§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what criteria his Department provides for(a) prospective countries and (b) development NGOs against which they may apply for development assistance; and if he will place them in the Library. [120490]
§ Hilary BennDFID does not set formal criteria for prospective recipients of UK aid. Our support is based on a judgment taken after consideration of a number of factors. These include: the extent of poverty in the country (we currently spend over 80 per cent. of our bilateral aid in the poorest countries), the recipient government's commitment to poverty reduction, the likelihood that the resources provided will contribute to poverty reduction and other donor involvement.
810Wmixed. In general, therefore, we do not consider such an approach to be the most useful tool for fostering economic growth and poverty reduction.
We recognise that trade reform can have adverse effects on particular sectors and groups particularly in the short term. This is why it is important that trade reform is properly sequenced and accompanied by complementary policies to help manage the process of change. In this context, it is important that Special and Differential Treatment provisions within WTO rules are effective and binding and that any new WTO rules reflect different countries' implementation capacities.