§ 21. Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her role in achieving a sharper poverty focus in EU development assistance. [62489]
§ Clare ShortDFID has worked hard since 1997 to improve the overall effectiveness of EC development assistance in contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by improving its poverty focus and quality. There have been some steps in response874W to our efforts to reform EC development assistance. We are pressing the EC to pursue its reform efforts vigorously in order to implement the November 2000 EC Development Policy, which for the first time makes poverty reduction the central objective of EC development programmes. We are also working for agreement that a much greater share of EC aid should be allocated to low income countries where it will have the greatest impact on poverty reduction. In 2000, only 38 per cent. of EC aid was spent in low-income countries compared to 70 per cent. in 1990. Last year we secured a substantial increase in the external actions budget for Asia. This year we hope to see the budget share for Asia maintained and further increased where possible.