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Westminster must lead on international development |
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Monday, 10 March 2008 |
Scotland’s international development programme can only be effective if it works closely with and takes a lead from Westminster, according to Malcolm Bruce MP, chair of the House of Commons International Development Committee.
The member for Gordon says that Scottish Parliament’s international
development budget is too small to have any meaningful impact compared
to the UK Government programme.
“There is no benefit from the Scottish Parliament setting up its own
entirely separate international development effort. If the Scottish
Parliament wants to get involved in this kind of work, they should
focus on one or two areas, and it should be done in co-ordination.”
says Bruce.
Instead, Bruce says that the Scottish international development work’s best achievements can come through “raising awareness”.
He points out that even in Malawi, the focus of Scotland’s
international development, the UK Government contribution is over £60m
compared to the Scottish spend of a minimum of £3m a year promised by
the Scottish Government. But despite the investment from both Scottish
and UK Governments, Bruce is pessimistic about Malawi’s future.
“As things appear at this moment, Malawi’s lack of resources, it being
landlocked, and its population growth exceeding its economic growth
means it is actually getting poorer. It is very dependent on
humanitarian aid, which makes it hard to provide real development
support,” he says.
Bruce also expresses frustration at what he sees as a lack of
recognition of the work done by the Department of International
Development in Scotland. He points out that DfID’s East Kilbride office
employs around 750 people who are engaged in some of the most important
work done by the department.
“I think people should be more aware that this is a UK operation, and that Scotland already plays a role in that,” he says.
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