South Sudan

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Grand Committee

[Lord Chidgey]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness on securing this debate and on putting forward such a powerful argument. Those of us who follow these events are very grateful. African Union mediators have reported that South Sudan and Sudan have agreed a framework to give their citizens basic freedoms in both nations allowing, “freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to undertake economic activity and freedom to acquire and dispose of property”.

If this agreement in principle holds, unlike earlier deals, it will remove the threat hanging over at least 700,000 southerners that from 8 April, they would be treated as foreigners unless they obtained residency or work permits. Apparently the Government of South Sudan are committing some $17 million to the repatriation, with the support of the International Organization for Migration by plane, barge, road and now rail. Can the Minister say whether this framework agreement is holding? What action are our Government taking to assist the Government of South Sudan in this repatriation process, particularly in ensuring that the freedom of residency agreement materialises?

The first train to travel under the safe return process has reached South Sudan carrying 2,300 returnees. They add to the 360,000 returnees registered last year by the IOM and the 2.5 million previously. There remain huge reintegration challenges, primarily through the slow allocation of land by the Government with inadequate title complicated by the lack of basic transport, education and health infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, and a lack of economic stimulus throughout.

Will the Minister confirm that every support is being given to encourage UK VSO personnel from the state sector who are now being posted to South Sudan as trainers and that no disincentives are arising? Can she confirm they will suffer no loss of pension rights while absent from their state employment in this country, whether they are health workers, teachers, police officers or any others engaged in the state sector?

There is growing revulsion over the actions of the Sudanese Armed Forces against the civilians, women and children, living in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and other areas contested by Sudan and South Sudan. Over 400,000 people have been displaced and 300,000 people are facing severe food shortages. The architect of the violence in Darfur, indicted war criminal and current Governor of South Kordofan Ahmed Haroun, is believed to be directing the assault on the Nuba people.

Although access remains very restricted, alarming reports are surfacing of the deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of chemical weapons and the presence of mass graves. A UNMISS staff member reported seeing the bodies of some 150 Nubians in the grounds of a Sudanese Armed Forces compound, all shot dead. An UNMISS contractor witnessed the SAF filling in mass graves near Tillo. Other staff gathered evidence of more fresh mass graves near the state capital Kadugli. Meanwhile, the Sudanese continue to block access to live-saving humanitarian aid. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to member states to make available military utility helicopters. UNMISS has to overcome the critical shortage that has arisen after Russia withdrew all its helicopters and crew from the mission earlier in the year. Fighting has since broken out around Pibor in Jonglei, bordering north Sudan, due to the slow deployment of UN troops without helicopters. Do the Government intend to respond positively to the appeal from Ban Ki-moon?

Leading international human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and Aegis, together with campaigners such as Dr Mukesh Kapila, the former head of the UN in Sudan, are spearheading a public campaign to end the violence towards civilians by the SAF. Do our Government agree that the failure to end indiscriminate bombing or, worse, the intentional targeting and murder of civilians requires swift and effective action by the international community? Will the UK lead the way?

Developing Countries: Free and Fair Elections

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Thursday 26th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

I have read the noble Lord’s blog on his experiences in the DRC as an election monitor and I give him credit for going out there to do that. He noted how enthusiastically people voted, but that is balanced against problems in the election. We are monitoring the situation. We expect the full results of the DRC National Assembly elections are to be published shortly. Some problems have been flagged up and we seek that the DRC electoral commission investigates all of them. We are extremely well aware of the problems in the DRC. It was flagged up to me, for example, that it is the worst place in the world to be a woman. The noble Lord will be extremely familiar with the problems and we are well aware of them.

[Lord Chidgey]

I want to press my noble friend a little further on the issue of the DRC. I, too, had the opportunity to visit the country a few months ago before the elections, but the issues that were obvious then are still obvious today. Is my noble friend familiar with the DfID report, Electoral Assistance and Politics: Lessons for International Support, which states:

“Delivering free, fair and credible elections is … a considerable but important challenge, logistically, financially and politically”?

As my noble friend rightly says, the electoral commission has postponed issuing the results of the legislative elections yet again. The international election experts have left the country—frankly, I think, in disgust because they cannot get access to the election data—and the diaspora from the Congo, particularly in this country, are traumatised by the continuing fraud in elections in their home country. What will DfID do to try to make some sense of it all?

