§ 83. Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy towards the role played by non-Governmental organisations in assisting the development of poor countries.
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§ Mr. Chris PattenNon-governmental organisations play an important and distinctive role in overseas development and are particularly effective at a grass roots level in reaching some of the poorest communities in ways which are not always open to Government to Government aid. Support from the aid programme for nongovernmental organisations has increased steadily over the last few years and I have decided, subject to parliamentary approval, to increase our support for the next year under the joint funding scheme by 50 per cent., as well as increasing our support for volunteer recruitment agencies by 18 per cent.