Oral Answers to Questions
Alan Duncan Excerpts(11 years, 10 months ago)
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Fiona O’Donnell (East Lothian) (Lab)
2. How her Department plans to reach its target of spending 0.7% of gross national income.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
The Government are committed to spending 0.7% of gross national income on development aid from 2013 and thereafter. The Department’s budget after the 2012 autumn statement adjustment, along with planned overseas development spending from other Government Departments, is set to meet this commitment.
Fiona O’Donnell
I thank the Minister for his answer. The Enough Food For Everyone If campaign has highlighted the value of investing in smallholder farmers: the men, or more often women, who already feed a third of humanity but are vastly under-resourced. Will the Minister confirm that as his Department’s budget increases he will increase funding for smallholder agriculture and support countries’ agriculture investment plans?
Mr Duncan
We give our full support to the recently launched If campaign; my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State went to the launch herself. I do agree with the hon. Lady that this should be a focus of our activity, as 90% of food comes from smallholders in their own countries. Supporting them and the markets in which they work is a crucial part of the activity we wish to undertake over the next few years.
Sir Malcolm Bruce (Gordon) (LD)
The Minister may be aware that the International Development Committee is publishing its report on the Department’s annual report tomorrow. Is he prepared to consider different ways of ridding the world of absolute poverty, such as setting up a development bank or offering loans so that we can reach more people, particularly poor people in middle-income countries where we do not currently have programmes?
Mr Duncan
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on that ingenious plug for his report and on the idea of a development bank. We remain open-minded and non- dogmatic about what we should do with our budget. What matters is what works. As always, we will study his report in detail and reply formally to any ideas in it.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
The Minister has indicated that we will meet the 0.7% commitment. Will he also assure us that when that money is deployed, we will ensure value for money and, most vitally, that corruption is addressed, particularly in parts of Africa?
Mr Duncan
I agree with the hon. Gentleman on all counts. Value for money and its proper evaluation are the principles by which we work every day. We focus a great deal on corruption, by which we mean the risk of fraud in the use of our funds and endemic corruption in the countries in which we work. To that end, we are publishing anti-corruption strategies for each of our bilateral countries, as recommended by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.
Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)
Now that we have reached the target of 0.7% of GDP, should non-governmental organisations and others not be focusing part of their attention on encouraging other G8 countries to meet that target? There is no point in our doing it if other G8 countries are not pulling their weight.
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)
I visited the west bank and Israel with colleagues last December, where I saw evidence of the daily indignity and injustice that Palestinians face. A number of EU and UK-funded schools in the west bank are under the threat of demolition orders. What are the Government doing to ensure that our investment is not wasted?
Mr Speaker
I think that we need to relate the matter to the question of 0.7%, which the Minister will be dextrous at doing.
Mr Duncan
Of course, some of the 0.7% of GNI, which we spend so well, goes to the Palestinian Authority, whose finances are in some peril. We wish to support them and we urge other countries to do so. A two-state solution, which we all want to see, is not served by a weak and fractured Palestinian Authority.
Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD)
The If campaign emphases that if other countries followed our example on the 0.7% target, enormous investment in small-scale agriculture and child and maternal nutrition could be delivered. Will the Government use this year’s hunger summit to state not only that other countries should meet the 0.7% target, but that they should spend the money on those priorities to address hunger and poverty?
Mr Duncan
There are many claims on the development budget, but as my hon. Friend says, such matters are a good and sensible call on it. They would be best served by other countries meeting the same sort of percentage commitment as us. The demand for assistance is almost insatiable, but so much good could be done if other comparatively wealthy countries followed our lead.
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
3. What steps her Department is taking to improve food security in west Africa.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
4. What assessment she has made of the proportion of GDP spent on overseas aid by the UK compared to equivalent spending by France and Germany.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
In 2011, the UK spent 0.56% of GNI on official development assistance, or ODA. France spent 0.46% and Germany 0.39%. As I said a moment ago, we will reach our 0.7% ODA target this year. At the June 2012 European Council, France and Germany recommitted to spend 0.7% of their GNI on ODA by 2015.
David Mowat
I thank the Minister for that answer. As we have heard, we are on a trajectory to meet the 0.7% commitment, but that determination is not shown by all our EU partners. Can the Government do more to encourage them to meet previously made commitments?
Mr Duncan
The priorities we set are shared by EU countries, and some states—Sweden and Denmark, for example—have reached 0.7%. Germany’s aid increased by 2.6% in 2011, and it has publicly committed to reach 0.7% after 2015. The Government strongly urge other EU countries to follow our lead, and commit to and reach 0.7%.
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
I welcome the Minister’s commitment to pressure other European countries to meet their targets and reach 0.7%. When the UK meets that target, how much will be made up of non-departmental spend?
Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot) (Con)
As my right hon. Friend knows, I am a huge fan of his, but I wonder whether he agrees that there is something arbitrary about 0.7%. The United Kingdom has taken a lead in the world and shown the way, and we can also add in what our armed forces have contributed. Given the desperate and catastrophic state of the public finances that we inherited from the previous Government, surely the time has come to freeze overseas aid spending and devote some of that money to our hard-pressed armed forces.
Mr Duncan
The 0.7% target is a long-standing campaign, and my hon. Friend is right to say that to some extent it is arbitrary. Even if countries reach that target, it could be argued that it would still not suffice for the needs of the world. As a doughty defender of the armed forces, I assure my hon. Friend that we are committed to spending 30% of our budget on countries that are fragile or at risk of conflict, which often means working with his friends in the armed forces. Even though 0.7% may be arbitrary, the results we get for the money we spend are not, and they are evaluated rigorously.
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)
6. What estimate she has made of the number of (a) internally displaced people in Syria and (b) Syrians displaced to Turkey and other countries; and if she will make a statement.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
The UN estimates the number of people displaced inside Syria to be about 2 million. There are an additional 700,000 Syrian refugees in need of assistance in neighbouring countries, including 163,000 in Turkey, 228,000 in Lebanon, 222,000 in Jordan, 79,000 in Iraq and more than 14,000 in Egypt.
Michael Fabricant
The tragedy in Syria continues. Last night, we heard on the news of 50 young men found in a river near Aleppo, each with a bullet through his head. The UN says that 60,000 people have died so far in the civil war in Syria. What further steps, if any, can we take to resolve this terrible situation?
Mr Duncan
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is currently at the UN high-level pledging conference for Syria in Kuwait where, I can tell the House, she has just announced a further £50 million for the UN Syria appeals. Together with the £21 million she announced during her visit to Jordan at the weekend, it means that the UK has doubled its funding for this crisis. We are now providing nearly £140 million to deliver emergency assistance to hundreds of thousands of people in Syria and the region.
