§ Lord Braine of Wheatleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any evidence that during the last sixteen years during which the United Nations Population Fund have been involved in China, they have been able in any way to change the policies of the Chinese Government on coercive sterilisation and abortion, and if so, whether they will specifically list such changes.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyWe understand that advice from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was a factor in the Chinese Government's decision to review the then draft Maternal and Child Health Law, which now specifically requires a woman's written consent for an abortion carried out under the terms of that law. We would expect that any proven instances of forced sterilisation and abortion would be attributable to the way in which national family planning92WA policy has been interpreted and implemented at local level in China. Authenticated data on the instances of such coercive practices are not available and it is not possible to prove any particular trend, or attribute such a trend to specific influences. We expect that the UNFPA's training in counselling and interpersonal skills of service delivery staff at the grass-roots level will have had some impact on the instance of coercive abortion and sterilisation, but we have no proof of this.
§ Lord Braine of Wheatleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What assistance if any, they have given, or plan to give, to The Dying Rooms Trust.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyWe have not given any assistance to the Dying Rooms Trust.