Mongolia (Hansard, 2 April 2001)

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, Mongolia has been hit by two consecutive winter disasters, or "dzuds". This winter's dzud alone has affected over 300,000 herders in 20 out of 21 provinces and 1.5 million livestock have died. The Government of Mongolia have launched an appeal for £8.2 million through the United Nations. The DfID has offered £1 million for the provision of emergency relief under the framework of the UN appeal.

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister. Her figures for the losses are not the same as those given me by the Mongolian ambassador to London. He told me that last year nearly 3 million livestock perished in the severe winter and it was anticipated that nearly 6 million would die this year, leaving the herders with no alternative means of livelihood. Does the noble Baroness share my enthusiasm for the Save the Children Fund and will she join me in offering great plaudits for its marvellous work, which I have seen, in difficult conditions in Mongolia?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, I am aware that the noble Baroness has visited Mongolia three times and is becoming quite expert in the field. The projections come from the Government of Mongolia and run until May. Therefore, the figures that I have given relate to the position as of now. As to the work of Save the Children Fund, I agree with the noble Baroness that it does an excellent job in Mongolia. That organisation manages the DfID small grants scheme to the tune of £225,000, which is in addition to the money that we provide through multilateral organisations like the World Bank, the EU TACIS programme and the UN.

§ Baroness Park of Monmouth
My Lords, as someone who served very briefly in Mongolia, I have a particular admiration for that country, which survives between two very large super-powers. It admires us because we established an embassy there before anyone else. Can I persuade the Minister that, although we have been generous in what we have given multilaterally through the World Bank, the UN and others, direct bilateral aid means a great deal to a small country? Before the UK-Mongolia meeting in May. will the Minister consider the possibility of further 601 bilateral aid? Multilateral aid is very slow, ponderous and impersonal. Something that arrives quickly counts much more.

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, we have been examining how we give funding to Mongolia. We believe that, because of the additional leverage we achieve through multilateral funding at this time, that is the most important aid to that country. As I said in response to the noble Baroness, Lady Trumpington, we have a small grants programme. I do not anticipate that we shall have a bilateral programme, but we shall study the matter again in the light of the noble Baroness's comments.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, we welcome the £245,000 that DfID has given to the Red Cross for operations in Mongolia. Sadly, the recent meteorological tragedy is nothing new to central Asia; it is a recurring problem. Can the Minister tell the House what assistance the Government are offering the authorities in Mongolia in regard to long-term planning and the avoidance of catastrophe?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, long-term assistance is provided principally through the UNDP coordination mechanism in Mongolia. The recent UN disaster and assessment team report, produced after a visit in January, pointed out that it was vital to Mongolia's future to transform the entire livestock production system into a fully sustainable sector of the economy. The suggestion is that UNDP, UNEP and the FAO should together prepare an appropriate project proposal to put to donors. Our assistance is through multilateral sources like the UN, the World Bank and the TACIS programme.