JUNE 2006: UK GOVERNMENT NEWS REPORTJICA UK OFFICE
Sources:- Department for International Development (DFID) website: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/- Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website: http://www.fco.gov.uk/- HM Treasury website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/- 10 Downing Street website (PM’s speeches): http://www.number-10.gov.uk/
NEWS
26 June 2006
To mark the anniversary of the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, DFID has published a short booklet:‘G8 Gleneagles: One Year On’ that highlights progress by the international community in twelve
areas – from aid and debt cancellation to fighting disease and promoting business.
Read G8 Gleneagles: One Year On: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/g8-2006.pdf
Africa - turning promises into action: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/g8/africa-2005.asp
Questions and answers on Africa: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/g8/qa.asp
15 June 2006
DFID has published its first progress report on its Maternal Health Strategy ‘Reducing maternal
deaths: evidence and action’. The UK is the first developed country to produce a progress report
tracking government supported efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal onmaternal health.
The reduction of maternal mortality is higher on the agenda of many governments than ever before
since maternal health was included in the millennium development goals. It has also proved to be themost difficult of the eight millennium development goals to reach largely because progress within thearea of maternal health depends on people's access to basic public health services. DFID has
worked to advocate the need for national finance ministries in developing countries to prioritisematernal health and recommends in the report that maternal mortality reduction is used as a 'tracer'
for the successful functioning of health services.
DFID's bilateral expenditure on programmes which contribute towards maternal health has increased
by 34 per cent over the last three years (2002 - 2005) from £147.5 million to £198 million.
The report was launched by Hilary Benn, International Development Secretary on June 15th at the
London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. For more information about the report, pleasecontact: Helle Nordberg, DFID Press Office, tel. 02070230944 or email: h-nordberg@dfid.gov.uk .
Maternal Health Progress Report 2005:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/maternal-health-progress-report.pdf
2004 Maternal Health Strategy : Reducing maternal deaths: evidence and action:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/maternal-deaths-strategy.pdf
11 June, 2006
DFID will provide an additional £1.5 million to Niger, the world’s poorest country, to help prevent a
repetition of last year’s food crisis. The funding will be provided to the UN and NGOs who are
working on continuing relief operations in the country. Additionally, the wider Sahel region, including
Mali and Burkina Faso, will receive a multi-annual budget of £500,000 per year for the next three
years to tackle longer-term nutritional vulnerabilities. DFID will continue to monitor the humanitariansituation closely in the countries, where current emergency needs and the risk of deterioration are
judged to be more manageable, but where chronic nutritional vulnerabilities pose similar threats tothe poorest through the hungry season.
This announcement brings the total UK humanitarian contribution to Niger to £3.5 million in 2006.
Last year, DFID committed £3.9 million to the Sahel crisis, making it the 3rd largest bi-lateral donor.
DFID assistance to Niger focuses on three main areas – girls’ education, humanitarian assistanceand debt relief. In January 2006, Niger received 100% debt cancellation from the IMF under the G8’s

Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. The UK has also cancelled 100% of Niger’s outstanding bilateraldebt.
6 June 2006
A new DFID humanitarian policy has been launched. Speaking at the British Red Cross, Hilary
Benn underscored that humanitarian action is a core part of DFID’s work, that it will increase its
financial support to humanitarian work, and increase its efforts to reduce further people’s vulnerability
to disasters and conflict. The policy lays out how the UK government will deliver on its commitments
to good humanitarian donorship.
Key points are:By 2010 DFID wants to ensure there are no more ‘forgotten emergencies’, crises where themedia spotlight doesn’t reach and so remain ignored and underfunded by the international
community.
DFID is supporting worldwide efforts to invest in building a humanitarian system fit for the 21st
century – one that is well coordinated, has enough capacity and is better able to measure its
performance and impact.
Ultimately relief aid is only part of the solution – it is important to tackle the root causes ofvulnerability. Aid alone is also not enough – it is necessary to work for political solutions to theviolence and conflict that daily threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around theworld. DFID will therefore continue to work actively to reduce conflict, and strengthen theprotection of civilians.
