§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which United Nations indices they take into account when assessing the needs of the poorest countries, and in what order of priority.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)The Government's overriding objective in the field of international development is the eradication of poverty. We are committed to supporting the OECD Development Assistance Committee's targets of halving the proportion of the world's population living in absolute poverty by the year 2015 which were drawn from the conclusions of the UN Conferences such as those on Population, Social Development and Women. The DAC targets include social development goals, including universal primary education by 2015, progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women, and improvements in health care systems and mortality rates.