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)
More than 650,000 people have fled Syria and 60,000 have been killed since the conflict began. Serious food and medicine shortages, and freezing weather conditions, are making access to basic services increasingly difficult. The Opposition welcome today’s announcement to increase humanitarian assistance to Syria, but what steps are the Government taking to assist UN agencies and NGOs to provide access to Syria?
Mr Duncan
As the House appreciates, because of the security situation inside Syria the humanitarian effort is primarily UN-led and it is working through respectable non-governmental organisations. If we were there ourselves it could put that effort at risk, so this requires careful diplomatic consideration. We have to ensure that the flow of aid, and the protection of those who deliver it, is paramount and retained.
Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West) (Con)
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
In addition to her Syria meetings in Kuwait today, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be attending the next meeting of the high-level panel in Liberia.
Charlotte Leslie
I thank the Minister for his answer. I had the privilege last night of attending a “Syria Speaks” event at the Southbank centre, where it was apparent how important the cosmopolitan secular nature of Syria is to the future stability of the country. What is the Minister doing not only to address the horrible humanitarian situation there, but to support the rich cultural heritage that is so important to its future?
Mr Duncan
My hon. Friend is right. Before the civil war erupted thanks to President Assad’s stewardship of his country, Syria was in many respects an example of religious harmony—I saw that for myself on a number of visits. It is a tragedy to see the country disintegrate, and there will need to be many diplomatic efforts to resolve the problems once the conflict has ceased.
Mr Ivan Lewis (Bury South) (Lab)
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his role today as joint acting Secretary of State—he has waited far too long and he is clearly enjoying it. This week the Prime Minister is co-chairing a meeting of the UN high-level panel on the future of global development post-2015. Last week, the Select Committee on International Development said that the Prime Minister needs to be clear about what he means by the “golden thread” of development. Will the Minister explain what is meant by the golden thread and, specifically, does it recognise that tackling inequality and supporting sustainable growth should be at the heart of future development policy?
Mr Duncan
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is absolutely right in his definition. Development is far more than just about handing out money; it is about draining the swamp of grievance and ensuring that in any country there is the rule of law, such as the property rights we were discussing earlier. It is only if we look at the whole picture of a country that we can properly achieve the development we want. The Prime Minister will be arguing that at the high-level panel, which he is co-chairing with two others.
Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
T2. My right hon. Friend will be aware of the huge difficulties in returning and reintegrating victims of human trafficking to their home countries. This is something with which his Department can assist, and I hope that he can tell the House that he is now looking to ensure adequate in-country funding for source country NGOs accordingly.
Mr Duncan
My hon. and learned Friend makes a good point, and that is why we are assessing the practicality of giving support to NGOs that work in countries where we have no other Department for International Development presence, even though they may be based elsewhere. Our main focus is on tackling the practice of trafficking in the workers’ countries of origin, and we are currently designing a cross-Asian anti-trafficking programme, the purpose of which will be to equip vulnerable people with knowledge of their rights and the means to enforce them.
Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)
T5. Yesterday’s failure to sign a Congo peace accord in Addis Ababa is very serious. [Interruption.] Will the Government carry out an immediate assessment of development projects in eastern Congo in view of the failure to resolve the situation on the ground?
Mr Speaker
Order. If Question Time is to be meaningful, questions and answers must be heard. We are discussing matters of momentous significance to the people concerned and it would show some respect if the House listened. Let us have a bit of order.
Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)
T3. What is DFID doing to encourage funding applications from the small organisations and charities we all have in our constituencies which support schools, hospitals and other aid projects in the developing world, and which often provide excellent value for money?
Mr Duncan
DFID established the global poverty action fund to support UK-based, not-for-profit organisations across the country to improve people’s lives in the world’s poorest countries. So far, 102 grants have been awarded, and these are helping more than 3 million poor people across 30 countries.
Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)
T7. Given the Government’s welcome support for the If campaign against hunger, is the Minister optimistic that the UK presidency of the G8 can tackle the corporate tax avoidance that deprives developing countries of so much badly needed revenue?
Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove) (LD)
T4. What is being done to ensure that the companies of the world smell the coffee, as the Prime Minister wants, when it comes to developing countries receiving their tax income?
Mr Duncan
It is the policy both of our presidency of the G8 and of DFID more generally in our work in poor countries to get far greater transparency from global corporations and to ensure that they pay their fair share of tax and that they do so to the most appropriate tax regimes in which they work.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)
T9. Given recent events, what additional help does the Minister propose to give to the people of Yemen?
Mr Duncan
The Friends of Yemen meeting is looming; we are supporting the social fund for development to meet urgent food and welfare needs; we are encouraging the Government of Yemen to set up an executive bureau for national dialogue; and we are ensuring that pledged funds can be properly disbursed so that they go to the projects that are so desperately needed.
Global Hunger
Alan Duncan Excerpts(11 years, 10 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
I thank the Labour Front-Bench spokesman, the hon. Member for Workington (Sir Tony Cunningham), and hon. Members for their restraint in speaking, so as to give me adequate time to answer the right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr Clarke). Indeed, I also thank him for securing this important debate, which is very timely, because today UK NGOs will launch their IF campaign, which highlights the precise issue that we are debating this afternoon—global hunger. In fact, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development is looking forward to speaking at the launch of the IF campaign this evening.
The Government recognise that global hunger represents a human tragedy that happens every day on a massive scale. Around 870 million people simply do not have enough food to eat, 165 million children are chronically malnourished and 2 million children die needlessly every year from malnutrition. So I am pleased to have this opportunity to set out the ways the Government are addressing the problem in 2013, a year in which the UK can play a transformative role in helping to end hunger.
The UK has a good, strong track record of taking action to prevent hunger. By 2012, the UK had met in full its commitments, made at the G8 L’Aquila summit in 2009, to provide resources to improve global food security. That has helped millions of people to fight chronic hunger and malnutrition in more than 20 countries. We expect to continue to provide a similar level of resources for the foreseeable future.
Looking to the future, the Government have committed to reach 20 million pregnant women and children under the age of five through our nutrition programmes; to help to ensure that 6 million of the world’s poorest people escape extreme poverty; and to ensure that by 2015 another 4 million people have enough food throughout the year.
Tackling hunger and malnutrition involves increasing the availability of food by boosting agricultural productivity. The UK Government support the agricultural research network—CGIAR—with resources for research to improve agricultural productivity, which will help to feed millions of people.
On the issue of land and its increasing attraction to investors, the Government believe that private sector investment in poor countries is key to achieving global food security and economic growth. We also believe that responsible commercial investment in small and large-scale agriculture has the potential to be transformational. However, it is vital that the rights and interests of people living and working on that land are taken fully into account.
