than victims: they are mothers, caregivers and heads of households. They are the drivers of change, with their own aspirations and their own voices that need to be heard. Women’s empowerment and the protection of women’s rights are our greatest weapons to prevent discrimination and violence against women and girls—widows in particular.
African Legal Support Facility (Legal Capacities) Order 2014
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Baroness Northover (LD)
My Lords, this draft order covers the ratification of the international treaty agreement establishing the African Legal Support Facility. The order was laid before the House on 6 May.
Since its inauguration in 2009, the ALSF has grown its membership to 57 members, consisting of 46 African countries, five non-African countries and six international organisations. Its primary objective is to support African countries to make the most from their natural resources. It helps countries to combat vulture funds and strengthens legal expertise within Africa.
First, on extractives, Africa as a continent has been unable to capitalise fully on the development and growth opportunities offered by its significant natural resources. In many cases the exploitation of oil, gas and mining resources has helped to enrich the powerful and well connected, but failed to bring about widely shared poverty reduction. Many countries do not have the laws and rules required to create modern extractive industries that share the benefits from resource extraction through fair taxation and job opportunities for local people. Even where sound legislation exists, the capacity to implement it is often woefully inadequate. To make matters worse, poor people and communities often bear the brunt of the negative impacts of resource extraction such as environmental degradation, displacement and, in some cases, conflict.
Bad contracts are often the reason why extractive industries do not work for the poor. Governments in developing countries do not have the legal capacity to match the expertise that investors are able to mobilise through international law firms. This expertise is very expensive and therefore beyond the reach of Governments who do not even have the funds to pay their civil servants or deliver the most basic social services to their people. As a result, they lose out through bad deals.
Over 60% of ALSF’s active and completed projects are therefore assisting countries to negotiate complex commercial contracts, especially in the natural resource and extractive industries, that strike a better balance between host Governments and investors. It is important to emphasise that responsible investors are strongly supportive of the assistance that the ALSF provides because more balanced contracts are less likely to be renegotiated by future Governments.
A secondary objective of the ALSF is to support African countries facing legal proceedings by vulture funds. African Ministers have called on the international community to assist countries facing this challenge, particularly those that have benefited from relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. Vulture funds have been and remain a major problem for developing countries. They buy up commercial debt at a discount and then sue for the full amount plus interest. When vulture funds pursue settlement of these debts, they often use aggressive tactics such as seeking court orders to seize physical or financial assets belonging to the sovereign debtor. Vulture funds siphon resources that UK taxpayers and other international donors have pledged through debt relief and aid to African Governments for poverty reduction, and often base themselves in countries that require limited transparency, so it is difficult to restrict their practices. Although they are an important objective for the ALSF, there has been less demand for this service than on extractives. Combating vulture funds represents 22% of the ALSF’s completed and active projects.
Thirdly, the ALSF also provides technical assistance to regional members, to help strengthen their own legal expertise on extractives and vulture funds. Providing training for African lawyers means that they can take the lead for future debt and contractual negotiations.
Ratifying membership of the ALSF helps meet the UK’s commitment made as part of last year’s G8 presidency to support African leaders on making the most of their natural resources for inclusive growth. Membership of the ALSF is also part of DfID’s growing efforts to harness oil, gas and mineral wealth for economic development and poverty reduction. The Secretary of State for International Development has asked the department to scale up work on extractives with a focus on: raising global standards of extractives’ transparency and accountability, for instance through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which the UK helped to launch in 2005; increasing capacity of resource-rich countries to manage their resources better, especially through the department’s bilateral programmes in Africa and Asia; and building partnerships with the private sector to promote transparency, build skills and maximise the impact of their investments on poverty.
I therefore commend the order to the Committee.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I very much welcome the comments of the Minister in introducing this instrument. However, it is a bit unfortunate that it has taken nearly five years from 2009, when the UK signed the agreement for the establishment of the ALSF, to our taking this step today towards fulfilling our obligations under Article 3 of the agreement to grant the facility full juridical personality in the UK. Can the Minister explain that significant delay? I would also appreciate it if she could update the Committee on the status of the other signatories to the agreement fulfilling their obligations under Article 3, particularly the four other non-regional signatories—France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Brazil. I also wonder whether she could highlight whether the delay in obtaining the juridical personality has hampered the operation of the facility since its establishment.
As the Minister highlighted, one of the key tasks of the facility has been and remains to empower African nations in tackling vulture funds. Has she assessed how effective it has been in that role? She mentioned 22% of work in that respect. Given that the UK has introduced legislation domestically to rein in such funds, what steps have been taken to ensure that our experience and expertise gained is shared through the facility and other means? Has the department considered providing financial or material support to the facility to fulfil that role?
My final point is very much to welcome the decision to award £7 million to the facility over the next three years to provide legal support for the negotiations that the Minister highlighted about extractives contracts. Given the number of such contracts being negotiated in Africa over the coming years, does she believe that the planned split of the funding, with just 15% going towards the building up of domestic legal capacity, is adequate to build self-sufficiency in the sector?
Baroness Northover
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Collins, for his interest in this facility and also for providing me with his questions prior to this debate, which was extremely helpful.