[Baroness Northover]

The first thing that I would emphasise is perhaps a sense of humility. If noble Lords bear in mind how long it took us to democratise from 1832 to 1929—in terms of the franchise for women—it is not surprising that, in some of these fragile states, it takes a long time to ensure that the elections are carried out fairly. Positive accounts are coming from the DRC about the elections, as the account of the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, bears out. As I said, various concerns are being monitored, particularly by the United States. We are in close contact. My noble friend Lord Howell answered on this subject the other day and the Minister for Africa is also pressing on the matter. We share those concerns and we are taking this forward, but we need to bear in mind the difficulties.

Health: Tropical Diseases

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Thursday 26th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

I thank the noble Lord for his comments. The prospects before us are astonishing. I have just mentioned the United Kingdom universities and their research centres. I know that various noble Lords, including the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, are playing a part in trying to ensure just that.

[Lord Chidgey]

Can my noble friend confirm that the £20 million increase in funding, a fivefold increase, from the UK Government is in fact dependent on finding matching funds? Therefore, can she tell your Lordships’ House what progress has been made in securing those matching funds, and whether this would enable the programme to maintain its dynamicism, which is obviously so important?

[Baroness Northover]

Yes, the contribution to the Carter Center is based on matched funding, and the conference on Monday will help to take this area forward.

Niger

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is right that we must say never again and mean it, but I dispute that the Department for International Development was not leading on the response in the Horn of Africa. Credit has been given to the UK Government for that. The report from Oxfam and Save the Children to which her Question refers is extremely welcome. It indeed emphasises that the intention is to manage the risk, not the crisis. That is absolutely the right way to go about it: to intervene early and build resilience. That is why the Department for International Development did that in the Horn of Africa and is doing that across the Sahel.

[Lord Chidgey]

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that in the report, A Dangerous Delay, which has just been issued, Oxfam states that many of its messages chime well with the humanitarian emergency response review chaired by my noble friend Lord Ashdown? Focusing on anticipation of and resilience to natural disasters, what measures have been put in place to co-ordinate cross-departmental and cross-agency efforts through the stabilisation unit and other means?

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Lord is right that the humanitarian emergency response review made some extremely important recommendations for the anticipation of disasters and building resilience to them. That is being taken forward at the moment. DfID is in the process of developing a humanitarian framework for Africa and a Sahel resilience strategy which will help the UK anticipate and respond strategically to crises across the continent. The building stability overseas unit normally focuses on resilience against conflict issues rather than natural disasters. Nevertheless, the two feed on each other, so there is action that that unit can take as well.

European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Second Agreement amending the Cotonou Agreement) Order 2011

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2011 Grand Committee

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, despite significant progress in recent years, considerable challenges remain in the efforts to eradicate global poverty. The European Union—which represents the world’s largest provider of official development assistance, the largest single market and the main trading partner for most developing countries—can potentially make a huge contribution.

The Cotonou agreement is the guiding framework for the EU’s engagement with some 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific—ACP—states. Signed in 2000, it has evolved to reflect the changing relationships between the EU and ACP countries, while retaining its overall objective of poverty eradication, sustainable development and the integration of ACP states into the world economy. Cotonou provides the framework for programming the European Development Fund and channelling money to some of the poorest countries in the world—importantly including countries where UK bilateral programmes are not present and where DfID does not have a presence on the ground.

The Government’s review of multilateral aid judged the EDF to be among the most effective, flexible and poverty-focused of all our multilateral aid instruments. It is closely aligned to UK priorities and provides significant assistance to Commonwealth countries and several of the UK’s overseas territories.

Negotiations on the second revision to the Cotonou agreement were completed in June 2010 in Burkina Faso. All parties have signed the agreement and the changes are being implemented under transitional arrangements until ratification procedures are complete. The revisions aim to improve the implementation of the agreement and to ensure that it reflects changes in the international environment. The revisions fall into three categories—political, trade and development—and I shall highlight several of the important changes.

