Oxfam
The members' business debate is on motion S1M-2118, in the name of Mary Mulligan, on Oxfam.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates Linlithgow Oxfam Group on 26 years of fundraising and campaigning for poverty eradication and social justice throughout the world; recognises the contribution made by all Oxfam groups and individual supporters in Scotland in raising awareness of our role and responsibility in the world, and supports their efforts to increase action to meet the UN 2015 poverty action targets.
I thank all those members who signed my motion and I welcome to the public gallery members of Oxfam, particularly those from my constituency.
The Linlithgow Oxfam group was founded in 1975 by 10 people who had previously been donors to Oxfam and some of whom had returned from volunteer work overseas. The group has now grown to the extent that more than 70 households and more than 100 people play some role in its busy activities each year. As well as running the shop, the group has held events such as folk nights, coffee mornings, car boot sales and collections. The supermarket collections and the annual house-to-house collection regularly yield in excess of £3,000 from the people of the town and the group consistently raises in excess of £10,000 a year for Oxfam. I am aware that there was a successful collection at one of the supermarkets just this weekend.
As well as raising funds for Oxfam's development programme, the group has regularly responded to appeals for emergency relief, most recently in Rwanda and Kosovo. The regular events and activities have allowed the group to raise awareness among the people of Linlithgow about some of the causes of global poverty. Exhibitions, talks and information stalls have covered topics such as debt and aid and trade. More recently, the group has covered conflict and education. Members of the group also write to and meet their MP and MSP to ensure that their representatives are kept informed of campaigns and issues.
The group in Linlithgow is part of a much wider network throughout Scotland. Last week, the Parliament debated—not for the first time—how volunteering contributes to the fabric of Scotland. Many people give of their time and expertise as well as of their money to support the causes that Oxfam highlights. In Scotland, Oxfam has around 40,000 committed supporters, including about 1,000 shop volunteers and about 70 Oxfam groups. Oxfam provides information on international affairs and anti-poverty strategies to many people and bodies. It also makes a financial contribution to the development of education for global citizenship within Scottish schools, a subject to which I will return.
It is important that people in Scotland understand Oxfam to be an organisation that is committed to working with others to overcome poverty wherever it exists, rather than simply a third-world development or emergency relief agency. That means that Oxfam in Scotland seeks ways to deal with poverty in Scotland and around the world and strives to make local-to-global linkages on tackling poverty and social exclusion. That highlights the fact that Oxfam in Scotland is relevant to the Scottish Parliament's efforts to address poverty and implement social justice.
Oxfam's programme of work covers a range of activities, including education for all primary-school-age children, considering ways of resolving conflict and campaigns on cancelling debt and on changing international trade rules, corporate practices and consumer behaviour. The UK poverty programme aims to bring Oxfam's international expertise and learning to a national and local context. In Scotland, Oxfam has been involved in some innovative work with asylum seekers. Other projects have included work with people to ensure that those who live in poverty can participate in the decision-making process. Oxfam is also working to address gender inequalities.
The traditional Oxfam role that most people recognise is that of providing an effective emergency response to a humanitarian emergency. We cannot be unaware of the developing crisis in Afghanistan. Oxfam and other relief agencies are in Pakistan, where they are attempting to deal with the masses of refugees and to be practical by providing a clean water supply to the refugee camps.
The network of Oxfam shops makes a direct and sustainable financial contribution to long-term development work. It provides a practical way in which the Scottish public can take action on global poverty.
I referred to Oxfam's involvement in the Scottish community. The three-year sustainable secondary schools project is funded by the heritage lottery fund to promote sustainable development as a key element in whole-school policies in Scottish secondary schools. The partnership comprises various environmental and development agencies and Learning and Teaching Scotland. At present, seven schools from around Scotland are involved in the initiative.
Oxfam also plays a valuable role in the new deal. Oxfam in Scotland has provided new deal placements for approximately 80 participants. Of those who completed the 26-week course, 89 per cent achieved their training goals. I mention those examples to show that Oxfam is active in the community here in Scotland.
What does the future hold? The 2015 international development targets are designed to provide milestones against which progress towards the goal of poverty elimination can be measured. A policy paper calling for a global partnership to pursue a new development strategy focused on six key goals. The first is to halve the proportion of people in extreme poverty. The second is to achieve universal primary education in all countries by 2015. The third is to show progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women. The fourth is to reduce mortality rates for infants and children under five by two thirds. The fifth is to provide access to reproductive health services. The sixth is to have national strategies for sustainable development implemented by 2005.
