§ Baroness Masham of Iltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Amos on 24 March (WA 47) that they "do not support coercive family planning practices", whether they will cease funding the United Nations Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia, which said on 20 March that "it might be worth contemplating how far a system of reward and punishment could help implement family planning strategies". [HL2359]
§ Baroness AmosDfID contributed £250,000 in March 2002 to the UNEUE to help it provide information on populations at risk and identify areas of unmet need in terms of recovery and development, for the ultimate benefit of marginalised Ethiopians.
The Government do not support coercive family planning practices. All UK assistance for health programmes is provided in support of the principles of free and informed choice set out at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, and reaffirmed at the Cairo plus 5 meeting in New York in 1999.
In a statement made following the report referred to, the UNEUE has reiterated in the clearest possible terms that it will promote the perspective that coercion, incentives or disincentive have no place in population and development programmes. The UNEUE has apologised unreservedly for the comments made in the report referred to and acknowledged UNFPA for calling its attention to the error.