Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick and Andrew Mitchell(13 years, 3 months ago)
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Mr Mitchell
The hon. Gentleman rightly points to the importance of the UK Government platform being seamless. That is why, when I was in Sudan in November, I opened a new British Government office in Juba. Last weekend, it was elevated to a consulate generalship and will provide state-of-the-art support for the work that the British Government are doing in southern Sudan.
Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)
Can the Secretary of State update the House on the progress of any agreed settlement regarding the distribution of Sudanese oil reserves between north and south Sudan?
Mr Mitchell
This is one of the issues that former President Mbeki is particularly addressing in the discussions about Abyei. As the hon. Lady implies, the largest amounts of oil are in southern Sudan but the mechanisms for extracting it and getting it out are pipelines through northern Sudan. The negotiations are continuing and are likely to continue for some time yet.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick and Andrew Mitchell(13 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Mitchell
Monitoring the effectiveness of British aid in the future will, at least in part, be done by external evaluation in the independent evaluation agency that we have set up. To some extent, evaluation should be built into all projects and into all the work that we are doing, and we are trying to ensure that that happens in the future.
Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)
Given the success of the global development engagement fund, what steps will the Secretary of State take to reinstate that fund to ensure that the good work done in schools and communities throughout Britain and Northern Ireland can be continued?
Mr Mitchell
We are reviewing the way in which such development awareness work is done. I am looking specifically at trying to ensure that global citizenship is enshrined in the work that schools do. In general, however, I do not think that British taxpayers’ hard-earned money meant for development should be spent in the UK. It should be spent helping the poorest in the world—those whom it is the intention of the House that we should be assisting.