§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efforts are being made to increase the amount of time spent by Overseas Development Administration staff overseas in identifying new aid projects, particularly poverty projects, in Africa.
§ Mrs. ChalkerPoverty alleviation is a major objective for the aid programme and a significant proportion of staff time in headquarters and overseas is already devoted to identifying, appraising and monitoring projects and programmes which contribute to this. New staff appointments also reflect this emphasis. For example, a new social development adviser post has recently been created in headquarters to help deal with Africa. Overseas, an additional economist has been appointed to the British development division in southern Africa specifically to work in the health and education sectors.