§ The Earl of Caithnessasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make it a condition of any future agreement by the G8 to award aid to African nations that African leaders hold each other accountable for sound economic management, good governance, and human rights; and, if so, what evidence they have that such accountability happens now or has happened in the past. [HL5399]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos)Each G8 member will decide for itself how to meet the commitments entered into at the Kananaskis Summit, including on the methods and criteria for awarding aid. The Department for International Development is considering how best to use the resources allocated to development assistance from 2003 to 2006 under the new Comprehensive Spending Review but, as the Prime Minister announced before the G8 Summit, bilateral assistance to Africa will rise to £1 billion by 2005–06. In setting our priorities we will take fully into account the extent to which developing country governments pursue effective pro-poor policies and implement reforms in governance. We encourage other donors to do likewise. Many African countries have already made commitments in the agreements that they have with the international financial institutions.
We are strongly supportive of African countries' efforts to set up the African Peer Review Mechanism that is being developed through the New Partnership for Africa's Development. These were endorsed at the recent African Union Summit and we look forward to seeing the mechanism become operational. It is intended as a mechanism for African countries to review each other, just as peer review in OECD is intended for OECD countries to be subject to review by their peers.