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr Clarke) on securing the debate, and the organisations that have put together the IF campaign. By 2025, nearly 1 billion young people will face poverty because of malnutrition and hunger during their youth. The Minister rightly mentioned agriculture and the use of land. What work are the Government doing to ensure that Governments in developing countries and large corporations are actively working with an effective and ethical tax system to ensure that money stays in those countries for sustainable development?
Mr Duncan
Let me complete what I was saying about land, and I will then turn to tax. On the land issue, the key point is that we welcome the successful negotiation of the voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure, which were concluded by the Committee on World Food Security last year.
The UK Government absolutely recognise the importance of tax transparency in development. As the Prime Minister said at Question Time today, the UK will use its G8 presidency this year to tackle tax evasion and aggressive avoidance.
Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)
The Department for International Development has an excellent programme in Rwanda for registering the land of smallholders. Is there a possibility of rolling it out in other countries to ensure that smallholders have their title registered for security?
Mr Duncan
Absolutely. A proper legal framework for ownership of land is crucial if property rights are to be exercised fairly, particularly among some of the poorest people. That building block in any country’s framework of law is crucial for the guarantee of such rights.
To tackle hunger, we need to improve poor people’s access to food. They spend a large proportion of their income on food, so are least able to cope when food prices rise unpredictably. UK aid provides money to a consortium, led by FARM Africa and Self Help Africa, which aims to increase the production and returns of nearly 1 million smallholders. We also provide support for safety nets so that the poorest people have a buffer to help them to survive and recover from economic or natural shocks that threaten their ability to feed themselves and their families. For example, DFID supports the Ethiopian Government’s productive safety net programme, which provides predictable cash or food payments to around 8 million people.
Robert Halfon
I fully support the campaign for enough food for everyone, and I particularly congratulate Save the Children. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the UK should support increased fiscal transparency in developing countries so that their citizens can hold their Governments to account and press for greater civil participation for local citizens to see better how their money is spent to increase food supply?
Ultimately, our aim is to ensure that poor households, particularly those with young children, do not suffer from the sort of malnutrition that the right hon. Gentleman described. DFID is scaling up its nutrition programmes in more than 10 countries. We recently announced a new three-year £35 million programme in Yemen, for example, to treat and prevent under-nutrition among 1.65 million women and children. I take a particular interest in that country, where it is thought that perhaps a third of all children under five are malnourished.
We also contribute to research and development to improve the nutritional content of staple food crops. In Africa and Asia, with UK support, HarvestPlus is providing seeds and tubers nutritionally enriched with vitamin A, zinc and iron, which should benefit more than 3 million people.
Of course, no country or Government can tackle global hunger alone. Last year, the UK supported the launch of the G8’s new alliance for food security and nutrition, which aims to lift 50 million people in Africa out of poverty through economic growth and agriculture. This year, during our G8 presidency, the Government will attempt to improve and expand the new alliance. We will work to bring in more African countries and deepen its impact; for example, providing a strong focus on empowering women, who make up 40% of the world’s agricultural work force, and on promoting responsible private sector investment in African agriculture.
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)
I am grateful to the Minister for giving way; he is being generous. An issue that he has not yet touched on in any detail is the importance of tackling corruption, ensuring that any money, whether tax or aid, is used to deal with economic development and poverty. Can he include a comment about that?
Mr Duncan
Certainly. There are two aspects of the overarching label of corruption. First is the risk of our taxpayers’ money being fraudulently diverted, which happens minimally and against which we have the most rigorous safeguards in all our practices in the Department. The second is a broader issue. In many of the countries where we work, there is endemic or pervasive corruption in society and among politicians. We will therefore soon be publishing, as recommended by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, corruption strategies for each of the countries where we work, primarily directed at the pervasive corruption in the country itself but always with an eye on how our own funds are properly used, I hope, in that country. The hon. Lady is absolutely right, because ultimately those who suffer from corruption are the poorest.
The UK is a partner of the Scaling Up Nutrition movement, which is a coalition of developing countries, donors, international agencies, NGOs and businesses, spearheading efforts to build an effective international response to the problem of under-nutrition. As part of our Olympic legacy, in 2013 the Government will host a follow-up to last year’s hunger event to continue our focus and that of the world on the issue. NGOs play a vital role on the ground delivering key food and nutrition services. They help to build national awareness and consensus on problems that are often complex. The NGOs’ IF campaign will therefore provide welcome momentum.
While working hard to tackle global hunger, the UK will continue to provide humanitarian relief and respond to emergencies as they arise. This year, for instance, we will provide £15 million to support more than 500,000 people in five Sahel countries. Furthermore, the Prime Minister has a role as the co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda. The Government will have a role in shaping the future of development and an end to poverty. Finally, again this year, the UK will be the first G8 country to meet the commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on official development assistance, giving us greater capacity to address the challenge of hunger and poverty, among many other such challenges. In conclusion, I assure the House that the Government’s commitment to tackling global hunger for the very poor will continue with renewed purpose in 2013 and beyond.
Hugh Bayley (in the Chair)
An excellent debate, which I am very glad to have heard. At the launch later this evening, I hope to see some of the Members who participated, including those who were present throughout the debate but were unable to speak, such as the hon. Members for Upper Bann (David Simpson), for Banbury (Sir Tony Baldry) and for Ipswich (Ben Gummer).
Tax (Developing Countries)
Alan Duncan Excerpts(11 years, 11 months ago)
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Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)
I congratulate the Chair of the International Development Committee, the right hon. Member for Gordon (Sir Malcolm Bruce), on opening the debate. I commend the work of the Committee members on this important report and its insights into and contribution to the subject of tax in developing countries. The Opposition very much welcome the nature of the report and its hard-hitting recommendations. Alongside the recommendations already adopted by the Government, we hope that the Minister and her colleagues will look hard and closely at the others discussed by hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden), which have the potential to make a significant contribution if furthered by the UK Government.
Government Members and my hon. Friend have highlighted in the debate and through their work in the Committee and elsewhere that tax and public finance are the backbone of governance, state-building and effectiveness in any society. They are a vital component of public accountability and democracy. If the international community can do one thing to transform positively the politics and governance of developing countries, enabling them to become self-sufficient, it is to support efforts to collect the correct tax revenue and to ensure that it is spent properly, free from corruption.
The right hon. Member for Gordon mentioned a number of examples of progress being made thanks to investment over a number of years by DFID and others. Countries such as Rwanda and Tanzania, among others, give us signs of hope about how much progress can be made if we make the right investments and help with capacity building, supporting those countries to make the transformative changes to build their states and systems so as to be able to generate the kind of revenues to which they are entitled but which are currently being lost. As made clear by the Committee, we can therefore genuinely look forward to the opportunity for developing countries to be much less dependent on aid, which is surely in the best interests of the countries concerned, as well as of those countries contributing to the aid budget. It would not mean that developing countries will not need our support, but it would mean that they become more independent and self-sufficient, which is exactly what people in those countries want. Our duty is to ensure that we make the contribution and the changes, and to show the leadership required to enable that to happen.