Humanitarian policy: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/humanitarian-policy.pdf

2 June 2006
A further £1 million was available to British NGOs working to help those affected by theearthquake on the island of Java. The £1 million will be given to relief agencies for work over the
next three months, and brings the total UK Government pledge to £5 million. Of the £1 million offunding, initial commitments that have been made are: £400,000 to Save the Children Fund for
shelter kits; and £400,000 to Oxfam for relief items.
PRESS RELEASES
22 June 2006
The Prime Minister announced new measures to tackle international corruption, identified as oneof the priorities at the Gleneagles G8 summit a year ago, appointing Hilary Benn as Ministerial
champion for addressing international corruption. The new role, complementing Mr Benn’s
position as International Development Secretary, will see him working with other Ministers acrossgovernment to tackle corruption wherever it threatens to undermine the fight against poverty. The
Government will also establish a new dedicated team for investigating international corruption,
including money laundering in the UK by corrupt politicians from developing countries, and bribery by
UK businesses overseas. The new taskforce will include members from the City of London Police
and the Metropolitan Police Service, and the Department for International Development will provide
funding.
13 June 2006
Over 400 school children and their teachers around the UK made their voices heard today when
two young Ghanaians and three schoolchildren from the UK presented Hilary Benn with the
Chocolate Challenge Manifesto. The Manifesto is the output of a series of Fairtrade Cocoa
Summits run across UK for school children over the last week and demands a fairer deal for farmers
in developing countries. Raphael Agyapong (13) and Isaac Owusu (13), both from cocoa-growing
families in Ghana, and David Williams (12) from Calderstones High School and Samantha Aspinall(11) and Emma Kinley (11) from Barlows Primary School in Liverpool represented children who took
part in the Summits and who added their views online at www.dubble.co.uk/chocnchange. The
Manifesto makes specific requests to Government regarding the public promotion of Fairtrade, andcontinued support for its education in schools, and also directs requests at major chocolatecompanies and UK retailers, demanding a greater commitment to fairer trade.
9 June 2006

The OECD says that DFID has gone through a golden age of growth and achievement since 1997,
with clear operational frameworks, an active political leadership and good organisation having placed
the UK as a leader amongst other international donors. The peer review of the UK’s development
assistance, was published in Paris today by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. The
report also welcomes the UK’s generous financial contributions to worldwide humanitarian disasters
and its work improving the world’s humanitarian aid system to help the fight against poverty.
DAC Peer Review of the UK:
http://www.oecd.org/document/43/0,2340,en_2649_34603_36881515_1_1_1_1,00.html
7 June 2006
Hilary Benn called on the international community to support the new UN humanitarian fund withlong term financing, as the UK announced a three year pledge of £120 million. Mr Benn, who led
the campaign for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), said: "The setting up of the CERF
in March this year was a big step forward for humanitarian relief. The UN now has the money toenable it to get going quickly when disaster strikes. The fund has already helped out in the drought in
the horn of Africa. It is also now in a better position to respond to the forgotten emergencies - theones the television cameras don’t cover and people don’t talk about – such as Burundi, Chad, Cote
D’Ivoire and Democratic Republic of Congo. But the CERF will need funding every year because
sadly, we know that disasters – whether from earthquakes, floods or fighting - will happen everyyear”.
5 June 2006
Fighting poverty in Helmand must go hand in hand with efforts to tackle the drugs trade and create
peace and security, Hilary Benn said during a visit to the south Afghan province today. On his visit,
Hilary Benn pledged £30 million ($55m) over three years for a new programme to help improvethe economic prospects of poor people in the province. The money will be provided to theGovernment of Afghanistan, and will help to expand national reconstruction and development
programmes in Helmand. Local community councils in each village will identify what is most needed,
but the funding will provide:
Road or bridge building schemes for isolated communities;
Improving access to clean water and sanitation;
Small loans for poor Afghans who cannot access credit – helping them to invest in their future;
and assistance for farmers.