On political relations, the revised text provides for greater coherence between regional initiatives, such as the Africa-EU strategy and Cotonou. The role of ACP Parliaments and non-state actors has gained enhanced recognition and the African Union is confirmed as a key interlocutor in peace and stability matters. The importance of tackling changing security threats, ranging from piracy to exogenous shocks, is stressed. The provisions concerning political dialogue have been updated with new language on non-discrimination and the inclusion of regional and continental integration, and global and sectoral policies impacting development objectives among the issues that can be discussed. Improved exchange of information between the ACP secretariat and the EU in Article 96 processes, concerned with remedying breaches of Cotonou’s essential elements, are now envisaged.

There are important new references to key global challenges such as climate change, HIV/AIDS, and recognition of the 2008 food crisis through stronger provisions on food security and agriculture. The key role played by fisheries and aquaculture in ACP countries is included, reflecting a desire to enhance coherence between fisheries policies and development.

Cotonou’s trade provisions have been updated to reflect the introduction of economic partnership agreements supporting deeper trade relations between the ACP and the EU, and bringing these into line with the rules of the World Trade Organisation. Language on regional co-operation and integration has been strengthened in recognition of the increased regional differentiation among ACP states.

Changes aimed at improving the programming and implementation of EDF assistance have been included with, for example, the creation of a role for ACP national Parliaments and the introduction of increased flexibility in responding to unforeseen needs and crises.

Her Majesty’s Government fully support all these changes. We firmly believe that they will help to enhance and strengthen the long-standing partnership between the EU and ACP states. I commend the order to the Committee.

[Lord Chidgey]

My Lords, there is no doubt that the Cotonou agreement is a valuable instrument, aimed at preserving the relevance and character of the partnership between the ACP and EU states. As the Minister has mentioned, the order adapts the agreement to reflect the major changes in international and ACP-EU relationships by further clarifying the political dimension and creating space for a more productive political dialogue and clearer, more effective action. Here, I refer particularly to Article 8.7. The revision seeks to strengthen economic co-operation, regional integration and trade. Particularly important is the move towards extending humanitarian and emergency assistance, and providing new thinking on aid programming and management. This assistance and support is vitally important to many ACP states.

Equally important are the provisions that point to the interdependence between development, poverty reduction and peace and security. We should acknowledge that, increasingly, security threats—both man-made and from natural disasters—must be addressed in a co-ordinated manner, engaging not only the European Union but other regional organisations, including the African Union. With the AU acknowledged, as it is in the order, as a key interlocutor in matters related to peace and security, we can expect increased consistency and convergence of the Cotonou agreement with the strategic Africa-EU partnership. We should look forward to that.

The need for regional co-operation and integration has been recognised in amendments set out in the revised agreement to Articles 11, 23, 23a, 28, 29 and 30. Regional co-operation and integration are key to combating the threats of climate change and food security, and to promoting advancement and sustainability in agriculture and fisheries. I am glad to see that the Government welcome that.

The ACP states face major challenges if they are to meet the millennium development goals, and deal with food security, HIV/AIDS and sustainable agriculture and fisheries. The importance of each of these areas for effective development, growth and poverty reduction is underlined in these amendments, together with the joint approaches over which to co-operate.

The proposed revisions also recognise the impact of the fragility of and lack of security in some states, and the negative effect of that on development. A comprehensive approach, which combines diplomacy, security and development co-operation, encompassing political, developmental, human rights and security dimensions, is enshrined in this second revision of the Cotonou agreement, which can only be welcomed. Therefore, we welcome the revision and the attention that it gives to political dialogue in Article 8 and to climate change, human rights, gender, migration, discrimination and the resolution of violent conflicts. We particularly welcome the emphasis on good governance.

However, the order raises several comments and questions that I should like to put to the Minister. Article 8 refers to dialogue on issues such as “discrimination of any kind”. I understand that this formula was intended to embrace sexual orientation. How will this be pursued? Article 8 rightly emphasises the need for civil society organisations and national Parliaments to be associated with the dialogue. What efforts are being made to bolster the capacity of civil society organisations so that they can make a significant contribution?

The new Article 32a recognises climate change as a serious global and environmental challenge. How will co-operation in that area be taken forward? Are any further initiatives planned?

Article 33 recognises the importance of domestic revenue management and international tax co-operation. Maximising domestic revenue plays an important role in ensuring financial stability and reducing dependence on aid. What steps is DfID taking to support these efforts?