A legitimate and accountable system for tax revenue is therefore critical to alleviating poverty, which my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield highlighted eloquently in his speech. He also spoke highly of the contributions of campaigning organisations such as Christian Aid, and I want to mention the campaign efforts of ActionAid, which has done a great deal of work with political parties across the board and with the Committee.
The report points out that in excess of $13 trillion may be hidden in tax havens and that the estimated cost to developing countries per annum is likely to be around £160 billion, a figure far exceeding the global aid budget. Imagine what could be achieved if that money was available to deal with global poverty.
I want to focus on a number of themes, some of which have already been discussed. I shall pick out three key recommendations of the Committee. I want to discuss controlled foreign companies and the Government’s response to the Committee’s recommendation of UK candidateship of the extractive industries transparency initiative. Hon. Members have raised both issues, but I have a few questions. The third area is the Government’s response to the Committee’s recommendation on the Commonwealth Development Corporation.
The report addresses the Government’s relaxation of their anti-tax-haven law—the controlled foreign companies rules. As my hon. Friend said, the Prime Minister demanded bold steps from his fellow G8 leaders when the UK took over its presidency. He pledged that the UK chairmanship would, among other things, focus on tackling tax dodging. However, the current reforms to CFC rules do not meet the Government’s rhetoric. Although we appreciate the need to reform those rules to provide certainty and an attractive climate for businesses based in the UK, there are, as the report and hon. Members here today pointed out, real concerns among Members of Parliament and organisations that campaign on the issue that that will lead to a setback and damage the prospect of developing countries being able to raise the sort of revenue that they have raised in the past.
Action Aid said of the changes that
“a significant deterrent that discourages UK-based companies from shifting profits from developing countries to tax havens”
will be lost and estimates that reforms may cost developing countries as much as £4 billion. If that is true, as many have indicated is likely, it is a scandal that the Government will preside over the change, and shameful that they will not consider the matter and take on board the Committee’s recommendation to carry out the impact assessment. That recommendation was also made by my party during discussion of the 2012 Finance Bill when an amendment was tabled to ask the Government to reconsider.
Will the Minister work with her colleagues in the Treasury and consider the matter again? As hon. Members have said today, the climate is right, and the opportunity exists—the British public are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers and immorality of tax avoidance as well as tax evasion—for the Minister to work with her colleagues to ensure that the change does not damage prospects for people in developing countries and that the loss of revenue does not happen. The sum is £4 billion, although the Government dispute that, but even if it is less it is a significant sum, which could make a difference to some of the poorest people in some of the poorest countries in the world.
The hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Pauline Latham) raised the important issue of the EITI, and I want to reiterate her point. Given the leadership role taken by the former Labour Secretary of State, Clare Short, and others—the British Government are recognised as having achieved this important development—it is right and it is time that the Government signed up to the EITI. We would show not only that we were the initiator, but that successive Governments have led by example, and this seems to be an opportune time to do so. Will the Minister work with her colleagues to reconsider the recommendation, and move from disagreeing to agreeing?
The right hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Andrew Stunell) referred to a key recommendation on CDCs, and it is clear that there are inconsistencies in what the Government are saying. Surely it is more appropriate and sensible to put serious weight behind transparency, and this is an important way in which to do so. Will the Minister say whether the Government will reconsider? The issue is tied in with country-by-country reporting by multinationals, not only in the extractive industries, but multinationals generally. Many are increasingly under public scrutiny for some of their actions, which people believe are unethical, and are attempting to improve their behaviour. The Government should show leadership, and one way of doing so is to increase country-by-country reporting and transparency. I hope that the Minister will look at the matter again, consider the views represented in the Chamber and expressed by the Select Committee, and rethink the Government’s position.
To reiterate a point that others have made, this issue is critical, but some people will say that it is not the most—
Rushanara Ali
The Minister used the word, and I will not repeat it. The issue is significant. If we get it right, tax and revenue raising for development will be a major contribution. It is not a magic bullet, but if there were something close to one, this is it. The Select Committee’s contribution in pulling the evidence together and highlighting the scope for action comes at an important moment. The public are leading the debate through their campaigning in the domestic arena, and people are increasingly recognising the immorality of tax evasion and avoidance, and this is an opportunity for the Minister and her Government to consider how to close those tax loopholes and to ensure that countries receive the revenue that is generated but that they are losing. The Government must provide the necessary support to make that happen. I hope that she will take on board the questions and issues that have been raised today.
Afghanistan
Alan Duncan Excerpts(11 years, 11 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon (Sir Malcolm Bruce) for securing this debate. We in the Department for International Development welcomed the International Development Committee’s report on Afghanistan, to which we have of course already formally replied. Put simply, the Government strongly agree with the majority of the Committee’s recommendations. In particular, we recognise that the next few years hold considerable uncertainty, and we welcome the Committee’s judgment that we retain an obligation both to the Afghan people and to British service personnel to continue our assistance for many years to come. That is why, at the Tokyo conference last July, we worked hard to secure long-term support from our international partners for Afghanistan’s development beyond security transition in 2014. I can tell the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali), who is the Opposition Front-Bencher, that the UK is specifically committed to maintaining its current aid—approximately £178 million a year at the moment—beyond transition until at least 2017.
We are now working closely with the Afghan Government to ensure that they deliver the essential economic and governance reforms agreed at Tokyo. Although it is still early days, I am pleased to report some good progress. Structures are now in place to monitor performance against the Tokyo commitments. Let me assure hon. Members that we will link our long-term support to progress by the Afghan Government on these critical reforms.
However, we do not support the Committee’s recommendation for a mechanistic link between performance and financial support. Nevertheless, the House should be in no doubt that we will act when we need to, as we did, for instance, in suspending Afghan reconstruction trust fund payments following the Kabul bank crisis. And as co-host of the ministerial review conference in 2014, we will engage with our international partners to speak with a unified voice.
As my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon said, Afghanistan is perhaps the worst place in the world for a woman to live, and that point was profoundly echoed by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Pauline Latham). A key commitment at Tokyo was strong action on women’s rights. As the Committee’s report said and as hon. Friends have highlighted during this debate, Afghan women and girls continue to face enormous disadvantages. The Secretary of State for International Development has made clear the priority that she places on this issue, including on her recent visit to Afghanistan, where she raised her concern directly with President Karzai.
We are already supporting a range of initiatives that we hope will benefit Afghan women. Thanks in part to UK support, there has been considerable progress in girls’ education, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon, mentioned; there are now more than 2 million girls in school, when there were virtually none in school in 2001. Almost one in two pregnant women in Afghanistan receive antenatal care today, compared with only one in six in 2003. We have also contributed to improving women’s access to justice and jobs.
