International Development: Universal Primary Education

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman]

My Lords, I and my colleagues on these Benches warmly welcome my noble friend Lady Verma to her new position. We wish her well. I am sure that all your Lordships will agree that her speech was full of assurance, with a comprehensive and attractive style.

I want to concentrate on the benefits of primary education, particularly in Africa, and the consequences for health. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Liverpool put his finger on one of the most important issues in education in Africa—reaching women, girls and, in particular, mothers, because they provide the leadership and encouragement for children to learn the importance of health and proper nutrition. In rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa, there remains a major problem with the supply of clean water. Unclean water can lead to not only high child mortality but a sense of depression—a circular depression—in terms of trying to improve the living standards of the communities.

I declare an interest; for the past 10 years, I have been chairman of a Christian charity, the Busoga Trust, which operates principally in Uganda, but offers advice in Kenya and Tanzania. It was the Bishop of Busoga, when he came to preach to a rather affluent community in one of the Kensington churches 25 years ago, who called for a more coherent effort in dealing with sanitation and water supply in Africa. It is a great tribute to him that 25 years later we have built more than 1,000 wells, principally in Uganda. We teach to women and children the importance of using clean water.

Perhaps I may paint a pen picture for your Lordships. In northern Uganda, next to the border with Sudan and the Congo, in many rural areas where there are no towns but small villages, children are still walking between three and five miles a day with jerry cans on their heads to collect impure water. The problem with impure water, when it comes from a well used by cattle, is that you get malaria from mosquitoes, and many other diseases that are often fatal. Child mortality falls where clean water has been introduced as a result of building a well and by providing education about proper sanitation and the use of that clean water. Typically, compared with the situation 10 years ago in the north of Uganda, when a clean well is constructed, the mortality rate falls; the women need to produce fewer children because more of them survive. It is as brutal as that.

I am glad that there is all-party support for what my noble friend outlined in terms of the importance of education. I must say also that there is all-party support for the 0.7 per cent target for international aid. It took some courage from both the previous Administration and the coalition to stick to that, because all the opinion polls were telling us that that was one departmental budget that should not be sacred. I am glad that it is.

I sense that there is all-party support, so I am sure that noble Lords will allow me to compliment colleagues in my party on an excellent document, One World Conservatism, which is available in the Library. It is not a party-political document. On page 38, it states that,

“60 per cent of Africans do not have proper access to sanitation … Moreover, safe drinking water is the development priority of poor people”.

This is bound up with what my noble friend on the Front Bench talked about, namely better primary education.

The coalition document, which noble Lords will have read, is also impressive. Page 22 deals with international development. The first of the two paragraphs that I will quote states:

“We will support actions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. In particular, we will prioritise aid spending on programmes to ensure that everyone has access to clean water, sanitation, health care and education; to reduce maternal and infant mortality; and to restrict the spread of major diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria”.

We all support those aims. The document goes on to state:

“We will support innovative and effective smaller British non-governmental organisations that are committed to tackling poverty”.

Perhaps I might conclude by making a special plea to the Minister to convey to her colleague the Secretary of State the wisdom of turning back the clock. I make no criticism of the previous Labour Administration for the amount of aid that was distributed. However, there is one small aspect of policy that we need to change. Clare Short in her wisdom decided to withdraw the direct grant to non-governmental organisations, principally charities, of 5 per cent of total aid spent, and to spend 100 per cent through the Government. That may seem a modest change, but it had a dramatic effect on charities such as the Busoga Trust. The aim of the coalition to support innovative and effective smaller British NGOs is wise because it can be cost-effective. I very much support auditing how aid is spent. The coalition document and my noble friend on the Front Bench are absolutely right: we must have value for money. That means checking that money is spent correctly, without corruption and in the most effective fashion.

I conclude by paying tribute to DfID staff. Many noble Lords who travel, principally in Africa, have met many of them. It is often a very hard and unrewarding job that is not fully appreciated by politicians who travel from the United Kingdom. DfID staff are at the sharp end and I am sure that all noble Lords will join me in thanking them, and all Ministers, for their hard work.