§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list in ranked order the top 10 countries making financial contributions to the United Nations development fund for women.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe 10 highest Government pledges of financial contributions to UNIFEM in 1990 were:
- 1. Finland
- 2. United States of America
- 3. Netherlands
- 4. Federal Republic of Germany
- 5. Sweden
- 6. Italy
- 7. Australia
- 8. United Kingdom
- 9. Denmark
- 10. Belgium
§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the work of the Overseas Development Administration towards achieving the aims of the Nairobi "Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women" declaration.
§ Mrs. ChalkerODA's policy is to take account in all its activities of the role of women as agents and beneficiaries 485W of development aid. Our efforts focus on designing projects to ensure that these benefit women in developing countries; finding ways of increasing the numbers of women participating in training programmes both in the United Kingdom and in developing countries; trying to overcome constraints to the recruitment of women on ODA contracts in developing countries and improving ODA staff's understanding of women-in-development issues.
The ODA encourages aid recipient Governments to adopt policies which would fulfil the aims of the Nairobi forward-looking strategies and has encouraged other donor agencies, including the World bank and the European Commission, to improve their performance on women-in-development issues. Britain plays an active role in the OECD's development aid committee women-in-development expert group and has contributed over £900,000 to the United Nations development fund for women ( UNIFEM) since it was established.
§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of nominations by developing countries under the technical co-operation training programme to study in Britain were for women in each year since 1980.
§ Mrs. ChalkerNo central record is kept of the number of nominees for awards for women under the technical co-operation training programme (TCTP) but the number of women arriving to take up awards in this country since 1985 (earlier figures are not available) and as a percentage of the total is as follows:
Financial year Woman TCTP arrivals Total percentage of TCTP arrivals 1985–86 698 14.5 1986–87 964 16.7 1987–88 1,065 17.0 1988–89 1,122 17.8 1989–90 1,115 19.2
§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer of the Minister for Overseas Development of 9 July,Official Report, column 20, what is the number and percentage of women participating in Overseas Development Administration training programmes in developing countries.
§ Mrs. ChalkerIn 1988, the latest date for which analysed figures are available, 2,665 women students and trainees were on courses financed directly or indirectly by the ODA, excluding some in-country training. This was 19 per cent. of the total.