I hope that I have shown that the successes of Oxfam in Linlithgow have come about because of sound principles, a clear strategy and much hard work by many people. Oxfam sets out to tackle the causes of poverty and to give people the dignity of taking control of their lives, instead of being just recipients of aid. The Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short, said this week that
"to tackle the underlying roots of violence and conflict, we need a massive international effort to reduce poverty and injustice, and to promote development, democracy and human rights. There can be no global stability without global social justice."
That is what Oxfam has worked for. Because of that bigger goal, the people of Linlithgow—and no doubt others throughout Scotland, as we will hear in the debate—have given freely of their time to make a difference throughout the world.
I will allow the first three speakers three and a half minutes. All other speakers will have to keep to under three minutes.
I thank Mary Mulligan for securing the debate.
I have never been hungry, I have never been bombed and my nation has never been invaded. I have never been driven from my home and I have not been required to take up arms to defend myself. The Government can be changed by the ballot box and the press has freedom of expression. We take all that for granted and we become engrossed in what people in the developing world would rightly regard as trivia.
An irony of the current world situation is that it has fully revealed the extent of the misery in Afghanistan. That task was previously left to the efforts of charitable organisations. As Mary Mulligan said, Oxfam is in Pakistan and it is in the refugee camps, providing clean water—the fundamental of human existence.
Oxfam's representatives in Pakistan and in other crisis points at home and abroad are the cutting edge of an army of volunteers and supporters in Scotland. That army numbers 40,000 people who all contribute diverse skills and give time, money and commitment. They educate and inform—all for no personal gain. On behalf of the Scottish National Party, I thank them and exhort them to continue with their efforts.
I believe that the United Kingdom's international aid budget should be raised to recommended United Nations levels. Developing world debt should be cancelled, poverty should be eliminated and the 2015 international development targets should be met. The heavily indebted poor countries initiative should be reformed to allow for speedier and wider relief to all countries that are in need. International aid should be given in the form of grants or low-interest loans, which would avoid increasing the debt burden. Trade with a donor nation should not be a prerequisite for aid. That summarises the SNP's commitments on overseas development.
I am not sure whether it is appropriate to quote myself but, as that is a safe source, I am going to. In the week after the attack on the USA, I wrote my fortnightly column for the Renfrewshire Gazette. I found it hard to say what I thought but, noting that there would be retribution, I ended my column with these words:
"with it there have to be diplomatic efforts to bridge the gap that is widening amongst groups and nations in the world. Wooing rather than threatening. Aiding rather than obstructing. Sharing rather than taking. Educating rather than indoctrinating. And, most of all, building mutual respect and tolerance."
Since 1942, Oxfam and its volunteers have been in the forefront of such efforts. In the foreseeable future, I predict with sadness that there will be a constant challenge for them, as there will be for all of us. I wish Oxfam and its volunteers well. I take great pleasure in supporting the motion.
I too congratulate Mary Mulligan on securing today's debate.
In the light of the recent tragedy in America and the subsequent deterioration in the plight of refugees in Afghanistan, it is apt that we should take this opportunity to acknowledge and support the work of Oxfam, whether that be in the form of the Linlithgow group or of individual supporters in Scotland who are working towards a shared goal of the eradication of poverty.
The Linlithgow Oxfam group is to be congratulated on the substantial contribution it has made to the work of Oxfam in Scotland over the past 26 years. This year, members of the Linlithgow group have raised £3,500 in a house-to-house collection that was part of Oxfam in Scotland's largest annual fundraising event, known as Oxfam week. That accounts for almost 10 per cent of the total that was raised in Scotland.
The vast array of work that Oxfam carries out in communities in Scotland and overseas is a cause for acknowledgement and celebration. In the region that I represent, six Oxfam shops provide a service to the local community and maintain a direct and sustainable financial contribution to long-term development overseas.
In schools across Scotland, Oxfam's development through education programme is working to ensure that Scottish schools address international issues and that they provide a curriculum that ensures that pupils are well versed in the challenges of sustainable development. At Braes High School in Falkirk, pupils and staff are learning about fair trade issues. By taking the idea of fair trade out of the classroom, they are attempting to let the issue permeate the school's ethos, pupil participation and the school's relationship with its community.
Those examples are a few among many, but they serve to illustrate the work that Oxfam does at local level. Through involvement in some of the areas that I have touched on, our community in Scotland can act in a positive way to alleviate poverty and to work towards social justice.
Oxfam works to raise funds for and awareness of projects at home and abroad. Even before the terrorist attacks of 11 September, Afghanistan faced a winter of severe shortages that might leave 5 million people at risk. Oxfam continues with much of its work, which is reaching approximately 750,000 people, but food distribution cannot continue without United Nations World Food Programme resupply from outside the country before the winter.