4 June 2006
The UK urged the international community to provide more funding direct to the Government of
Afghanistan, rather than bypassing government channels. Speaking on a visit to Kabul, Hilary Benn
extended the UK’s commitment to the Afghan Government’s budget by a further £60m ($111m) –and encouraged other donors to do the same. The announcement of the £60m further funding camea day after the Afghan parliament approved the government’s budget for 2006/07. The new money isfor 2008/09, as part of a rolling three year commitment to improve the predictability of donor funding
given to the Government. It is in addition to money the UK provides to the Government’s budget for
specific projects. Over 70% of DFID’s £102m ($189m) budget will go to the government in 2006/07.
Funding provided direct to the Government’s budget pays for:salaries for civil servants such as teachers, doctors, nurses and agricultural support advisers;
the basic operating costs of Government, including supplies for schools and hospitals;
maintenance costs for Government facilities, roads and infrastructure;
emergency humanitarian support.
1 June 2006
The UK government confirmed that it will invest $30 million in the Investment Climate Facility for
Africa (ICF), designed to help Africa become a better place to do business. The ICF was endorsed by
the Commission for Africa and supported by the G8 at Gleneagles. It will help bring about morebusiness friendly policies, laws and regulations across the continent, and strengthen the institutions
that enable these to be administered. It will help bring about a more effective dialogue on investment
climate reform between governments and the business community and will support projects such as
streamlining business registration and licensing systems, reforming customs administration andtaxation and removing barriers to competition.

SPEECHES

28 June 2006
Ending Extreme Poverty: the Challenge for our Generation
Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, Centre for Strategic andInternational Studies, Washington, USA
The United States and the UK have worked together to agree commitments at Gleneagles; atthe UN Millennium Summit that states have a responsibility to protect their citizens fromgenocide, and where they fail to do so the international community must act; a new Human
Rights Commission and a Peace Building Commission have been developed as a result. In
March we also set up a new UN fund to speed up our response to humanitarian emergencies.
And three weeks ago, we agreed in New York a plan to get AIDS treatment to all who need it by
2010. All of this because we know that without a just world we will not have a stable world. The
task now is to turn those commitments into practical help. So what do we need to do ?
1. Recognise that for development to happen there must be peace and security
We know that post-conflict countries have a 50% chance of starting fighting again within 5 years– so we need to work with them for more than just the short term. We know we need to help
build long-term stability as a foundation for future prosperity. We know that this involves
providing basic services like education and health – creating a sense of hope, and of good
government – including through building institutions.
And we know that if we ignore countries – failed states like Afghanistan, Liberia or Somalia –they can become safe havens for terrorism.
2. Invest in helping developing countries to build their own capacity
Our aid can help poor people go to school and stay healthy - both of which is vital to theireconomic development. But our support needs to be long-term and predictable if governments
are to be able to invest in their people
3. Work in a way that helps build this capacity
It is a lack of capacity that is the biggest cause of death and the absence of school places, howmuch help we give and how we give it, really do matter. Aid currently is not enough. The otherissue is how we work. Let me take two examples, the way we give our aid and the fight against
HIV and AIDS. In the UK we now ask three questions of our development partners. Are you
serious about reducing poverty ? Do you uphold human rights and international obligations ?
And do you promote transparency, reform of public financial management, good governanceand make sure the money goes where it was intended ? Based on the answers we give our aid
in different ways. In Zimbabwe, we don’t give aid to the government; but we do provide food and
we run an AIDS programme. In Tanzania, on the other hand, we give a lot of our aid in the formof support to the government’s budget – to their treasury. To enable them to get on and do thethings they want. Fighting AIDS is also an issue of capacity, and it is one where the US has
shown great leadership. We are the two biggest donors in the global fight against AIDS.
You, like us, were one of the founders of the “three ones” - vital to make sure that the way weoffer help actually assists those fighting this disease on the ground. Like us, you are a big
supporter of the Global Fund, which has helped raise more money. You also recognise, like us,that we need to do more to help countries build their healthcare – doctors, nurses, drugs andclinics, if we are to defeat AIDS. It’s that lack of capacity that is the biggest issue.
