UK Aid (Uganda and Rwanda)
Debate between Justine Greening and Pamela Nash(12 years ago)
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Justine Greening
I appreciate the work the right hon. Gentleman’s Committee has done to help inform these important decisions. He is right that we discuss with other donors, both at official and ministerial level as appropriate, all views that are held about what is happening on the ground, and, critically, the implications for aid. As he rightly pointed out, we must always bear in mind that the point of development programmes is to help people on the ground. Surely, we have to bear that in mind before we simply turn off the tap. That is precisely what I intend to do.
Pamela Nash (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)
Over the past 10 years, I have worked in Uganda and have seen the impact of DFID’s direct budget support, particularly on health care. Will the Secretary of State tell us what impact assessment DFID has carried out in Uganda on the possible reduction of vital services to the Ugandan people as a result of the suspension of direct budget support?
Justine Greening
To provide the hon. Lady with some reassurance, let me say that the vast majority of our aid goes not through the Government of Uganda, but through other non-governmental organisations on the ground. We are looking at what we can do to ensure that we continue to achieve the same results in relation to the programmes that we had planned to have undergoing at the moment in Uganda. Again, I have to steer a balance in ensuring that taxpayers’ money is spent appropriately and is not withdrawn from the system by corruption and fraud, while, as she pointed out, making sure that we bear in mind that the programme was there to make a difference and that we still want that difference to be made.