I acknowledge the international development targets for education, as set out in May 1996. Lack of education is a serious curb on development. There are 876 million illiterate people in the world and two thirds of them are women. We believe that developing countries should be encouraged to develop their own education sectors. We agree with the target of universal primary education by 2015, with the emphasis being on the role of national Governments in delivering education for their own citizens. I welcome Mary Mulligan's motion and the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Oxfam, particularly in Linlithgow.
I congratulate Mary Mulligan on introducing the debate. The voluntary sector is one of the glories of Scottish life; the huge effort put into organisations such as Oxfam shows our fellow citizens at their best. The organisation that I am involved in in a small way is Christian Aid. It holds a book sale in my church in George Street, which I think claims to be the biggest book sale in the world. It takes over the church for several weeks and makes about £80,000 for Christian Aid. Members are welcome to come along—it is in May each year.
There are other aspects, such as fair trade. It is commendable that the Parliament has taken that up and drinks fair trade tea and coffee. Jubilee 2000—its new name escapes me—brought together a huge number of Scots. The voluntary approach—"lets try and do something about this problem"—is commendable.
People have come to the same conclusion in many organisations: that it is not enough only to do fundraising. The whole world system is so bad that we have to change it. Our great efforts at fundraising are puny compared with the problem. My main motivating force in politics—I am sure that many colleagues feel the same—is the gulf in circumstances between the rich and the poor in this country, but the gulf is even greater across the world. We have to help organisations such as Oxfam and Christian Aid in their campaigning as well as their fundraising. Oxfam is campaigning hard on issues such as debt.
The World Trade Organisation should be seriously reformed. With all due respect to our American friends, they in particular—as the world's richest and greatest nation—must consider their foreign and economic policy. The growing gulf between the rich and the poor is no longer just a moral issue but a practical one. The rich cannot continue to enjoy their standard of living and peace and so on when there are so many other people who are hopelessly deprived of all sorts of things. We have to put that right. Although the Parliament does not deal with foreign affairs it can do its bit and co-operate with those excellent voluntary organisations to start putting the world order right, so that it is something that we—as human beings—can all take pride in.
I am grateful to Mary Mulligan and Margaret Curran for agreeing to my participating in the debate from the back benches. I wanted to do so because I worked for Oxfam in Scotland for 12 years prior to being elected. Those years taught me the power of people in seemingly hopeless circumstances to transcend despair and make a collective effort to improve their lives and those of their families and neighbours.
Oxfam was started in the darkest of times—1942—by a handful of people determined to do something about the plight of people in occupied Europe. Indeed, sending aid to occupied Greece in 1942 was not popular with the Government of the day. The refusal to temper its humanitarian instinct to suit the circumstance has continued to characterise Oxfam throughout its life. From being the first aid agency into the nightmare of post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia to engaging in the moral maze that was Rwanda in 1994, Oxfam has never flinched from the most difficult theatres of humanitarianism. It does not do so today and, as many members have said, it is playing its part, as we speak, in the provision of aid to the people of Afghanistan.
Oxfam has long refused to respond only to emergencies. Rather, it engages with the structures of poverty and conflict that create them and is at the forefront of campaigning on issues such as debt. It is a leader in the development education movement in Scotland and I am pleased that Currie High School in my constituency is part of the sustainable schools project that Mary Mulligan referred to. Neither does Oxfam flinch from issues of poverty at home.
Oxfam's reach is astonishing. I once visited a relief programme in northern Mozambique, which saw supplies trucked from Malawi into Mozambique and back out again to Zimbabwe, where they were loaded on to the Beira railway and taken to a remote rail junction. They were then trucked to an airfield, airlifted to towns that could be reached only by air, and then trucked out again another 200km to camps that people had walked for a fortnight to reach. People who might have been thought to be geographically beyond help were not beyond Oxfam's determination to reach them.
Of course, that astonishing chain actually stretched all the way back to the groups of supporters and activists who have always been the driving force of that kind of effort. Those links are very real. Of those groups, there is no better example in Scotland than the Linlithgow Oxfam group. As we have heard, its members have raised a great deal of money but, more than that, they understand that the effectiveness of international solidarity depends on the depth of the roots that we put down in our own communities. They have made themselves, and therefore their cause, a part of Linlithgow. They work in schools, campaign on the street and participate in annual marches—and they held their once-legendary raft races on Linlithgow loch. In contributing to the world, they contribute to their own town.
Someone once described Oxfam as a bridge of people. That is exactly what it is. It is a bridge built on the unshakeable belief that people acting together can overcome almost anything. The Linlithgow group is part of that bridge, and so are we for this hour at least—and so we should be.
