§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of the material which he has received from the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activity concerning their budgets and programmes in China. [26546]
§ Mr. HanleyThe China country programme of the United Nations Population Fund—UNFPA—has a current allocation of $500,000 which will be spent on women's development and mother and child health care projects, and for contraceptive quality assurance work. The International Planned Parenthood Federation has an allocation for the China Family Planning Association in 1996 of $1 million which is for audio-visual equipment and vehicles. Copies of relevant documents will be placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mrs. WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the work of the United Nations Fund for Population Activity in China with particular reference to encouraging population control policies which do not involve coercion. [27132]
§ Mr. HanleyOur judgment is that the United Nations Population Fund performs an essential role in promoting adherence to voluntary and non-coercive approaches to family planning in all countries of the world, including in China. UNFPA is currently engaged in an intensive dialogue with the Government of China about the nature of any future assistance to that country. UNFPA has made it clear that it is prepared to support activities only in countries where birth planning restrictions have been lifted.
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$ million Country and project title Total international commitment GEF commitment Biodiversity action plan Bhutan; Trust fund for Environmental Conservation, World Bank 13.6 10.0 No Bolivia; Biodiversity Conservation 8.40 4.5 1No Brazil; Biodiversity Fund 30.0 25.0 Yes Brazil; National Biodiversity Project 10.0 10.0 Yes Cameroon; Biodiversity Conservation and Management 11.40 6.0 1No Central African Republic; Decentralised Approach to Biodiversity Protection and Use; Bangassou Dense Forest 3.40 2.5 No China; Nature Reserves Management 17.90 17.9 Yes Columbia; Biodiversity Conservation in the Choco Region 9.0 9.0 No Congo; Wildlife protection and Management 16.0 10.0 1No Costa Rica; Conservation and Development of La Amistad and La Osa Conservation Areas 8.0 8.0 Yes East Africa region; Institutional Support to Protect Biodiversity 10.0 10.0 No Ecuador; Biodiversity Protection 7.3 7.2 1No
§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those occasions during the last year when Ministers from his Department have made representations in respect of Chinese population control programmes and policies; what was the outcome on each of those occasions; and if he will make a statement. [26547]
§ Mr. HanleyMinisters raised human rights issues, which include allegations of coercion in family planning programmes, with a vice-minister of the state family planning commission in September 1995; during meetings with Chinese leaders in October 1995 and January 1996; and with the Chinese Foreign Minister in April 1996. These meetings have had the common objective of persuading the Chinese Government to adhere to international human rights standards. All meetings have served to underline to the Chinese Government the seriousness with which human rights issues in China are viewed in the United Kingdom, and have supported the current intensive efforts of the United Nations Population Fund to encourage the Chinese Government to implement family planning programmes which are responsive to freely-expressed demand for services, rather than seek to meet particular birth quotas or targets.