This organisation clearly has significant potential impact. We are well aware that the rich mineral resources across Africa offer the potential for accelerated progress in poverty reduction. On the other hand, as the noble Lord indicated, there is a risk associated with that as well, and we have to make sure that the advantages of that richness in mineral resources benefit the people in these countries right across their societies. That is why we are taking forward our support for this organisation, which was initially begun under the previous Government and I pay tribute to them for that.
The noble Lord asked why it has taken five years to get this far, given that the United Kingdom signed the agreement in 2009. I reassure him that the slow ratification process has no direct impact on the operations of the African Legal Support Facility and the United Kingdom’s engagement with it. Ratification of an international treaty can take a very long time, as many official entities in the United Kingdom and elsewhere need to be involved, and a number of processes took longer than expected. In order to ensure inclusion and transparency, this necessarily included, for example, lengthy consultation with the overseas territories and Crown dependencies through the Ministry of Justice regarding their inclusion in the ratification of the agreement. Nine overseas territories and three Crown dependencies will, I am pleased to say, be included.
The noble Lord asked for an update on the status of other signatories in fulfilling their obligations under Article 3. I am very happy to provide those details for the noble Lord in writing.
He also asked about reviewing the effectiveness of operations and how that is looking at the moment. The ALSF governing council regularly reviews the effectiveness of its operations. While there were concerns about its value in initial years, new leadership has transformed its effectiveness. UK government officials maintain good links with the ALSF to exchange lessons, and DfID support forms part of a package of assistance from a wide range of donors. The ALSF agrees priorities for the use of these funds on an annual basis.
The United Kingdom is represented on the ALSF’s governing council, which obviously helps us to be well aware of exactly how it is moving forward and how we can best make sure that it benefits the communities that we are talking about here. Other organisations are also involved, including the World Bank, the Natural Resource Governance Institute and international senior lawyers. They have all helped in providing capacity building, and no doubt that is also helping the organisation to move forward.
Having paid tribute to the previous Government for initiating this process, I hope that the noble Lord and other noble Lords are reassured on those points.
Afghanistan: Quarterly Statement
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Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Secretary of State’s Statement. Last week, we paid tribute to the service personnel whose tragic deaths in Afghanistan were reported to the House. As we approach the close of a 13-year operation, there will be time to reflect on what has been achieved—but regardless of those discussions, no one can doubt the courage, care and sacrifice of the men and women who served and continue to serve our country in Afghanistan. The burden on their families, too, is something that few of us can imagine. Just this week, we had a stark reminder that the pain of war is not only physical but, increasingly, can be an initially invisible injury to mental health.
DfID works in some of the most dangerous and demanding places in the world, and Afghanistan presents a unique challenge. For more than 30 years, the Afghan people have seen their communities blighted by conflict and violence. Half the population is in need of development assistance and a third of the population is food insecure. The Opposition’s approach on aid in Afghanistan is to support and scrutinise, so I will ask the Minister about four specifics.
First, in March this year the Independent Commission for Aid Impact reported on DfID’s bilateral support for growth and livelihoods in Afghanistan. The report raised serious doubts about the long-term sustainability of progress made, weaknesses in design and a lack of consultation and strategic coherence. What steps have been taken to improve the department’s programmes in the light of these revelations?
The report also found that none of the programmes assessed had made any plans for drawdown. Can the Minister assure the House that preparations are now well under way in all DfID projects for the impact of this year’s drawdown? The report made three main recommendations: a six-month review of current and future projects; the implementation of an enhanced system of consultation; and a better approach and commitment to independent monitoring. Can the Minister tell the House whether all the recommendations were accepted and what progress has been made in fulfilling them?
Secondly, I associate this side of the House with the expression of deep sympathy for those affected by the massive mudslide in Badakhshan province, in which 2,000 lives were lost. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster the Secretary of State rightly prioritised the safety and well-being of the survivors. However, what assessment has the department made of the needs of the 4,000 displaced, what assistance have the Government offered to the Afghan Government and what, if any, has been accepted?
Thirdly, I turn to the country’s future and the role of women. In doing so, I pay tribute to the Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, who unfortunately is not in her place this afternoon, for their continuing commitment over a very long time to this issue. As we approach the second round of presidential elections, the Taliban this week announced the start of its annual summer offensive. Nevertheless, Afghanistan’s women seem determined that their voices will be heard and their votes counted. What additional measures have been put in place to protect the right of Afghan women to vote? I welcome the commitment to tackle violence against women as a strategic priority in DfID’s next operational plan for Afghanistan, for 2015-2019. Can the Minister confirm that the DfID approach will be informed by consultation with Afghans, particularly women’s rights organisations?
Lastly, I turn to the mechanics of the drawdown. As we have heard in previous debates, there are widespread concerns about the sustainability of development gains and the protection of civilians. What assessment has the Minister’s department made of the impact of the drawdown on DfID’s strategy, and what extra security requirements will DfID staff and local partners require after it?
In conclusion, stability in Afghanistan will cease to rely on international military might but instead on the Afghan forces, on an improving local economy and on international development funding. DfID staff and their partners will have a vital part to play in the future of that country. For the sake of the people of Afghanistan and all the Britons who have served there, drawing down must not mean turning away. For all their sakes, our commitment to build a lasting peace in a viable state goes on.