Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health (Hansard, 8 July 1998)

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, the Government's White Paper on international development highlighted the priority given by this Government to the international development goals, including reproductive healthcare, information and services for all by 2015, and universal basic education by the same date. We want to ensure that all women, as well as men, can exercise their rights to the education, information and services necessary to control their fertility, protect their sexual health and raise healthy and educated children.

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply. Does he share my concern that the lack of access for millions of couples to family planning and reproductive health services in many parts of the world result in very high maternal mortality rates? Will the Government redouble their efforts to persuade the US and other governments to match our contribution to the development of such services in poorer countries?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I share the noble Lord's concern that millions of people around the world still do not have access to those basic services. However, there have been some significant improvements; 57 per cent. of couples around the world now use some form of contraception compared with 9 per cent. 30 years ago. In countries such as Bangladesh that has resulted in the number of children per family decreasing from seven to three. With regard to the American position, we regret the restrictions which have been put, through that country's internal political processes, on such provisions. America has historically invested substantially in this area and we hope that it will change its mind and do so again.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that in Afghanistan women receive no education whatever, as Ms Carol Bellamy of UNICEF re-emphasised this morning at a meeting of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group? Will the Government consult, particularly with Islamic faiths in the OIC, to see whether additional pressure could be brought to bear on the Taliban and whether it could be explained that the education of women is fully compatible with the rules of Islam?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I am well aware of the desperate situation of many women in Afghanistan. We 1233 shall use all our diplomatic influence to try to ensure that changes are made there. It is important to recognise that that situation does not appertain in the vast majority of Islamic countries, as is shown by the example of Bangladesh that I have just given.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, following the question from the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, does the Minister agree that this is not only a problem in the poorest countries but that, as Mr. Nemir Kidar said recently, it is a problem throughout much of the Arab world? How will the department encourage better education for women in all such countries in order to assist their liberalisation, which is surely at the root of the problem?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I agree with the central point raised by the noble Baroness and that education plays a major role in this. Encouraging girls to stay on at school for at least as long as boys has a direct effect on their knowledge of this subject and consequently on the number of births in such countries and the safety of those births. There is a particular problem in some Arab countries, but the priority of the British aid programme will remain the poorest countries.

§ Baroness Lockwood
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that following the Cairo Conference the European Union allocated 300 million ecus for expenditure on women's reproductive health rights by the year 2000? Is he also aware that currently there is insufficient expertise and administrative capacity in the unit controlling that money for it to be able to deploy those sums effectively? Will my noble friend ensure that that matter is put on the agenda of the Council of Europe so that we can be assured that the money is spent effectively, perhaps by bringing in expertise from countries such as the United Kingdom which has considerable experience in this area?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I am aware of the situation with regard to the European Union's programme. The Commission has exceeded its target expenditure commitment of 300 million ecus, which followed Cairo, but there are some problems over allocation and with regard to the prioritisation of the programme. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State has drawn those problems to the attention of the Commission and other member states. We are helping the network of experts who are helping the Commission to improve the effectiveness of its programmes in this area.

§ Viscount Craigavon
My Lords, can the Minister comment on the total resources which the Government are devoting to this area of reproductive health? Are the present Government building on what in my opinion was the excellent record of the previous government in increasing the department's total expenditure on this to something like 4 per cent. of the total expenditure on overseas development aid, which is the internationally agreed target? Have we reached that target or are we still aiming at it?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, both the previous government and this Government have increased the 1234 proportion of our total aid budget which is directed at health education in this area from 1.5 per cent. at the time of the Cairo Conference to almost 4 per cent. now. However, our view is that that is not necessarily the only way to tackle the problem because broader health education and broader education in general contribute to the ultimate success of our policy on reproductive health.

§ Earl Russell
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the right of women to receive or to refuse contraception is equally a human right? Might it be easier to obtain international agreement if we were to proceed on that human rights basis?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I agree with the noble Earl. Both are clearly human rights and both should be respected in any health programme that we support.

§ The Earl of Sandwich
My Lords, is there not a critical link not only between reproductive health and education, but also between population and employment, and particularly the employment of women because of the security that that can bring their families? Are the Government aware that the White Paper says very little about that connection with employment although it says a lot about women and gender equality? Can the Government do more to redress that imbalance and to support more income-generation programmes relating to population?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, the emphasis of the White Paper and of our strategy on the education of women and their role in the economy is clear. The direct effect of Her Majesty's Government's efforts in this area may be a little unclear. Nevertheless, part of our programme is to ensure the full participation of women in developing countries in economic and social life as a whole without, however, the exploitation which has often previously characterised their participation.