HC Deb 02 February 1989 vol 146 c333W
Miss Lestor

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new initiatives he will propose at the coming meeting of the Southern Africa Development co-ordination conference in Angola.

Mrs. Chalker

[pursuant to her answer, 1 February 1989]: My hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development has today told the annual donors meeting of the Southern African development co-ordination conference (SADCC) that commitments of British aid for SADCC projects now stand at £60 million. This follows his approval of a £15 million project to finance the second phase of the rehabilitation of the Limpopo railway linking Zimbabwe to Maputo. He has announced that Britain will contribute £500,000 to the programme co-ordinated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to repatriate Namibian refugees from Angola and Zambia; and that we are ready when appropriate to provide technical assistance to help reopen the Benguela railway in Angola. He has also announced an additional £250,000 to help finance UNHCR's programme for Mozambican refugees in Malawi, bringing total British aid for this purpose to £3.328 million.