§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department finances research on the problems of recruiting and selecting women trainees on British aid-funded scholarships; and what research has been done by his Department on how the proportion of women on the technical cooperation training programme can be increased.
§ Mr. Chris PattenWe intend to finance research on the constraints to increasing the proportion of women benefiting from ODA-funded training awards. Terms of reference for such a study have been prepared and we are in the process of identifying a suitably qualified researcher.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Overseas Development Administration provides funds to publicise issues of women and development, and to establish what proportion of the aid programme is of direct benefit to women; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe objective of our aid is to benefit the people of developing countries, including women. It is impracticable to state what proportion of the aid programme benefits women separately.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether all aid documents issued from his Department carry an assessment of the impact of their projects or programmes on women; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Chris PattenSince last year it has been standard ODA procedure for evaluations to include an assessment of the impact of the aided activity on women where this is relevant. The evaluation reports issued will include these assessments.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will establish a cross-departmental group of Overseas Development Administration officers to develop British policy on women and development; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Chris PattenI am satisfied that our policy on women in development already reflects extensive consultation within the ODA.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will create a special fund to finance projects of specific interest to women giving priority to funding projects established by Third world women's organisations; and if he will make a statement;
600W(2) if he will increase the number of women's advisers to form a fully-funded and resourced women's unit designed to initiate policy on women and development and to oversee its implementation.
§ Mr. Chris PattenOur policy is to integrate concern for women into all ODA activities. ODA officials are aware of the importance attached to taking account of the impact of our activities on women and our social development advisers provide the expertise needed. I believe that a separate women's unit or special fund would tend to "marginalise" women's interests.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department consults British non-governmental organisations and women's groups on women and development policy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Chris PattenWe hold regular discussions with members of the women's organisations interest group of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and other Women in Development experts.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if any major evalution has been funded to assess the impact of the aid programme on women in major recipient countries of British aid; and if issues concerning women and development are raised at aid planning meetings.
§ Mr. Chris PattenIn concert with other development assistance committee donors, our evaluations now include a consideration of the impact of projects on women. The DAC will be preparing a synthesis study of the results. In this way we hope to obtain in a cost-effective manner the lessons of experience for a considerable number of projects in many countries.
Women and development issues are raised at meetings of aid consortia and consultative groups and other aid planning meetings.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Overseas Development Administration will make representations to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank urging them to expand their policies in relation to women and development; in the light of his Department's support for the International Monetary Fund's economic aid in Tanzania, how much of the £50 million that has been pledged to the Tanzanian Government will go to programmes involving women and development; and in what places and for which projects.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe International Monetary fund agrees broad economic targets, largely related to the balance of payments, as part of its lending programmes. Longer-term domestic issues are addressed by the World Bank. I believe that the bank is already making determined efforts to integrate a concern for women into its financing activities.
The bulk of the British aid recently pledged to Tanzania will be used to finance essential imports and to support the railways sector. The remainder, about £12 million, will be used to finance specific projects and programmes, including the development of maternal and child health care and family planning in southern Tanzania.
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§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the near future a White Paper including a plan of action on women and development policy in the aid programme.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe ODA booklet "Women in development", copies of which are in the Library of the House, sets out our policy in this area. Since its issue in 1986 we have confirmed the policy and further clarified it.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to conduct a study on the proportion of women in the Overseas Development Administration; and if he will publish in the Official Report the changes in that proportion in the past five years.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe Overseas Development Administration already monitors the proportion of women in its employment, their access to training and relative success in career advancement. The proportion of women employed in the Overseas Development Administration on 1 April in each of the last five years and on 1 July 1987 is:
Year Total staff Number of women Percentage 1982 2,035 771 37.89 1983 1,927 714 37.05 1984 1,753 684 39.02 1985 1,617 641 39.64 1986 1,608 635 39.49 1987 1,548 622 40.18
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the present women's adviser post will be reformulated within the aid programme so that it is held by one woman who has no additional responsibilities.
§ Mr. Chris PattenSpecialist advice on women's issues is provided by the ODA's social development advisers. This ensures that our concerns for women's role in development and measures taken to enhance it are understood in a broader social context; I believe this makes our work more effective.
§ Mr. Tom Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the number of women, and the percentage they constitute, who obtain places on technical co-operation training courses.
§ Mr. Chris PattenWomen received 980 (16.8 per cent. of the total) new training awards in the year ending 31 March 1987.