WRITTEN QUESTION E-3172/97 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (13 October 1997)

Subject: ECHO's involvement in Burma

The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has received some criticism from human rights groups because of its involvement in a HIV/AIDS project in Burma.

The project has involved liaison with the health ministry run by the Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which has been responsible for mass repression of pro-democracy activists in the country.

Has the Commission carried out any assessment on the impact of the project? Does the Commission believe that the project has brought any tangible benefits to the people of Burma? Has it succeeded in ensuring that the project has not been controlled by SLORC. If so, how has it done this?

The Commission has also been reported to have supported a UN drug control programme in Burma. How much funding has it allocated to this programme. Similarly, can it outline any benefits which it believes the project has brought to the people of Burma?

Answer given by Mr Marin on behalf of the Commission (10 November 1997)

The project cited by the Honourable Member is not financed through the humanitarian aid budget line, but under the HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)/AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) budget line (HIV/AIDS prevention and care in Tachilek and Kyainge Tong, World Vision United Kingdom. The baseline assessment and the development of the operational plan have been suspended for the time being because of heavy monsoon rain in the region. The project has therefore not produced any result yet.

The activities the Commission is supporting, however, will really benefit the populations in need without giving any recognition to the State law and order restoration council (SLORC). On the other hand, in a country like Burma, it is almost impossible for any non governmental organisation (NGO) to work without any link to existing structures, because only in an extremely limited number of cases can an NGO build up its own structures sufficiently to have any impact on the humanitarian situation of the least favoured parts of the population. This is particularly true in the health sector where dissemination through (and training of) the Burmese staff who will be, apart from the limited number of NGO staff, in charge of dealing with the problems, inevitably leads to working relations with governmental structures or individuals linked to them, such as the Myanmar mother and child welfare association or the Myanmar medical association.

The Commission is aware that this is not an ideal situation, but it has to accept it if it wants to improve the humanitarian situation inside Burma. This does, however, in no way mean that NGOs working with these structures, or individuals linked to them, are supporting the junta or fail to respect humanitarian principles. The Commission continuously monitors the situation of all Community financed projects very closely, together with the Member States in Burma, in order to make sure that this is the case.

Regarding co-operation with the United Nations drug control programme (UNDCP), the Commission is contributing ECU 806 000 to an UNDCP-run three-year precursor control project in East Asia, covering Burma, China, Laos and Vietnam. The project aims at increasing the countries'capability to implement adequate national and subregional measures for regulating precursors and to suppress their diversion and trafficking. Benefits to the people of Burma will be indirect.