§ Sir David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his latest estimate to the respective contributions of the United Kingdom and of the European Economic Community towards the relief of famine in Ethiopia and in the Sudan; and how they compare with the contributions of the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, respectively.
§ Mr. RaisonThe United Kingdom's bilateral aid and aid made available by member states through the European Community towards the relief of famine in Ethiopia and Sudan have been as follows:
Two years to September 1984 (£ million) Since October 1984 (£ Million) United Kingdom bilateral aid Ethiopia 7.7 9.4 Sudan *— 4.258 European Community † Ethiopia 24.3 34.4 Sudan 1.6 10.1 * Sudan has been a major recipient of British bilateral aid for some years; but it was only in the latter part of 1984 that the failure of the 435W harvest, coupled with influxes of refugees from Ethiopia and Chad, resulted in serious food shortages and the need for relief aid.
† This excludes aid made available bilaterally by the member states of the European Community.
We do not have comparable figures for contributions made by the United States. But the following sums provided and planned in relief aid for the US have been reported.
October 1983-September 1984 October 1984-September 1985 (US $ million) (£ million) (US $ million) (£ million)* Ethiopia 16.894 12.069 141.021 117.5 Sudan 36.456 26.044 91.424 76.2 * Converted at the rate of £=$1.20. We have no figures for relief aid provided by the Soviet Union. The official Soviet newsagency has claimed that substantial relief aid was provided to Ethiopia in the form of food, medicine and transport supplies.
We have no information about any Soviet relief aid to Sudan.