§ 13. Ms Meg Munn (Sheffield, Heeley)What recent discussions he has had with African Finance Ministers on debt and the millennium development targets. [132068]
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown)I have in the last month had meetings with African Finance Ministers in which we promised them that, in return for reform and tackling corruption, the international finance facility could help to ease their debt burden and raise extra billions a year for Africa. The needs of Africa will be at the centre of the UK's G7 presidency in 2005.
§ Ms MunnI thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. Did he discuss the millennium development goal of all children having a primary education, and does he agree that that is an important factor for developing countries? The Government have given priority to education in this country, and if developing countries are to have a long-term future the education of their populations is enormously important.
§ Mr. BrownI am grateful to my hon. Friend and I thank her for the work that she does in this area. Throughout the world, 120 million children are not going to school today, and most of them are in Africa. A child in Africa has only a one in three chance of completing primary school education. That is why it is urgent that additional funds go to education, why we set up the Commonwealth education fund, why aid to Africa is now rising to £1 billion a year—bilateral aid from the UK Government—and why we need the additional resources that the international finance facility will provide to meet the millennium development goal that every child should have the chance of primary school education.