§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures his Department is taking in conjunction with other countries to direct money for the reduction of poverty towards the poorest people. [133141]
§ Hilary BennBy 2005–06, we aim to provide 90 per cent. of our bilateral assistance to low-income countries and will increase our annual bilateral assistance for Africa to £1 billion. Where possible we work through partner governments in the poorest countries in support of poverty reduction strategies that aim to strengthen their efforts to reduce poverty. We coordinate our programmes with other donor countries and are working closely with multilateral donors such as the World Bank, UN, EC and others to support and influence their assistance to have a strong poverty focus.