Post-2015 Development Goals

Debate between Rushanara Ali and Lord Bruce of Bennachie

Thursday 4th July 2013 Westminster Hall

[Sir Malcolm Bruce]

I wholly endorse what the hon. Lady has just said. The International Development Committee is conducting an inquiry on precisely how we can alter the mechanisms by which we deliver. Although it is right to focus on the poorest people in the poorest countries, we should not leave behind equally poor people in less poor countries. That probably requires some change in the DFID model from what we have been doing perfectly correctly over the past 15 years.

[Rushanara Ali]

I look forward to the next instalment from the Committee, the right hon. Gentleman and his team. We need to settle the question of how we respond to some of the domestic criticisms on giving aid to big emerging economies, such as India, where hundreds of millions of people still face deep poverty. Many other nations are in that position. We need a political response and an approach that explains why such aid matters. We must also look at how the international community brings in nations that are doing well, such as India and China, to be genuine partners in development, so that we can contribute together to tackle poverty in middle-income countries. Only then will we be able to address the political criticisms and critiques that we face in our country—that also happens in other countries—and settle the question of how we should respond to the challenges.

If we do not address poverty in middle-income countries, we will set ourselves up for future problems—and even very wealthy countries have recently faced conflict. It is far better to anticipate difficulties and consider how we might respond as part of the development agenda process, so I hope the Minister will shed more light on her ideas about how we might do that.

In the remaining time, I shall focus on economic growth and development. Right hon. and hon. Members have mentioned the importance of employment, economic growth and the role of the private sector. Opposition Members very much support building self-sufficiency and creating opportunities for people to become independent and be able to look after themselves, which is at the heart of what people want. We need to ensure that the allocation of DFID resources through private sector programmes is transparent and properly monitored, just as we would expect with NGOs, and that public money is not used in an ideological manner. We must look at where the impact is, whether the outcomes are those that we sought—creating opportunity, jobs and economic development—and whether the programmes are pro-poor.

International Development Committee Report (Afghanistan)

Debate between Rushanara Ali and Lord Bruce of Bennachie

Thursday 25th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir Malcolm Bruce]

I absolutely agree. It is important that we say to our taxpayers and to the people of Afghanistan that we have no intention of seeing a curtain come down in 2014, which means that we have withdrawn. There will be a transition, a change and something different.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman and the International Development Committee on this excellent report. I wish to pick up on his point about the UK Government talking a great deal about women’s rights in Afghanistan but not following up with substantial action. Does he agree that the UK Government need to place a much greater emphasis on women’s empowerment and human rights? Those things need to be at the heart of the development agenda. There are concerns that the idea of development and poverty eradication is too narrow in the Minister’s mind and that rights and women’s empowerment are not fully understood.

[Sir Malcolm Bruce]

We argue that there is not enough evidence in DFID’s programme that the rights of women are central to its objective, and we suggest that DFID should prioritise those. I am sure that Ministers will say that a lot of what they are doing is beneficial to women, but it is not clearly focused in that direction. ActionAid, which I cite merely because it is an evidence base that we had, said that only one out of 92 listed DFID projects had

“an explicit commitment to gender or women’s issues.”

Of course we do have a female Secretary of State for International Development, whom we met yesterday, and a female Under-Secretary—I say that with no disrespect to the Minister of State, who I am sure will share their commitment. I think that we can be assured that women’s rights will be central to the future commitment.

Future of CDC

Debate between Rushanara Ali and Lord Bruce of Bennachie

Thursday 14th July 2011 Westminster Hall

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak today from the Labour Front Bench about CDC. I thank the Chair of the International Development Committee, the right hon. Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce), and the rest of the Committee for their work. It is vital that CDC should play its part in promoting investment in developing countries to promote economic development and poverty alleviation.

In 2009 development finance institutions contributed about $33 billion of new private sector investment in developing countries. The contribution made by institutions such as CDC to developing countries has the potential to make an even more significant impact on economic development and poverty alleviation, as part of the UK’s continuing work in international development. As the right hon. Member for Gordon pointed out, it is vital to build on its work and to focus on areas where improvements can be made. With a mandate to boost economic growth by investing in private sector development and more than £2 billion of planned investment in the next five years, there is, as I have said, a great opportunity.

I want to focus on some of the issues raised by right hon. and hon. Members in the debate. The right hon. Member for Gordon highlighted the importance of CDC’s acting as a fund of funds, and of the need to focus on pro-poor development and the connection between investment and development. Economic growth in its own right will not bring about development if we do not use our investments appropriately, as many hon. Members have pointed out.

[Malcolm Bruce]

The hon. Lady has made an important point. A World Bank report on sub-Saharan Africa will often give an annual figure showing rates of growth that most of Europe would envy, but it does not show that the distribution of that wealth is not helping to alleviate poverty. Wealth by itself is no use, if it does not get to the people who need it.

[Rushanara Ali]

I welcome that comment. As we have seen recently, in many middle-income countries, economic inequality coupled with injustice are a devastating combination and can lead to conflict. Economic development is vital. Growth is vital, but it must go hand in hand with tackling global inequality. We must be mindful of that responsibility in our investments through CDC and in our other investments.

The right hon. Member for Gordon also discussed the linked matter of ethical investment and the need for social outcomes and sustainable economic growth, and other hon. Members have reinforced those points. Historically, while CDC’s role has been important and has often been positive, it has had a mixed history. This is a great opportunity for us to look ahead at how it can play a bigger and more significant role.

My hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden) raised the important question of about 50% of the international development budget to India being channelled through private sector investments. He sought clarification from the Secretary of State whether that figure is accurate and whether that investment will be channelled through CDC or some other route. I will appreciate that being clarified in the Secretary of State’s response.

The hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) raised some important issues about compliance with the spirit and letter of international law and about tax, transparency and money laundering laws, among others. She reiterated the role of ethical investment and the need to be mindful of human rights, in particular when investing in mining companies and others. Many organisations have expressed concern about the impact that particular kinds of investment can have and the need for greater care to ensure that such investments are ethical and that human rights violations do not take place.