HL Deb 19 December 1985 vol 469 cc952-4WA
Lord Brougham and Vaux

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will give details of programmes which will benefit from the money saved by withdrawal from UNESCO.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)

We intend to allocate through the aid programme in the next financial year the amount saved from the UNESCO contribution of about £6.4 million to the following activities: the ODA Technical Co-operation Training Programmes; a joint scheme to provide scholarships in the United Kingdom for Chinese students; the ODA Shared Scholarship Scheme; the Key English Language Teaching Programme, particularly in Francophone Africa; a distance learning programme among academic institutions in the Commonwealth; a Commonwealth training scheme for black South Africans at post-graduate level; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scholarships and Awards Scheme; participation in the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission, the International Geological Correlation Programme, in international hydrology and environmental sciences through the Natural Environmental Research Council and research in arid Commonwealth Africa; dissemination of results of research at universities and other bodies and an increase grant to the Commonwealth Media Development Fund.

The Minister for Overseas Development will be responsible for the above programmes. The diplomatic wing of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be responsible for our bilateral relations with UNESCO as from 1st January 1986.