But on some of the other issues – abstinence and condoms - we have a different approach. I
agree that there is good evidence that fewer sexual partners and delaying starting sex help
reduce AIDS, but the truth is that:
not everyone can or is able to abstain from sex
some women sell sex for money or foodsome people inject themselves with drugs
some men have sex with other men
Now I know that these are difficult and embarrassing issues for some human beings and somesocieties, but people should not die because human beings like having sex. Embarrassment istemporary, while death is permanent. And therefore we need to be open and honest, fightstigma, and give people the knowledge and the means to protect themselves, if we are to win
this fight.
4. Progress in developing countries will depend above all on good governanceGood governance is about the capacity of governments to ensure security, to be able to getthings done, to give people the chance to be heard and to respond to what they want. It’s about
creating a climate in which people – local and from abroad - will want to come and invest theirmoney. It’s about ensuring the rule of law and effective policing. And it’s also about fighting
corruption. Walking away from our responsibilities to poor people is not the right thing to do.
5. Economic growth is the best way to reduce poverty
It’s how we did it in our own countries. It’s also the best way to end the dependency of poor
countries on aid. Poor people are the private sector – they are the farmers, the entrepreneurs,
the shopkeepers – and they are also the people we are trying to help. But it is very hard to trade
when the rules are unfair. That is why Doha is so important and why I’m pleased that President
Bush has said that the US is ready to eliminate all tariffs and subsidies to trade. I share his viewthat the time has come for all of the world's richest countries – including those in Europe - tomake these tough decisions.
6. We have to act to stop climate change
Climate change and depletion of natural resources will be the ultimate test of global good
governance. Sea level rise, too much or too little rain – you know all about this in Washington
this week! And more frequent storms will lead to mass migration, fragile economies being
undermined, water and food shortages, and potentially wars. Agreeing a stabilisation target –what rise in temperature the earth can cope with – and then dividing up the CO2 emissions we
can absorb will be the greatest challenge of all.
28 June 2006
Triesman speech - China and Africa Conference
Lord Triesman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, at
China and Africa Conference, London
Let me make clear from the start that Britain welcomes China's increased engagement in Africa.
I believe there is significant potential for a strong partnership between Britain and China in Africa.
It is very encouraging, therefore, that China has decided to make 2006, in the words of ChineseVice-Minister for Foreign Affairs He Yafei: ' major year for China in Africa'.
China has always had close links with Africa. Its connections go back over a thousand years.
Today China has extensive commercial interests in Africa. The development of China's future
relations with Africa is set out in a comprehensive Chinese government paper, published in
January, including political co-operation, economic development, education, health andenvironmental issues and peace and security. These are issues which are fundamental toAfrica's future development. In many of them we share common aims and interests. So I would
like to explore how we might work in partnership to help achieve our mutual objectives. I knowthat China is keen to demonstrate that its relationship with Africa is more than just an economic
relationship, important as this is. In this context we welcomed Premier Wen's recent commitment
to helping African countries to improve democracy, the rule of law and social justice. But it has togo beyond words. We have to look to working with China to promote positive change in theseareas in a number of African countries.
Sudan is one country where China has significant interests and where we could do more to work
together. The UK has worked closely with the Government of Sudan, with the African Union andwith our partners in the UN Security Council to try to find a lasting solution to the conflict
between the North and the South and in the Darfur region. Representatives of all Security
Council members, including China, recently visited the region to get a clearer picture of the
impact of the conflict on the region as a whole as well as the full extent of the humanitariancatastrophe.

Zimbabwe is another country where China has extensive economic interests. Zimbabwe is richin natural resources and has the potential to be a major producer and supplier of minerals andagricultural commodities. But the policies of the Zimbabwean Government are destroying the
economic base of the country and ruining people's lives. Both bilaterally, through the African
Union, the EU and UN we have urged Mugabe to change direction. And we have made it clearthat should he do so the UK and the EU will provide significant support to the rebuilding of
Zimbabwe. But I hope and believe it is possible to work with the Chinese to get Mugabe's
government to change direction.
China has emerged as a leading international member of the international community. As theworld's fourth largest economy, now surpassing the UK, what happens in China will have an
impact across the globe and its responsibilities grow with it by the day. China will have a growing
need for Africa's resources as much as Africa will need China's markets for their mutual growth.
The challenge is how to manage that growth in a sustainable way. Managed successfully we all
benefit.
