§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that an appropriate part of the financial aid given to countries is allocated to the needs of disabled people to ensure that they have equal opportunity in the development of their countries.
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§ Mrs. ChalkerIn many developing countries the needs of disabled people are handled by the non-governmental sector. The ODA provides grants to United Kingdom non-governmental organisations operating in developing countries for the partial funding of their projects, which are usually carried out by local organisations. Within our Government-to-Government country aid programmes we are ready to respond positively to requests from recipient Governments to provide assistance to help them meet the needs of disabled people.
Details of projects funded by the ODA, both directly and through non-governmental organisations, which focus on the needs of disabled people, were contained in the answer the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Hannam) on 6 December at columns 231-32.