Africa
International Development
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he has taken to ensure that UK and European development policy in Africa is aligned.
Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)
The UK
is committed to working to align EU-UK development policy including in
Africa, and to ensure EU aid is increasingly focused on demonstrating
clear results and value for money.
The UK Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) provided a comprehensive analysis of multilateral performance. The European development fund (EDF)
was among the top performers for delivering effective, transparent aid
and inclusive partnerships. It is less effective in demonstrating
results and communicating impact. These issues continue to be addressed
by discussions in Brussels and regular MAR reporting from DFID country offices.
The UK has provided significant inputs into the EU's
new Development Policy: 'An Agenda for Change'. Consequently this
reflects a large number of UK priorities, including greater focus on
results and impact, and more emphasis on monitoring and evaluation.
I
am strongly supportive of the EU's focus of regional economic
integration in Africa as a driver of growth. My Department is seeking
alignment on policies on regional integration and infrastructure, and
has made the largest financial contribution to the EU Africa
Infrastructure Trust Fund of all member states.
Given the significance of Budget Support in Africa, I have been particularly keen to align our position with the EU. The Commission's
policy paper on Budget Support entitled 'The Future Approach to EU
Budget Support to Third Countries' strongly reflects our own position
and demonstrates the results and value for money expected of future EU
budget support programmes.
DFID has extensively
collaborated on the EU Horn of Africa strategy. I have led discussions
specifically on Somalia with the Commission and other member states to
align our positions. The Commission attended the recent UK Conference on
Somalia where we agreed goals and objectives.