26 June 2006
A year after Gleneagles
Tony Blair, at King's College, London
I want to talk about Africa and climate change, and I want to do that in the context of the G8
Summit at Gleneagles last July, since this is a year on. We achieved at Gleneagles more than all,I think, but those with the most rose tinted spectacles, thought was possible. The issues before
then were not high up the political agenda in the UK, let alone internationally, and now they are.
That they are is in no small part down to the efforts of millions of people, mobilised by the Make
Poverty History campaign and Live 8, which played quite an extraordinary and magnificent partin mobilising civic society.
On Africa I have learnt two key lessons in the last ten years in Sierra Leone, in Rwanda, in
Ethiopia, and now in Sudan. Firstly, that everything is connected, there is no single solution.
And secondly, I have seen that if there is real commitment by African governments to progress,
then their people are well capable of doing the rest.
My main disappointment at Gleneagles was that we were not able to make more progress on
trade. In a way what was most frustrating was that the leaders there all agreed that we needed agood outcome for developing countries from the Doha Round, but the negotiations at present
frankly are not reflecting this.
So what have we to do? On climate change in the next 12 months we need to build a global
consensus about the scale of the action we need to take and the long-term goal we are all
working towards. We need to begin agreement on a framework that the major players - the US,
China, India and Europe - put into, and has at the heart of that framework a goal to stabilise
temperature and greenhouse gas concentrations. I also believe a clear goal and a strong
framework would help spur the technology revolution we need. The investment decisions thatare being made now, both within Europe and across the world, will determine what happens to
global emissions in the next 15 - 20 years. But we need to go further. That is why within theEuropean Union I believe we need to give a clear strong signal to business that this emissions
trading scheme should be extended and strengthened after 2012 and made the heart of a global
carbon market. We also need more investment in research into cleaner technology to bring thattechnology from design to manufacture, and to enable it to be used by households in bothdeveloped and developing countries. And finally we need to back all this up with real action to
reduce UK domestic emissions.
On Africa there is also much to be done and the commitments made must be reached. So there
is an enormous agenda of work to do and I am under no illusions at all that we set very, very
ambitious goals for Gleneagles. We have made good progress but it is going to take anenormous amount of work in the years to come to eliminate poverty in Africa and tackle climatechange.
This will take a lot of hard work by governments, it will take an enormous amount of support
outside of government. I mentioned the importance of the Make Poverty History campaign, theLive 8 concerts last year, frankly we need that type of public support year in year out in every
country if we are to end poverty and stop climate change. So what does this really teachus? Quite apart from the importance of the specifics on Gleneagles there is one other major,
major lesson of the past few years. That is that the only sensible view of foreign policy today is
one of engagement, is one of preparedness to intervene, is one of recognising that if we have aproblem the rest of the world has, that these problems can only be tackled collectively, theycannot be tackled individually, that the best form of foreign policy is therefore a muscular and astrong multilateral intervention on the issues facing us in the world today. Africa and climatechange are two such issues that cry out for such an approach. We made progress at Gleneagles,
but the hard part of the task is still to be performed.
7 June 2006
An end to forgotten emergencies
Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development at the Humanitarian Policy Paper
Launch, The British Red Cross
DFID’s new humanitarian policy represents a major organisational shift. It sets out three things:
1. We will work hard to improve the effectiveness of what the UK does. We will work across the
UK government to do so, reinforcing humanitarian principles. And of course we work throughothers – the UN must lead globally and at country level, but it must be able to do so. The
humanitarian sector has got to become more accountable to beneficiaries, to taxpayers andto parliaments. Working to the highest standards and reporting on them. Involving
beneficiaries in the design and monitoring of what we do.
2. We will work hard to become a better donor. By that I mean we will seek an end to forgotten
emergencies once and for all. We have a duty to be where the cameras are. But also where
they are not.
3. Finally this paper sets out what we will do to reduce the risk of crises – through disaster risk
reduction, through conflict prevention. I hope that others will follow our lead in putting 10% ofwhat we provide in relief to a natural disaster, towards measures that reduce the risk of
future disasters. We need to be ready to adapt to the emerging threats of the 21st century,
like climate change and avian flu.