§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efforts his Department are making to support measures taken by developing countries to eradicate poverty; and how his Department will strengthen the capacity of poor countries to assess the impact of international policies and programmes on the poorest people.
§ Mr. BaldryThe main aim of the aid programme, as stated in ODA's mission statement, is to
help people in countries poorer than our own improve their lives." Accordingly, all the UK's objectives for the aid programme are concerned with poverty reduction.ODA assists poor countries to strengthen their capacity to assess the impact of international policies and programmes on the poorest people in a number of ways—for example:
- (a) by participating in World Bank poverty assessments, which have been carried out in a number of countries, ODA aims to improve poor countries' information on poverty and promote increased ownership by countries of policies and programmes;
- (b) by undertaking a three-year collaborative research project with the NGO Action Aid, ODA is developing output indicators for poverty projects from the perspectives of the intended beneficiaries, project managers and aid donors;
- (c) by supporting a three-year research programme by the Institute of Development Studies on the relative impact on the poor of direct poverty reduction projects in comparison with economic reform policies.