It is also important for us to say that we agree with the Committee that violence against women remains a significant concern, and I commend the work of NGOs such as ActionAid in trying to combat that violence. The UK will continue to press the Afghan Government to implement the current law on the elimination of violence against women, or EVAW. Through the Tawanmandi programme, we are also supporting 35 women’s organisations to take forward a range of activities, including raising awareness of the EVAW law and providing legal support and shelters to victims of violence.
We continue to look for ways to improve opportunities for Afghan women and girls in all our programmes. In the next few months, our focus will be on supporting women to participate in the political process and in elections in 2014. However, we do not agree with the Committee’s recommendation for a joint Government-donor plan for women and girls through transition. The Afghan Government’s commitments to women and girls are already laid out in the Tokyo framework, and it is important that we focus our efforts on ensuring that those commitments are delivered. In our view, drafting another plan risks becoming a distraction.
The UK already supports Afghan women in public life. Our work with the Afghan Interior Ministry is helping the Afghan police to protect and uphold women’s rights. The British embassy in Kabul also funds organisations such as the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, to ensure that they can continue to operate effectively and with the necessary security.
In the same vein, and as my right hon. Friend said, we disagreed with the Committee’s proposal for the establishment of a new oversight body to investigate allegations of violence by the Afghan national security forces. There are a number of existing mechanisms, both within the Afghan Government and externally, to carry out that function. As part of the UK’s work with the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Defence in Afghanistan, we already train, advise and mentor staff on a range of issues, including human rights. Given the number of challenges ahead, it is important that we focus our efforts on what needs to be done and avoid any duplication of process. For example, as highlighted on page 45 of the Committee’s report, it is absolutely essential that access to education, health care and other basic services is improved for the long-term stability of Afghanistan.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy) raised a number of issues, including concern about the development of the private sector. I suggest that DFID’s approach to wealth creation is much broader than the Committee’s report has suggested. Our programmes range from encouraging international investment and building regional trade links right down to providing support for local farmers’ co-operatives and skills training.
For instance, in Nangarhar province we are supporting rural entrepreneurs to produce high-value vegetables, and in Kama district we are successfully supporting poultry businesses that are providing jobs for women in 20 villages. As for extractives, which I totally agree is perhaps the largest and most important sector in Afghanistan and one in which there is of course enormous scope for corruption, DFID has supported the Ministry of Mines since 2010 to develop a regulatory framework, to encourage international investment and to ensure that effective management of the country’s mineral wealth can be built up. Furthermore, we are currently developing a package of continuing support in this sector. On the more detailed area of infrastructure, I undertake to write to my hon. Friend with more detail about such issues as roads.
Let me reassure the Committee and the House that our programme is already carefully balanced between developing the capacity of the Afghan Government at national and provincial levels to manage services, and ensuring effective delivery in the districts.
I now turn to the serious issue raised by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden). We agree with the Committee that Afghanistan faces significant humanitarian challenges, and I can confirm to the House that we are committed to continuing to build up our humanitarian programme. Last year, my Department delivered life-saving assistance to more than 5,600 families who had been affected by the 2011 drought and provided food and other essential household items to around 150,000 internally displaced people in Afghanistan. As recommended on page 80 of the Committee’s report, we are also engaging with rural communities to help them to strengthen their resilience to these changes. And DFID is currently developing a multi-year, multi-sector package of support for some of the neediest sectors in Afghanistan, to deal with issues such as nutrition and food security.
We are working hard to ensure that ordinary Afghans have opportunities to make a decent living for themselves and their families, while helping to stimulate long-term, sustainable economic growth in the country. We disagree with the Committee’s finding that DFID’s approach to wealth creation is too centralised and disconnected from the needs of ordinary Afghans, as I hope that I have illustrated by giving those two examples just now. As I was saying earlier, our programmes range from encouraging international investment support at the regional level right down to the village level. Indeed, UK aid has equipped more than 11,200 young people in Helmand, including 1,900 women, with vocational skills.
Let me turn to what my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon, at the start of his comments, referred to as DFID’s unique mandate to create a viable Afghan state. I sense from his comments that he regards that idea as somewhat fanciful. We agree with the Committee that DFID cannot deliver a viable Afghan state on its own, but we do not believe that the objective is a redundant concept. On the contrary, the goal, shared by the Afghan Government and our international partners, is essential to securing Afghanistan’s long-term stability and future. In some respects, these are early days in the history of the country.
The goal is also consistent with DFID’s approach to working in fragile and conflict-affected states worldwide. The Prime Minister has said, and this encapsulates our thinking, that
“you only get real long-term development through aid if there is also a golden thread of stable government, lack of corruption, human rights”
and
“the rule of law”.
By contributing to the objective of the development of a viable Afghan state, we are helping to ensure that the Afghan people have a stake in their own future, through a Government who are more accountable and transparent, and capable of responding to their basic needs.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon mentioned community development councils, and DFID is working with the World Bank, other donor partners and the Afghan Government on the future role of the councils, including how best to integrate them into the government structure below the level of central Government. The point that he made is a valid one, and we are already taking steps to implement the sorts of things I sense he would like to see. We agree, of course, with the Committee that NGOs also play a vital role on the ground in Afghanistan, delivering key services and assistance to the Afghan people, and we will continue to support such essential work.
Finally, we welcome the Committee’s acknowledgment of the immense challenges that exist in delivering results in fragile and conflict-affected states such as Afghanistan, and also its appreciation of the efforts of DFID staff. Despite the challenges, we continue rigorously to ensure that DFID programmes are robust enough to deliver real results for the Afghan people and that there is value for money for the UK taxpayer. I have been encouraged by many of the comments and questions that we have heard this afternoon and, on behalf of DFID, I reassure the House that our commitment to this desperately poor country will continue for many years to come.
Bangladesh
Alan Duncan Excerpts(11 years, 11 months ago)
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Mrs Main
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what outcomes she expects from her Department's funding through the Manusher Jonno Foundation in Bangladesh.
[Official Report, 22 October 2012, Vol. 551, c. 718W.]
Letter of correction from Alan Duncan:
An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) on 22 October 2012.
The full answer given was as follows:
Mr Duncan
By 2013, the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund, implemented by the Manusher Jonno Foundation, is expected to have enabled 253,000 poor and vulnerable people to benefit from social safety net programmes, 11,700 children to be withdrawn from hazardous work, and 121,000 workers in garments and shrimp industries to be paid on time and have improved working conditions. In 2011 alone, the programme supported 5,755 women to receive government land that is meant to be allocated to poor people, and 7,000 boys and girls to obtain stipends from the government to attend school.
