Kosovo: Sexual Violence Report (Hansard, 23 June 1999)

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the report of the United Nations Population Fund recommends a programme of comprehensive support for victims of sexual violence in Kosovo, both in the medium and the long term. The Government recognise the importance of this issue. To that end, the Department for International Development is funding programmes of activities in Macedonian and Albania for Kosovo refugees, implemented in co-ordination with a range of organisations, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Food Programme and NGOs. The programmes aim to provide a comprehensive range of reproductive healthcare services and psychosocial support for Kosovar refugee women. The Government will consider the case for funding further programmes within Kosovo, based on an assessment of need.

§ Baroness Lockwood
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that reply. Does she agree with me that young women and girls are vulnerable in the very best of circumstances, but that, in the aftermath of a bitter and vicious conflict, they are particularly at risk? Therefore, can she assure me that high priority will be given to safeguarding these young women and girls from further atrocities? Can my noble friend also assure me that adequate medical and counselling services will be available? When I say "medical services", I include such services as emergency contraception and facilities for termination where pregnancy results.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I agree with my noble friend that young girls and women are particularly vulnerable in a post-conflict situation. It is for that reason that the Department for International Development has given a very high priority to ensuring that health services are restored in Kosovo. In the long term, we are looking to ensure that adequate services are provided in all areas of Kosovo, both in the cities and in the rural areas. However, in the short term, I am sure that my noble friend will understand that although we are trying to make sure that structures are put in place, it may not be possible to provide medical and counsel ling services in the range and of the quality that 916 we should like to see. But that is certainly part of our long-term aim. As I said in my original Answer, we have provided specific services in Macedonia and Albania.

§ Baroness Park of Monmouth
My Lords, can the Minister say whether the inquiry carried out by Dame Anne Warburton in Bosnia in, I believe, 1993 to 1994 is being drawn upon in this matter? Those conducting the inquiry gained a great deal of experience of the very particular problems of young Moslem women who have been raped and who can never face that fact.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, we are considering how the experience of Bosnia and some of the reports that emerged from that situation can be applied in the case of Kosovo. Some of the reports that I have read in relation to these issues are extremely distressing, but certainly some of the early comparisons show that, although women in Kosovo were held captive, they were held for shorter periods than was the case for women in Bosnia. However, that does mean that the trauma suffered by those women was in any way less.

§ Baroness Gould of Potternewton
My Lords, can my noble friend the Minister tell me whether it is correct that the provision of emergency reproductive health supplies currently being supplied by IPPF and UNFPA will dry up in about five months' time? If that is true, can she give the House any details about how funding will be provided in the future and about the distribution of such items?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, as I said in my original Answer, we are ensuring that adequate health services, including reproductive health services, are put in place. That is a funding priority. The Government recently announced an additional £50 million for Kosovo. We shall keep that amount under continual review. We realise that as refugees return and as we become more aware of ways of supporting refugee women and girls, we shall need to reconsider the projects that we are funding and the support that we are giving to NGOs in this area. As I say, we shall keep the question of supplies under review.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, the report is horrific. As the Minister knows, there are several training programmes—one is under the auspices of the Council of Europe—to help to rehabilitate these unfortunate traumatised victims. Have the Government considered consulting the fine expertise of, for example, the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill, which is probably the finest institution of its kind in the world?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, we have funded the WHO which has in turn funded a mobile medical team which is considering mental health in this context. It is drawing on expertise from a number of different countries. I am not sure whether it has drawn on the expertise of the Institute of Psychiatry, but I shall be happy to find out about that and write to the noble Baroness.

§ Lord Hylton
My Lords, will the noble Baroness confirm that the United Nations and other agencies 917 involved will bear in mind the marked cultural differences and the strength of the Kosovar family and clan system which may be helpful in avoiding unnecessary abortions?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, we always try to ensure that we take on board the circumstances of the countries in which we work. The UN organisations have taken that point on board. One of our concerns is that despite strong family ties, women who have been raped have been reluctant to come forward because of the impact that that would have on their families. We need to work with both the families and individual women. Sometimes the culture and the family system make it difficult for such women to return. However, this is something that we are taking on board.