§ 7. Mr. TimmsWhat steps she is taking to encourage implementation of the Machel recommendations on children in war zones. [18427]
§ Mr. FoulkesWe greatly welcome the Machel report and have already pledged £200,000 to enable the newly appointed UN Secretary-General's special representative on children and armed conflict to begin his work to co-ordinate international action in response to the report. In addition, we have offered to host a meeting in London during our presidency of the European Union to encourage our European partners to give sympathetic consideration to the special representative's work and priorities.
§ Mr. TimmsI very much welcome my hon. Friend's reply. He will know that the report for the United Nations Children Fund, for which Mrs. Machel was responsible, highlighted the issue of households headed by children. He will also know that it is estimated that there could be 80,000 such households in Rwanda following the conflict there, that there are many more in Uganda as a result of the conflict in the north of that country and as a result of AIDS, and that there are more such households elsewhere. Does he agree that the issue needs to be recognised in a policy? Will he tell the House what steps the Department is taking to address the issue of households headed by children?
§ Mr. FoulkesMy hon. Friend is right to highlight the issue. It is a terrible tragedy that when parents have died in conflicts or from diseases such as AIDS, a young child heads the household. The new special representative, Mr. Otunnu, is well qualified to undertake his task and we shall give him all the support we can.