§ 2. Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend)If she will make a statement on the participation of her Department in reconstruction and reconciliation efforts in those parts of Africa affected by conflict and human rights abuses. [84686]
§ The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short)Twenty countries and 25 per cent. of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are affected by violent conflict. This is causing great suffering and holding back development across the continent.
Through the Africa Conflict Pool, my Department, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence are working together to resolve conflict in Africa, and there has been progress. Sierra Leone and Angola are now at peace, and Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have ceasefires, but a new civil war has erupted in the Ivory Coast. Conflict resolution and development are inextricably linked.
§ Mr. Win GriffithsI thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, and for the magnificent work done by her Department and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in helping to resolve some of the serious conflict issues in Africa. However, will she consider whether the United Nations needs to use chapter VII of its charter to restore peace in Burundi? Will she ensure that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees does not have its budget for Burundi and Tanzania cut, as it is providing help for people in a truly desperate situation?
§ Clare ShortI agree with my hon. Friend that the situation in Burundi could lead to another genocide in Africa if we do not handle it well. Our generation failed Rwanda, and it is our duty to make sure that Burundi does not suffer the same experience. President Mandela brokered a peace deal in Arusha, but some of the forces fighting there have not recognised it. There has recently been a breakthrough, with the FDD recognising the deal. It was envisaged that, if other forces abided by the peace deal, an African peacekeeping force would be established, under a UN mandate and with UN funding. Discussions about that possibility are imminent, and I hope that they materialise.
§ Tony Baldry (Banbury)Uganda is our largest recipient of bilateral aid in Africa. Will the Secretary of State explain gently to President Museveni that slashing the country's health and education budgets will not help defeat the Lords Resistance Army?
§ Clare ShortI assure the hon. Gentleman that I am in communication with President Museveni about these matters. There is no doubt that the Lords Resistance Army is one of those vile rebel groups that abduct young girls and make young men kill members of their own family. It is an especially brutal and nasty organisation. It is right that Uganda should do all in its power to bring the rebellion to an end. However, large demands for new military supplies are not what is needed to bring about that end. We must protect Uganda's progress in 240 reducing poverty, which is considerable. I assure the hon. Gentleman that I shall do everything in my power to achieve that.
§ Helen Jackson (Sheffield, Hillsborough)Does my right hon. Friend agree that one effect of internal conflict in African countries is widespread displacement and insecurity? What help is her Department giving, and what work is it doing with the UN development organisations, to build firm local government and administration structures to give people back their security?
§ Clare ShortMy hon. Friend is right. Africa has more refugees and displaced people than any other continent. Some of the poorest countries in the world are hosting large numbers of refugees—way beyond the sort of numbers that Europe is contemplating. There is no real answer to the problem apart from resolving the conflict, helping people to return to their countries and lands and enabling them to resettle. That is why we are putting such an enormous effort into trying to resolve conflicts in Africa. In the meantime, we are trying to improve help for displaced people so that they are not reliant on handouts. We want them to be able to get their children to school and do something for themselves, so that displacement does not lead to disempowerment and the destruction of the lives of future generations.
§ Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury)In Ethiopia, reconstruction after years of conflict is still a great struggle. Of course, we acknowledge the crisis response to the lack of food in Ethiopia at the moment, but will the Secretary of State say why the international community has failed to deal with the problem of water resource management in the country? After all, that is the key to all the food supply problems. Why is only 5 per cent. of irrigable land irrigated, when the Blue Nile flows across the plateau?
§ Clare ShortEthiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a gross domestic product of only $100 a head. It has been through political crises, civil war and misgovernment, and has not had the economic reform that it needs. Year after year, Ethiopia depends on food aid, but food aid that is badly supplied undermines agriculture by undercutting local prices, ensuring that there is no local production. That has been going on for a long time. We are engaged in helping the Ethiopian Government put in place long-term strategies for getting agriculture and irrigation going again. It will take time, while we handle the current crisis. There is movement forward: it is terribly delayed by the war with Eritrea, of course, but we are beginning to get attention paid to the long-term problems.