Article 34 refers to the need for ACP countries to participate actively in international trade negotiations. How can we best encourage the ACP countries to push for a successful conclusion to the Doha round?

Finally, Article 36 includes reference to the economic partnership agreements being negotiated between the EU and ACP countries. How will the Government assess their progress and the possible benefits?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Northover]

I know that he is going, and am extremely pleased. There will be other parliamentarians present, and I understand that the Secretary of State for International Development will be there.

[Lord Chidgey]

Could the Minister clarify an issue regarding Busan? I am delighted that noble Lords are all pleased that I am going to the farthest part of the world.

One of the problems we have faced in attempts to improve aid effectiveness by better scrutiny and better involvement and engagement of parliamentarians in the process of holding their Executives to account, is that while the parliamentarians from the recipient countries are getting quite a lot of help from the OECD, to get as many of them as possible to attend Busan, there is very little support for parliamentarians from the donor countries. I suggest to the Minister—and she may agree—that scrutiny and aid effectiveness is a two-way thing. Not just the recipients but also the donor countries should have a say in how well taxpayers’ money is being used to provide aid to developing countries.

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend Lord Chidgey knows that very well from his experience serving on various boards of AWEPA, which tries to link European parliamentarians with those in Africa. From my own experience it does a very good job. I am glad that my noble friend is going, though not because he will therefore be unable to put questions to me.

I hope that I have covered most issues. I believe my noble friend Lord Teverson wanted some answers on fisheries. Article 23 and new Article 23a recognise the importance of fisheries and agriculture, as I mentioned in my introduction to ACP countries. Depletion of stock is clearly a key issue, and we are hoping that some of these issues will be addressed, presumably at the Busan meeting on aid effectiveness. No, I am told that that is not right. I am afraid that I cannot quite make out what it is that came from the sky, but I should like to write, if necessary, to the noble Lord to clarify where Cotonou stands on this.

I hope that I have covered most issues that noble Lords have raised—and if I have not I will write to them. I conclude by assuring noble Lords that the Government believe that Europe has a significant role to play in the international community’s efforts to eradicate global poverty. The updated Cotonou agreement continues to provide a valuable framework for the EU’s relations with ACP states.

Malawi

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Chidgey]

What element of general budget support was allocated to supporting good governance in Malawi? In DfID’s good governance fund for Malawi, what element will now be allocated to democracy and parliamentary strengthening, particularly scrutiny, monitoring and oversight of aid effectiveness by the Malawian Parliament?

[Baroness Verma]

My noble friend raises a number of key issues here. The support that we were giving was in order to have oversight of good governance and to ensure that economically the country was following the right paths for the delivery of budget aid. However, I bring the noble Lord back to the original Question, the answer to which is that we are continuing to work with the Malawian Government but we will need to direct general budget aid through programmes that we can have oversight of.

Female Genital Mutilation

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Chidgey]

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Rendell, for giving us the opportunity to debate this important issue today. As the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, has said, it is estimated that between 100 million and 140 million African women and girls have undergone FGM, violating their human rights and compromising their health. Each year a further 3 million are at risk in Africa alone.

FGM is not only taking place in Africa, as many noble Lords have pointed out. International migration has increased the number of girls and women living in the African diaspora who have undergone FGM or who are at risk from the practice. It is difficult to confirm its prevalence in Europe but the European Parliament estimates that as many as half a million women in Europe are suffering the consequences of FGM.

FGM is increasingly becoming a European problem. Among many communities the practice is seen as an important tradition, often bound up with religion, which makes eradication more difficult. Nevertheless, it may well be possible to think in terms of eradication sooner than is thought. The examples given by the noble Baroness, Lady Stern, give us a signpost to the way forward.

Parliamentarians are the custodians of democracy and human rights. They have a responsibility through political will and commitment to support the elimination of violence against women in general and, in Africa, FGM in particular in the interests of society as a whole. The Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa, which is known as AWEPA, of which I am an advisory board member, UNICEF and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, have pledged to co-operate in the implementation of a joint programme for ending FGM. This is recognised as the privileged instrument within the UN for human rights-based social change. The objective is to accelerate social change in favour of human rights, and to increase the rate of abandonment of FGM in the 17 African countries considered a priority.

