World Poverty Reduction Targets (Hansard, 22 November 2000)

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, the target to halve the proportion of people who live in extreme poverty by 2015 is one of seven that were agreed by the international community at the series of United Nations' global conferences held in the past decade and now form the centrepiece of the international development effort. Progress is measured from 1990 when 29 per cent of people in developing countries lived in extreme poverty.

§ The Earl of Sandwich
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. Does the noble Baroness agree that the international development targets which were set five years ago in Beijing and Copenhagen are now beginning to look unrealistic, given that the poverty reduction strategies in those countries are at a very early stage? Does the noble Baroness agree that it would be safer to set up intermediate development targets every five years to enable those countries effectively to monitor and evaluate their progress?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I do not agree with the noble Earl that the targets are unrealistic. Although the targets are difficult, they are achievable if there is strong political will and commitment behind them. The international development targets are important because they are a commitment by all the members of the UN. The noble Earl asked specifically about the setting of intermediate targets. Individual countries, through their poverty reduction strategies, set intermediate targets. If countries write poverty reduction strategies, the inclusion of long-term, medium-term and intermediate-term targets which they intend to reach at specific points is compulsory. Both of those matters are important. Individual countries have the opportunity to set intermediate targets, but international development targets are an international effort.

§ Lord Redesdale
My Lords, does the Minister agree that some of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa are 811 going backwards at the moment? Considering that the targets for Africa are not being met, will there be a reassessment of viable targets in Geneva in June? In asking that question, I recognise the good work that DfID has done over the past five years.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, we are experiencing difficulty in meeting the targets in sub-Saharan Africa for a number of reasons, including the scale and spread of HIV/AIDS and the degree of conflict in many of those countries. But it is important to recognise that there are differences between countries in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, Nigeria and South Africa have a very good record in economic growth. Therefore, we should not be pessimistic about the region as a whole. As for a reassessment of our ability to meet the targets in sub-Saharan Africa, I repeat my response to the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich. As a global community it is important to have a commitment to a set of international targets. How we apply those targets in individual countries will depend partly on the degree of commitment by those countries to putting in place pro-poor development policies. We do not want to roll back from the commitment to those targets, but clearly when countries put in place their poverty reduction strategies we shall look at what they can realistically achieve.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, we all agree that one of the main routes towards the successful eradication of world poverty is through the education of adolescents, especially young girls. Can the Minister tell the House what additional plans Her Majesty's Government have prepared to target female education and healthcare? Does DfID have any links with important charities in this field, such as the International Women's Health Coalition and AMR EF?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I am in total agreement with the noble Baroness that it is important to invest in education. It has been shown that such investment is one of the most important determinants in meeting all the other targets, including health and poverty targets, because of what happens to families where, for example, mothers and daughters have been educated. In the past three years we have committed £400 million to support primary education programmes, all with a strong focus on gender equality. The noble Baroness will be aware that of the nearly 900 million people across the world who are illiterate 600 million are women. So the education targets are very important indeed.
The noble Baroness asked about health. Infant and under-five mortality rates fell by more than half between 1960 and 1990. But progress has slowed during the 1990s. In most regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, which we have already mentioned, a big effort will be needed to meet the targets.
812 The noble Baroness asked also about AMREF and one other organisation. We are in touch with AMREF. I had a meeting with AMREF relatively recently. We are in touch with a number of NGOs which are working in this area.

§ Lord Tomlinson
My Lords, in pursuit of the objective of poverty reduction, will the Minister ensure that European Commissioner Lamy's proposals in the "Everything but Arms" initiative do not prejudice either Article 12 of the Cotonou agreement, which provides for prior consultation with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries if their interests are detrimentally affected, or the legal status of the sugar protocol or the sugar regime proposals which, inter alia, provide for the renegotiation of the special preferential sugar agreement? Either of those will have a serious effect on Caribbean producers. It would be wrong to pursue poverty reduction in some parts of the world at the expense of creating poverty in others.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, my noble friend will be aware that we worked extremely hard in the successor to the Lomé Convention to protect the interests of Caribbean producers. We shall continue so to do. In principle, we support "Everything but Arms" and we are willing to work with the European Commission to help Caribbean industries adjust. We want to look at the impact of "Everything but Arms" on Caribbean countries. However, I reiterate to my noble friend that we want to protect the interests of Caribbean producers.

§ Lord Bridges
My Lords, perhaps I may ask the noble Baroness a question which has puzzled me for some time. For so long as we define poverty as a percentage of GNP, how can we hope to arrive at its abolition?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, it is important that we recognise that poverty reduction is not just about aid to developing countries; it is about development and in particular looking at the capacity of developing countries to improve economically. Therefore, part of our strategy relies on seeking to work with business and with other partners to achieve economic prosperity and growth in developing countries.