International Development Questions - Aid Commitments

Internatiional Development

05-Nov-2008

Mr. Michael Moore (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (LD): I welcome the Under-Secretary and his fellow Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Foster), to their new responsibilities in the Department. We wish them all the best for the future.

Building on the Minister’s comment about President-elect Obama, we now have the prospect of a new form of leadership in the United States. With regard to the partnership that the hon. Gentleman talked about, does he agree that one of the early priorities must be to ensure that aid levels are maintained? In the course of the current economic uncertainty, nobody in the world should scale down what they are offering. In that regard, does he agree that persuading the US to adopt a timetable to reach the UN aid target of 0.7 per cent. of gross national income must be an early priority?

Mr Lewis: I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman. The Prime Minister has made it absolutely clear that the 0.7 per cent. target remains the UK’s aim. We also believe that the world’s current economic difficulties reinforce the interdependency of our world. Rather than being seen as a threat to development investment, we should use those difficulties as an opportunity to explain to our populations and to all the donor countries why supporting the developing world in an economically difficult period is even more important.

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