The correct answer should have been:
Mr Duncan
By 2013, the Rights and Governance Challenge Fund, implemented by the Manusher Jonno Foundation, is expected to have enabled 253,000 poor and vulnerable people to benefit from social safety net programmes, 11,700 children to be withdrawn from hazardous work, and 212,000 workers in garments and shrimp industries to be paid on time and have improved working conditions. In 2011 alone, the programme supported 5,755 women to receive government land that is meant to be allocated to poor people, and 7,000 boys and girls to obtain stipends from the government to attend school.
Oral Answers to Questions
Alan Duncan Excerpts(12 years ago)
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Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)
4. How her Department plans to reach the Government’s target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on development aid by 2015.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
The Government are committed to spending 0.7% of gross national income on development assistance from 2013 and thereafter. The Department’s budget after the 2012 autumn statement adjustment is sufficient to meet this commitment, along with planned official development assistance from other Government Departments.
Ian Murray
The coalition agreement states that the Government will enshrine in legislation the 0.7% commitment. Can the Minister tell us when the Government will work towards that commitment or is it just another broken promise?
Mr Duncan
The Prime Minister has been absolutely clear that the Government will introduce legislation to make this a legal requirement as soon as parliamentary time allows. As evidence of good faith, the hon. Gentleman should notice that we are behaving as if the legislation were already in place, and we will meet the 0.7% commitment.
Chris Ruane
What is the Minister’s assessment of the implications of the decrease in absolute spending on development announced in the autumn statement?
Mr Duncan
The effect is to reduce the immediate planned budget by £804 million—a reduction of about £2 billion since the original spending review period. We will, of course, make adjustments to make sure that our spending within those reduced figures retains the value for money that we see as such a high priority.
Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
In his first answer, the Minister made reference to the contributions of other Departments. For the sake of clarity and for the benefit of those of us who think 0.7% is on the high side, will he confirm that the Foreign Office will make a significant contribution, given that so much of its work can be said to contribute to development?
Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon) (Con)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the Government’s commitment to move towards 0.7%, and express the view that, providing we are doing it, we do not really need to enshrine it in legislation. He will know that many of our constituents are not yet persuaded that every single pound we spend is value for money. What more can he do to reassure our constituents that this excellent British aid does not end up in Swiss bank accounts, but meets the needs of people in real poverty?
Mr Duncan
I assure my hon. Friend—and the whole House—that every day we as Ministers, and all who work in DFID, do our utmost to secure value for money. Although my hon. Friend thinks that it may not be necessary because we are already moving towards the 0.7% target, legislation serves as an example to the rest of the world and, I hope, as a weapon for us to use in order to persuade other countries to follow suit.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
There is continuing concern throughout the United Kingdom about the level of waste as we make progress towards our 0.7% target. Can the Minister assure us that every possible objective will be met in efforts to minimise waste, and to ensure that the target, if it is met, benefits those who are most in need?
Mr Duncan
Absolutely. I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s question, because it illustrates the determination with which we seek value for money and take every possible opportunity to eliminate waste so that we can focus our taxpayers’ resources on the poorest people in the world, who are in such genuine need.
Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)
5. What progress her Department has made on developing sustainable development goals.
Mr Speaker
Order. May I just remind the House that we are discussing extremely serious matters? This question is about Burma, and it would be a courtesy if Members would listen to the question and to the Minister’s answer.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), who has responsibility for Burma, will visit Rakhine state this coming Friday and Saturday, when he will see the situation at first hand and meet senior Burmese Ministers. The Burmese Government have founded an independent commission to investigate the situation in Rakhine state. The UK is very closely engaged with all parties to push for greater humanitarian access and a longer-term political settlement, including on citizenship.
Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)
T2. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, under a Conservative Government. Does the Minister agree that the work it does is extremely valuable in building democracies and is a good use of taxpayers’ money?
Access to Sanitation
Alan Duncan Excerpts(12 years ago)
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Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab/Co-op)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long) on choosing this subject for the debate. I should also like to thank the Minister, who I am sure has okayed my contribution this evening.
Jim Dobbin
I speak as the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on child health and vaccine preventable diseases. The other co-chair is Lord Avebury. I tabled an early-day motion recently on this subject, and it now has quite a number of signatures. I am also vice-chairman of the Council of Europe public health committee.
Diarrhoea is the most common cause of childhood illness and kills about 760,000 children each year. Around 90% of those deaths are caused by a lack of access to safe water, adequate sanitation and hygiene. Those deaths are preventable. Vaccines against rotavirus, the most common and severe diarrhoea in children, are critical, and their availability is a major development in public health. However, those vaccines should not be seen as a silver bullet for tackling diarrhoea; nor can they address the other health impacts of a lack of sanitation.
Reducing deaths from the top killers of children requires the prioritisation of interventions across different sectors, including health, nutrition, hygiene, water and sanitation. We must apply the package of prevention and treatment solutions that we know to be effective, and this must be built on solid collaboration between health systems and the water and sanitation sector.
This was reinforced last year when I visited health care facilities in Bangladesh and Kenya, where we were launching a programme of vaccination. I witnessed extremely successful vaccination programmes in both countries, which were helping to protect children against terrible diseases such as pneumonia. During my visit, however, I was struck by the poor levels of basic sanitation and access to clean water at many of the health care facilities we visited. This emphasised to me how important it is to ensure that preventive measures such as vaccines are coupled with improvements in sanitation and access to clean water.
I also saw on these visits small wards packed with up to 25 children, with the mothers in the same ward. I saw three babies in one incubator, and I saw a single oxygen cylinder with five or six lines coming out of it. It is all the basic stuff that is missing there. The vaccination was great—it is absolutely superb—and the efforts of the medics and nursing staff in each of these hospitals was just brilliant. The common basic hygiene and sanitation, however, are just not there.
It so happens that I will be in Geneva tomorrow with the Earl of Dundee, who is the chairman of my Council of Europe committee. We are going to be in discussions with the World Health Organisation, UNESCO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. The issue of sanitation is one that we want to raise, because this is a global problem that needs to be tackled globally. I wanted to make only a short contribution; I will be interested to hear the Minister’s response.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
I thank the hon. Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long)for calling what I think is the second debate this year on this important issue. Making progress on the appalling world statistics on access to sanitation is vital to the health and well-being of poor people. I commend the hon. Lady for her efforts on this topic. If I may put it this way, I think she has become one of Parliaments supreme champions—if not Parliament’s main champion—on this issue.
It is truly shocking that in 2010, 2.5 billion people—nearly 40% of the global population—remained without access to the improved sanitation that would have protected their health. Even more shocking is the fact that 1.1 billion people have no form of toilet at all. This is why the UK Government have given sanitation such a high priority. The previous Secretary of State announced in April this year that the UK would increase its ambition and reach 60 million people with sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene. As I said in my speech in March, providing these services is the bread and butter of development. I have seen for myself in my visits to countries such as Yemen and Bangladesh, which the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Jim Dobbin) has mentioned, how effective DFID sanitation programmes are on the ground.
Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab)
On the commitment given back in April, I appreciate that we are just six or seven months on, but is the Minister in any position at all to tell us what progress has been made towards that 60 million target in 2015? Is progress really being made?
Mr Duncan
Since the announcement was made only recently, it is probably a little premature to report on progress because results come after the investment has been made in the area, but I undertake to keep the hon. Gentleman and the House fully informed of our progress. Through debates such as this, we will continue to treat this as a highly important topic.
We know the enormous impact that the lack of a basic toilet has on people’s health and livelihoods. People who do not have adequate sanitation are far more likely to get sick than those who do, and it is often young children who suffer the most. The World Health Organisation estimates that up to 2.4 million deaths could be avoided each and every year simply by providing good sanitation, safe water and good basic hygiene.
Poor sanitation does not only cause sickness. As the hon. Lady pointed out, women who lack toilets are at a much higher risk of sexual and other violence as they try to find secluded and private places. Without a decent toilet, women and girls cannot manage their menstrual periods privately and with dignity. Having nowhere to safely clean and dry their rags can lead to reproductive tract infections, which can be the most horrid things.
We know from the United Kingdom’s own history the importance of sanitation to the economy and health of our people. This very Chamber was closed during the “great stink” of 1858. Not long afterwards, improvement in the treatment of London’s sewage led to a great improvement in the health of our capital city. We also know from the World Bank that providing sanitation in poor countries will deliver broader economic benefits, and will mean that such countries do not suffer unnecessary economic losses. It has been estimated that countries lacking widespread access to sanitation lose between 1% and as much as 9% of their GDP every year.
The world is frequently faced with natural disasters. Last month, we saw Hurricane Sandy wreak havoc in the Caribbean before hitting the eastern seaboard of the United States. Floods, in particular, lead to disease because people have to live with dirty flood waters containing pathogens from waste that has not been disposed of. That is what leads to devastating epidemics of cholera and other diseases. Good sanitation is essential to reducing the unacceptable human cost of such disasters. It can be critical in helping communities to rebuild themselves more quickly after floods. Work supported by the Department for International Development during the 2010 floods in Pakistan showed that sanitation could really help a community to recover.
How can we start to tackle the huge unmet needs for sanitation? Well, we can start by listening to women. Sanitation is important to them, often much more important than it is to men. One study in Indonesia found that, in urban communities, women listed sanitation as their second priority for improving their communities—after improved job opportunities—while men ranked it seventh.
We need to foster and respond to demand. A latrine that is wanted is one that will be used and maintained. Approaches based on demand, such as a programme called Community-Led Total Sanitation, are proving very effective in ensuring the uptake of sanitation. We also need to keep sanitation simple. Expensive and water-hungry sewerage systems are not the answer if we want to improve sanitation for poor people. Simple technologies, such as pit latrines, are affordable and effective ways of providing the safe sanitation that we want to see.
As was mentioned by the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr Brown), the United Kingdom’s ambition is for 60 million people to have sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene in the countries that are furthest from meeting the millennium development goal. We have a strong track record of supporting those basic services. A portfolio review of water, sanitation and hygiene projects supported by DFID showed that UK aid in the sector was well targeted at the poorest.
The principal means by which the UK will meet our target of 60 million people is through programmes developed and managed by our offices in African and Asian countries. We currently have sanitation and water programmes in 15 countries. We are looking into how we can expand our existing programmes, and have already identified additional results that could be achieved in Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. That builds on the successful experience of our country programmes. For example, our support in Bangladesh through UNICEF has reached more than 30 million of the poorest people in that country. We are continuing our support in Bangladesh by working through BRAC, a major national non-governmental organisation with a good record of helping the poorest. The Department also funds programmes to deliver improved sanitation through other interventions. For instance, in Yemen we are funding a nutrition programme, implemented by UNICEF, which will provide sanitation in 300 schools and benefit nearly 250,000 children.
We will achieve those results through a number of partnerships with organisations such as the Water and Sanitation Program, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor, and WaterAid. To complement those activities, we have been exploring the potential of new programmes to reach more people who currently lack access to sanitation, in more countries, through partnerships with the UN, civil society and the private sector.
In response to the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton, the UK Government are the leading donor of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, which delivers new and underused vaccines to the world’s poorest countries. UK support alone will vaccinate 80 million children and save 1.4 million lives by 2015. GAVI will roll out the rotavirus vaccine as part of its programme, protecting against diarrhoea which, as the hon. Gentleman said, is one of the leading child killers in the world, accounting for 450,000 deaths each year. With UK support, GAVI plans to help the vaccination against rotavirus of up to 50 million children in at least 40 of the world’s poorest countries by 2015.
We need solid evidence to underpin our investments, and to that end the Department for International Development is funding key research programmes to improve our evidence base. The sanitation and hygiene applied research for equity programme is developing new and robust evidence on the benefits of sanitation, and on how sanitation and hygiene behaviours can be improved most effectively. The Department has started a new programme of operational research to improve value for money and efficiency in our programmes. As part of that, we will test and evaluate innovative ways of providing sanitation services to poor people in urban areas, in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Support for sanitation is also about creating the right incentives for Governments to mobilise their own resources. In June this year, the UK Government sent a strong message of our political commitment with the recognition of the right to sanitation. The Government will place an emphasis on the delivery of basic sanitation services to poor people in the long term. We will continue to invest in programmes to provide sanitation, and use the Sanitation and Water for All partnership to encourage other donors, Governments in developing countries, and civil society to do the same.
I say to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, all hon. Members, and in particular the hon. Member for Belfast East who initiated this debate, that the Government will do their utmost in this area. I hope that Members of the House will continue to support us in that essential work.
Question put and agreed to.
International Development
Alan Duncan Excerpts(12 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Duncan
UK funding through the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) has built 11 health clinics and seven schools since 2007, with two of each currently under construction. The Helmand provincial education and health departments are responsible for the future of these facilities. They have stated that all are open and active and that they intend to maintain these services in the future.
The UK-led PRT is in regular contact with the Afghan Government, in Helmand and Kabul, to ensure that adequate funding is provided for future operation and maintenance of these services.
The correct answer should have been:
Mr Duncan
Twelve health facilities and 28 schools have been built, are in the process of being built or have been refurbished since 2007. The Helmand provincial education and health departments are responsible for the future of these facilities. They have stated that all are open and active and that they intend to maintain these services in the future.
The UK-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is in regular contact with the Afghan Government, in Helmand and Kabul, to ensure that adequate funding is provided for future operation and maintenance of these services.
