European and External Relations Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Official Report 334KB pdf

---

Scotland Malawi Partnership

Agenda item 2 is a paper and an update from the Scotland Malawi Partnership on the work that it does in Malawi. I advise the committee that I am a member of the Scotland Malawi Partnership. The recommendation is that the committee may wish to seek views and an update from the Scottish Government and any other relevant organisations. I invite committee members’ comments and views on the Scotland Malawi Partnership paper.

Happy new year to you, convener. I apologise for being one minute late. I have read the comprehensive report from the partnership. It congratulates the Scottish Government on its close working with the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over the past 12 months. Indeed, it congratulates the Scottish Government on the model of development support that is provided. The partnership also calls for increased investment and I wonder whether you have any further information on the scale of the increased investment in corporate governance that it is calling for.

What Scotland does overseas is very important. The first time that I realised the importance of engaging overseas was when we were bidding for the Commonwealth games in Sri Lanka. Many representatives from around the world were quick to point out that they did not know Nigeria from anywhere else but they knew Scotland because we were always there when they needed us. It is an important accolade for Scotland that we are known across the world for our hospitality and friendship. This is an example of the work that we have done overseas. We should continue with it and consider ways of encouraging the provision of additional resources.

The report is an extremely comprehensive and well-written document. I knew very little about the political circumstances in Malawi. A great deal is happening in the world and the media have to choose what they report, but they have been very quiet on what has been taking place in Malawi.

Would it be possible to ask the Scotland Malawi Partnership to give us regular updates on the political circumstances in Malawi? One or two items in the report are of concern. I am glad that the Scottish Government is maintaining its contact, because I assume and believe, given that we deliver aid through organisations that are based in Scotland, that the money will get to where it is supposed to go.

I say this carefully, because I do not want to say anything untoward, but I am a bit concerned about the direction that the Malawian Government might be heading in. The comments in the paragraph on page 7 of the report about current challenges tend to suggest that it is not the kind of Government that we exist under in Scotland. Given that we encourage good governance in Malawi, we must ensure that we are not blind to occasions when the governance is not as good as we might hope.

I back up Bill Kidd’s comments on that point. It would be remiss of the committee not to comment on such serious issues as censorship and human rights abuses. It is important that the committee gets regular updates on such developments, because they might mean that the Scottish Government has to reassess how it deals with the situation.

Thanks very much. I echo all those comments. I visited Malawi a few years ago and saw the amazing work that is being done, especially the trading that is done by the food co-operatives. If the Malawian Government has withdrawn licences for people to trade outwith its borders, that will have a serious impact on the economy and on some of the food co-ops; sometimes three or four villages that all did something different had got together to trade among themselves and also to trade outside Malawi’s borders. Food security is an issue. Human rights abuses and the economic climate are concerns, but if people are hungry that becomes a much more basic human need.

The Scotland Malawi Partnership sends almost weekly updates to its members, so I get weekly or sometimes fortnightly updates from David Hope-Jones. I am sure that the partnership would be happy to extend that to the committee, but we should write to it and ask it formally to do that. There is always the possibility of having representatives of the partnership in for a chat about the challenges that lie ahead and whether we can address some of them.

One of the main things to take from the paper is that the model that the Scottish Government uses to fund organisations in Malawi is one that the United Kingdom Government is now looking at, because a lot of its funding went from Government to Government and a lot of it was allegedly used in a questionable manner. Perhaps we can learn from that, too. The issue is close to my heart so I will not let go of it on the committee. I agree with Bill Kidd’s recommendation that we try to get updates on the political situation and, as Neil Findlay mentioned, the human rights issues.

That is fine. We will also pursue Annabelle Ewing’s question about funding and the financial aspect.

Yes. I would like to know what the partnership is looking for.

The convener has been out there in the past. We have changed the type of funding that we give, as we now directly fund projects that really require it. I know that some of our services in Scotland have been to Malawi. For example, the fire and rescue service, City Building and many other organisations have done sterling work out there.

It might be an idea for the convener to consider making a visit herself to see exactly what is being delivered. It is important to assess the success rate, so that we can focus on where aid is really required. Things are difficult—we are all facing hard times—so it is important to build on the success that we have had. You identified some success. Let us see whether we can continue to build on that.

We should investigate that option. I would be delighted to have a trip back to Malawi, but obviously current circumstances might prevent that.

You could get a single ticket. [Laughter.]

That was not very parliamentary.

We are just at the start of the meeting—he might want to speak further.

We will take forward all those recommendations. I thank members for all their helpful comments.