§ 7. Mr. Terry Rooney (Bradford, North)What measures the G7 is taking to improve literacy in developing countries as part of tackling global poverty. [85254]
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown)The new G7 education initiative has been decided because 113 million children do not enjoy primary schooling and 88 countries are missing the target that everybody should have primary schooling by 2015. Britain will be investing £1.3 billion in education in the poorest countries in the coming five years, and further funds for education are a critical element in our proposed international development finance facility.
§ Mr. RooneyI thank my right hon. Friend for his answer and for his undoubted interest in the subject. What was the outcome of the "Education for All" donor consortium meeting in Brussels on 27 November?
§ Mr. BrownI am grateful to my hon. Friend. He, too, has taken an interest, both in his constituency and nationwide, in these matters. There are two initiatives that are moving forward on education. The first is for seven small countries, including Nicaragua, Niger and Mauritania, where the World Bank is running a fast-track initiative so that countries that are making progress will be in a position to meet the 2015 targets. The second set of initiatives is for the larger countries. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development is particularly concerned about India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, where huge amounts of money will be needed if we are to meet the 2015 targets. That is why she is allocating £1.3 billion from her budget over the next five years. Almost half that money will go to Africa and a great deal of it will go to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Two initiatives are therefore moving forward: the G7 initiative for the smaller countries and her initiative, which is operating 387 with other countries through the G7, for very large countries that are simply not meeting the necessary targets.
§ Gregory Barker (Bexhill and Battle)Last month I had the opportunity to visit a combined primary and secondary school in Uganda that had been built with proceeds from my constituency. Indeed, the school is named Bexhill high school. I was extremely impressed by that voluntary initiative in Uganda, but incredibly concerned about the systemic corruption that I saw not only in Uganda, but in Kenya. Can the Chancellor reassure the House that the huge amount that is destined for the poorest people in Africa will reach them and not be diverted, as so much other aid money has been, to line the pockets of the ruling elite?
§ Mr. BrownI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman's constituents who have been part of the initiative in Uganda. While he is right that there is a major corruption problem that must be dealt with as part of the international finance initiative—that is very much one of the requirements for further development aid—he cannot say that progress is not being made in Uganda. Progress is being made on education, partly because of the proceeds of debt relief received by Uganda in the past few years. Uganda is now moving from a pupil-teacher ratio of 100:1 to one of 50:1 and to a situation in which it can genuinely say that every pupil who goes to school will have a roof above their head. That is a major initiative in Uganda that is designed to achieve 100 per cent. primary education enrolment in a short period. Progress is being made, although we must guard against corruption in every sense.
§ Roger Casale (Wimbledon)May I thank my right hon. Friend for the work that his Department is doing to eliminate poverty around the world and to raise educational standards? If an international consensus is to emerge on the measures and resources necessary to eliminate poverty, it is vital that he continue to articulate the same values and vision and to show the same leadership as he has shown previously and that led to the establishment of the millennium development goals in the first place. Will he and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development redouble their efforts to strengthen international commitment to his proposal for a new Marshall plan for Africa?
§ Mr. BrownMy hon. Friend and his constituency take an enormous interest in such issues; I believe that churches and NGOs in Wimbledon have played a very important role in the campaigns that have taken place. He is absolutely right that there is now a unique world situation in which all international organizations—the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and the OECD, as well as individual Governments—have signed up to the millennium development goals. We must meet those goals by 2015, so it is incumbent on all of us to raise the necessary resources. That is why we are working with other finance Ministries to see whether that international development finance facility, which is the means by which we could double development aid, will be possible over the next few years.
388 One other measure that my hon. Friend would understand is reform of the European Union's aid budget. It is intolerable that only 38 per cent. of EU aid goes to the poorest countries. As a minimum, we expect that level to be raised to 70 per cent. by the measures that we are introducing.