Across Europe and Africa, AWEPA has agreed to organise parliamentary action to abandon the practice of FGM. Three target countries were identified—Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal—out of the 17 where the practice is most widespread. An analysis of the relevant legal provisions in each country is being made, and the leeway afforded to parliamentarians as power brokers is being quantified and identified. An analysis is being made in relation to each Government's executive branches and their relevant parliamentary committees as well as to civil society organisations and, not least, women's rights groups. In parallel and in partnership with the Pan-African Parliament and with input from UNICEF and UNFPA, the joint programme is developing a parliamentary handbook in which the UN agencies’ policy expertise in the area of FGM combines with knowledge of the parliamentary processes in each country. The handbook is being promoted by parliamentary champions in all three countries through the networks of national bookshops. The issue of FGM is closely linked to the attainment of UN MDG3, promoting gender equality and empowerment for women, and MDG5, improving maternal health. The overall objective of AWEPA's programme is the abandonment of the practice of FGM in Africa and Europe by 2015.

FGM cannot and will not be abandoned in this country until it is first ended in Africa. Laws alone will not end the practice, but parliaments can lead the way in bringing about the societal change needed. At the very least, we should find room in DfID’s maternal health budget to support this UNICEF project. Norway, Italy, Ireland and Australia have already made generous contributions to the programme. A further £20 million is all that it will take to fund the five-year programme and see the first target country free from FGM. I look forward to my noble friend’s comments on whether DfID will come across and stump up.

International Widows Day

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Earl is absolutely right. Issues regarding gender will never be resolved unless we take on board the important work and commitment undertaken by both men and women. I completely accept what the noble Earl says. By and large, we are trying to work closely to ensure that the engagement is not just with women and girls but with boys and men too.

[Lord Chidgey]

My Lords, I emphasise the point made by several other noble Lords, the importance of dealing with the needs of tens of thousands of widowed women as a result of decades of conflict in central Africa, in the Congo and elsewhere. What specifically are the Government doing in relation to the educational needs in the civic development of those women so that they can participate in the full life of their communities and protect the future of their children?

[Baroness Verma]

As my noble friend knows through our meetings with DfID, every programme we have in every country that we are supporting has mainstreaming of gender. I think he agrees that it will take time to see the results. We are very aware that we have an uphill struggle and that it will be hard, but we will persevere.

Abyei

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Lord raises some very serious concerns about yesterday’s incident, which, of course, was not helpful to the process of independence on 9 July, but we want to ensure that we do not lose sight of those negotiations. We will continue to urge both sides towards peaceful means. We have Chapter VII already in place and the noble Lord will be reassured that we are looking at the situation very carefully. It is on the Richter scale of the entire international community.

[Lord Chidgey]

Can my noble friend say when the referendum on Abyei joining the south, which has been postponed since January, is now expected to take place? In that regard, what steps have been taken to resolve the disputes between the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya on voter registration?

Poverty in the Developing World

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Thursday 28th April 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Chidgey]

My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, on securing this debate this afternoon and giving us the opportunity to debate these very relevant and important issues. I congratulate him, too, on his powerful argument and the birth of the campaign on living below the line. Sadly, I cannot join the noble Lord next week in living on a pound a day because I shall be in Mozambique—a country that the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, knows well—delivering speeches on aid effectiveness. So in some ways I am with him in spirit, but I cannot be with him in body on that particular occasion.

Under the bilateral aid and multilateral aid reviews that DfID has just conducted, the aid allocation towards the poorest countries and those containing the largest numbers of poor people living in extreme poverty will increase substantially. Many of these countries face rising civil unrest; some face instability and conflict. Conflicts in various forms are one of the biggest obstacles to poverty reduction. Conflict pushes millions of people into poverty each year, and no sensible development strategy would be complete without focusing on both conflict prevention and post-conflict support. Since 2000, nine out of 10 new conflicts have in fact been relapses as fragile states have fallen back into war. By supporting conflict-affected countries, the United Kingdom is helping some of the poorest countries and people by helping to develop more responsible and accountable Governments, better access to security and justice, and better delivery of services such as health and education, as well as supporting household wealth creation.