Oral Answers to Questions
Alan Duncan Excerpts(12 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) (Con)
4. What estimate she has made of the number of people in (a) Israel, (b) Gaza and (c) the remainder of the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are in employment; and what assessment she has made of the factors preventing equalisation of employment levels in the region.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
In the second quarter of this year, unemployment was 7% in Israel, 28% in Gaza and 17% in the west bank. We support the International Monetary Fund’s recent assessment that Israeli controls on external trade and access to Area C of the west bank are a serious constraint on Palestinian employment levels.
Mr Turner
Does my right hon. Friend agree that more needs to be done to persuade Israel to remove the barriers that prevent Palestinians from crossing the border in order to find work, and, indeed, to seize more opportunities to create work in Gaza and the rest of Palestine?
Mr Duncan
Yes, we want people and goods to be able to cross borders freely with the minimum constraints necessary to ensure Israel’s security, and we want the Palestinian Authority to be able to exploit its own resources, such as the gas fields off the coast of Gaza, so that the PA can pay its own way and eventually require less support from the international community.
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)
The crazy economic and employment situation in Gaza is exemplified by the position of its fishing industry. Fishermen are prevented by an Israeli blockade from fishing more than 3 km offshore while, at the same time, fish can be imported through illegal tunnels, yet the indigenous people of Gaza cannot, by and large, afford to buy those fish. Would it not be better to lift the blockade, open the crossings and close the tunnels?
Mr Crispin Blunt (Reigate) (Con)
My right hon. Friend and the previous Secretary of State achieved an enviable record of support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and Britain’s reputation in addressing some of the economic issues. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that that support is going to continue?
Mr Duncan
Yes, I can give my hon. Friend the assurances he seeks. We work very closely with UNRWA, and I regularly meet Filippo Grande who runs it. I have visited the area with him on many occasions, and look forward to doing so again, while also expressing our support in terms of hard cash for the future.
Naomi Long (Belfast East) (Alliance)
The Minister will be aware that water security has huge implications for economic and social development in the region. What specific actions are the UK Government taking to ensure that water is no longer used as a weapon against some of the most vulnerable people in the region?
Mr Duncan
We are well aware of the access restrictions to safe drinking water in the west bank and Gaza. The UK Government regularly discuss these issues with Israel, and we continue to call for the full implementation of the relaxation of access restrictions for Gaza that Israel announced in June 2010.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
5. What steps her Department is taking to use its aid budget to support strategic trading alliances between the UK and emerging nations.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
The European Union leads on trade negotiations for its member states. DFID considers trade to be a key element to sustainable poverty reduction in developing countries. It helps to generate wealth, create jobs and raise incomes. We work with others to help to strengthen the multilateral trading system, and we provide practical support to enable poor countries to participate more effectively in international trade.
George Freeman
I thank the Minister for that answer. Given that the best form of aid is trade, and given the urgent need to rebalance our trade away from the sclerotic eurozone and the potential of our world-class biosciences to tackle food security, does the Minister agree that there is a huge opportunity, through strategic collaborations in agricultural science, to unlock relationships with emerging nations such as India to the benefit of us both?
Mr Duncan
The UK’s aid budget is, of course, untied, but technology transfer is an increasingly important part of DFID’s programme. For example, through our AgResults programme, we will harness technological innovation so that we can improve agricultural productivity and food security in some of the world’s poorest countries. Part of the Government’s strategy for life sciences is to export the benefits of our research to the developing world.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for all the work he has done over the years to support the people of Yemen, but he will know that half the people of Yemen are still malnourished. How can we ensure that we give them the capacity to be able to use trade-related skills in order to help themselves?
Mr Duncan
We see trade as an important ingredient in all our development activities. I recognise the right hon. Gentleman’s own personal interest in Yemen and can assure him that the UK has been in the lead in garnering international support to raise pledged donor contributions reaching $8 billion. The key now is to ensure that those funds are disbursed honestly and effectively.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
7. What steps she is taking to ensure value for money in her Department.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
We estimate that between 2006 and 2010 the total value of European aid programmes on the west bank averaged $1 billion per year. Our funding aims to support the creation of an independent, viable Palestinian state with a flourishing economy. Our assessment is that, over time, such a state would become self-sufficient, and would no longer require aid.
Mr Denham
Many of us consider high levels of aid for the west bank to be an essential investment in the peace process, but now that Israeli settlements are making a two-state solution impossible, how will the Government ensure that the Israeli Government rather than European taxpayers pay the costs of the illegal occupation?
Mr Duncan
I understand the concept that the right hon. Gentleman has presented, namely that our aid somehow subsidises the occupation. The solution to the problem that he has raised is an enduring peace process that will enable a secure Israel to live alongside a viable Palestinian state, so that aid, compensation or any other such financial support can be rendered less necessary.
Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
International Development Committee Report (Afghanistan)
Alan Duncan Excerpts(12 years, 1 month ago)
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Sir Malcolm Bruce
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, but the point is that we do not know what the situation will be. Our argument is that we need to be flexible. We should make a fundamental commitment to continue to provide support where we can, although we might have to find different ways and mechanisms.
The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)
May I begin by joining in the expressions of sadness about the deaths of the two British service personnel? We value enormously the role played by our military in Afghanistan. We simply would not be able to operate without the support that they provide.
I assure the right hon. Gentleman that we welcome his Committee’s valuable report, to which we will reply formally in due course. No one is suggesting that Afghanistan is a fully viable state yet, but, as his report says, DFID’s efforts have made a big difference to a lot of people by helping to improve basic services and support economic growth. We completely agree that our focus should be on the position of women and girls, and that will remain a key focus of our development work in Afghanistan, so the report’s recommendations in this critical area are very welcome. I assure the House that our commitment to that desperately poor country will continue for many years to come.
Sir Malcolm Bruce
I thank my right hon. Friend for that very constructive intervention. Although we are suggesting changes in priorities, our main point is that the UK Government and DFID need to be flexible in what is a very challenging situation.
Of course the Committee would wish to see Afghanistan functioning as a normal state in due course—we certainly do not want it to be a rogue state—but we are a little sceptical about whether a British Government fund of £178 million a year can itself achieve a viable state. The danger is that if that aim becomes the overriding focus, it might be at the expense of delivering material, practical progress in terms of livelihoods, the rights of women and health and education. We are asking the Department to balance those aspects in a way that does not compromise what has been achieved.
We have articulated the view that the post-2014 litmus test on the extent of the changes in Afghanistan and whether improvements have been secured and are progressing will be the status of women. It is about the worst country in the world in which to be a woman, but progress has been made. If that progress is reversed, we will be able to assume that the condition of all Afghans is deteriorating—and if that progress is continued, we can assume that the situation of all Afghans has improved further. The status of women will be the best indicator of whether everyone’s quality of life is improving.