§ Mr. Douglas-Mannasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in view of evidence of the extent of famine in Ethiopia, he will allocate aid additional to the £100,000 for famine relief already announced, and ensure that this sum does not reduce the aid allocation to other developing countries.
§ Mr. WoodHer Majesty's Ambassador in Addis Ababa and my officials, have 519W been carefully watching the situation in Ethiopia and Her Majesty's Government's contribution to the relief effort. I am prepared to increase the offer of £100,000 if additional funds are needed for immediate relief measures. It seems at present that our efforts should be concentrated on medium and longer-term programmes. These are going forward, and a team of my officials is now in Ethiopia appraising a major agricultural development project in Tigre Province.
There will be no reduction in the allocation of aid to other developing countries, because funds to meet this contribution to famine relief have been found from contingency reserves.