§ Lord Juddasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the criteria, principles and priorities which they are currently applying in planning the future size and nature of their bilateral and multilateral overseas aid and development programmes; and how these relate to, and are supported by, their financial, trade, environment, foreign, defence and other relevant policies.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyThe future size of our external assistance programmes is settled each year as part of the Government's public expenditure survey. The criteria, principles and priorities which we apply to our external assistance programmes are set out in the FCO/ODADepartmental Report for 1993 (Cm 2202), which was laid before Parliament on 10th February.
The Government have a wide range of mutually supportive policies designed to promote sustainable development internationally. In relation to developing countries, these policies include:
- —the Trinidad terms initiative, on the terms of official debt owed by the poorest debt-distressed countries, announced by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister when Chancellor, at the 1990 Commonwealth Finance Ministers' meeting in Trinidad;
- —support for good Government and economic policies that attract private foreign investment to poor countries;
- —supporting a successful conclusion of the current GATT round, which will substantially boost the export opportunities of developing countries;
- —support being provided following the Earth summit in Rio last year, to work on sustainable development and the environment; and
- —the close co-operation between, and complementary roles of, our emergency assistance and peace keeping work in places such as former Yugoslavia.