§ Ms DrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he estimates agreement will be reached on the International Finance Facility; and when he estimates it will have funds in it. [138906]
§ John HealeyOnly by pooling the additional resources pledged as part of the Monterrey Consensus, and leveraging these through an International Finance Facility designed to deliver the additional US $on a year needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals, can the international community meet the challenge of halving poverty by 2015. That is why the Government continues to make the case for the Facility with all our international partners. Once agreement by donor countries has been reached the facility could start to deliver the additional aid very quickly.
726WThe Facility received wide support from other countries at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in September. The Bank and Fund have been mandated to do further work on financing for development options, including the International Finance Facility, reporting back at the Spring and Annual Meetings in 2004.
The Meetings also agreed that developing and emerging market countries should be consulted. This process will culminate in a Ministerial conference on Financing for Development in Spring 2004, chaired by the French Government.
The UK government also continues to build the support in civil society necessary to make the initiative a reality. In February the Treasury will be hosting a conference bringing together church leaders, senior political figures, NGOs and the President of the World Bank to discuss aid and trade.