One does not have to look far to find examples of extreme poverty related to conflict in the developing world. I recently had the opportunity to visit south and north Sudan—the noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, and the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, were among the delegation—so we in this House have experienced the reality of conflict and poverty today. Sudan is of course shortly to become two separate and independent countries. There have been remarkable achievements in Sudan under the comprehensive peace agreement, which, after 20 years of civil war, led to a broadly peaceful referendum on the future of Southern Sudan.

However, there are numerous unresolved issues that could destabilise the area. Violence in the first months of 2011, in which 150 people were killed and 15,000 people fled their homes, demonstrates clearly how unstable and volatile that region can be. Violence, still influenced by the history of the war, is linked to a variety of issues: intercommunal violence over resources, especially cattle, land and water, often with a political dimension; human rights violations by security forces, and clashes between the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army and the communities in which it operates; and politically driven violence involving non-state armed groups, often along ethnic lines.

Southern Sudan will become the newest country in the world in July, as well as one of the poorest. In 2010, over 1.5 million people were severely food-insecure. In total, nearly half the population needed food aid at some stage. Over 50,000 children were acutely malnourished, and nearly a quarter of a million people were forced from their homes by violence. A further 400,000 returnees, we understand, are expected to come from Khartoum down into south Sudan in July, during the rainy season, where the danger of transit camps becoming semi-permanent is growing, with little food, overcrowding, no infrastructure and the threat of disease.

In the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, which I anticipate visiting in a few weeks’ time, nearly three-quarters of the population of some 62 million are not meeting their daily food needs. According to the World Bank, that reflects an extremely high level of poverty. Child mortality is shockingly high, with one in five dying before the age of five—by comparison, the UK average is one in 170. With a healthcare system devastated after years of civil war, maternal mortality rates have risen to more than one in 100. Progress on poverty reduction in the DRC depends on peace and security being consolidated across the country’s enormous territory, which is still facing unrest in the eastern and northern parts. With attacks by elements of the Lord’s Resistance Army, the LRA, this violence continues. I suggest that bringing stability and security to the DRC will require a significant uplift to the DfID programme, which seems currently reliant on aspirations to increase the number of girls going to school, to ensure that everyone who has the right to vote is properly registered, to improve basic health services and to bring maternal care and family planning services to hundreds of thousands of women.

As for the bilateral aid review’s vision for tackling conflict and fragility, as set out by the Secretary of State in a speech at the beginning of March, it is as well to note the assessment of Saferworld, which put the case for the bilateral aid review being a shift not so much towards the securitisation of aid as towards an underlying vision for how to approach conflict-affected or fragile societies. The Secretary of State stressed in March that it was imperative that countries should,

“build open and responsive political systems, tackle the root causes of fragility, and empower citizens to hold their Governments to account”.—[Official Report, Commons, 1/3/11; col. 167.]

This is indeed a worthy ambition. However, putting it into practice, as many noble Lords will know, will require more than just aid money.

Still in the context of the bilateral aid review and the multilateral aid reviews and their technical reports, the process calls for operational plans to be submitted by each DfID country office to carry these reviews through. That is very commendable, but can the Minister tell us when these plans will be published and when we in your Lordships’ House will have an opportunity to look at them in some detail?

In a similar vein, the reviews have recognised that the European Development Fund has one of the best records of aid delivery. I repeat that because some noble Lords may find it a difficult concept to grasp: the EDF is one of the best aid deliverers. Sadly, we cannot say the same for the European Commission, which was severely criticised earlier today by the noble Lord, Lord Sassoon, who made the point that some of its audit work was unacceptable. The Audit Committee has condemned its work there, too. So we need reform, and I should like to hear from the Minister what progress we have made post-ECOFIN in getting reforms on aid pushed through in the European Commission.

In 2000, world leaders committed themselves to a dramatic reduction in child deaths by 2015. As Save the Children has pointed out, there has been extraordinary progress. More than 4 million fewer children died each year than in 1990. However, there is a huge and urgent unfinished agenda with regard to the MDGs. Each and every year, 8 million children still die before they reach their fifth birthday, and 99 per cent of child deaths take place in developing countries. Children from the poorest countries are the least likely to survive. In this regard, Oxfam’s acknowledgement that the significant effort made by DfID in conducting the BARs and MARs is welcome; as it points out, reviewing aid policies to ensure that they deliver the best and most sustainable results for people living in poverty is a welcome and vital process.