I congratulate Mary Mulligan on bringing this important subject to the chamber for debate. I am pleased to follow Iain Gray, who has experience of working for Oxfam. In fact, one of my first experiences at this Parliament, in the new consensus, was holding hands between Jack McConnell and Iain Gray at one of the cancel-the-debt events.
Overseas aid and development have always been very much part of my politics. When I first went to university, everyone was rushing to join the Labour students or the nationalists, but I joined Third World First. It was the first organisation I joined.
I add my congratulations to Linlithgow Oxfam group. As has been said, it is very much part of the town of Linlithgow. Before I even moved from Edinburgh out to Linlithgow, I had heard about Linlithgow Oxfam and the work that it was doing. The roots that it has planted in that town are very important. The work of Linlithgow Oxfam and of other voluntary organisations and local churches shows that the town has an awareness of international responsibilities.
We should reflect on the fact that Mary Mulligan's motion was lodged before the recent attacks on the World Trade Center. Because of that event, we have come to focus our attention on the problems of poverty and conflict. This evening's debate was relevant before those events and it is relevant now, but we have to reflect on what it means in today's perspective. Poverty fuels conflict, and any response from the west has to address the absolute importance of urgent international aid. The work of groups such as Linlithgow Oxfam is part of the consciousness of ensuring that our country is aware of that need. We must be ready to take our responsibilities.
When we talk of responsibilities, we have to decide what this Parliament can do. We know that hunger can harbour hate, but what can we as a Parliament do? Yes, we can have a minister for voluntary organisations who can talk about the support we can give voluntary organisations. Yes, we have an important cross-party group on international development, but we have to ask what we can do as a country, as a nation.
We should reflect on what the Executive is doing and what it can do. What powers does it have? Of course, I am a nationalist and want to ensure that we have the powers and responsibility to meet international aid obligations. The Scottish Parliament does not yet have such powers, but in the weeks and months ahead there should be an effort and a contribution from the Executive to show that, hands across the nations of the world, this Parliament has a role to play.
I congratulate Mary Mulligan on securing the debate. I also congratulate Linlithgow Oxfam group. I remember its monthly sales in the Low Port hut—I used to take my young son there regularly during maternity time to ensure that I got toys and clothes. Linlithgow Oxfam group plays a valuable role in its contribution to Linlithgow's civic life. The group and Mary Mulligan's motion bring to members a sense of our duty and responsibilities as a Parliament.
I too congratulate Mary Mulligan on her motion.
It is said that everybody will remember where they were on 11 September. That morning, I was at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Australia. With members from South Africa and India and the deputy director of the Commonwealth Foundation, I presented a workshop on poverty. We discussed issues relating to poverty, including the United Nations definition of poverty. Over a billion people live on less than $1 a day in a world with enough resources for everyone to be well looked after.
We considered ways to tackle poverty in countries that are relatively well off but that have pockets of poverty and people who are socially excluded and in countries that face real and absolute poverty as a result of war or conflict, environmental situations or the tragedy of HIV and AIDS. We considered how we must develop literacy programmes and provide women with opportunities through, for example, microcredit schemes. We also discussed opportunities for women to obtain employment to sustain their families. I was struck by the huge amount of international development work that has been done and by the many committed people in voluntary organisations who give their time in Scotland, the UK and abroad.
I attended the Labour party conference in Brighton in the past couple of days. I was heartened by Clare Short's excellent speech, which gave the Government's commitment to continue a programme that targets the poorest countries, provides aid and supports organisations such as Oxfam in their valuable work.
One of Clare Short's most striking questions related to why millions of people continue to live in poverty, have nothing to eat, starve and have malnutrition, yet the rest of the world is on a permanent diet. If that does not sum things up, I do not know what will.
I was also pleased that Gordon Brown gave a commitment to use the UK Government's powers to work towards the target of free primary education for all children by 2015. That may seem a long way off, but much work must be done to ensure that that target is met.
I want to praise Oxfam for its work in development education. I used to work with young people and could always rely on Oxfam to provide resources and materials to allow me to work with young people and introduce them to problems in the wider world. That gave young people skills and confidence to discuss matters and take issues forward. I hope that Oxfam will keep up the good work—we appreciate it.
I too congratulate Mary Mulligan on her motion, which is timely. It is well recognised—and rightly so—that Oxfam does a splendid job, often in difficult and trying circumstances. Like Clare Short, we are naturally anxious that aid should go to those for whom it is intended—that is why we support Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development anti-corruption legislation.
Oxfam has a long and distinguished record of assistance. For example, since 1973 it has worked in Pakistan and responded to emergencies, including floods, cyclones and drought. Currently, it is fully involved in dealing with an escalating humanitarian crisis in central Asia and Afghanistan.
A combination of drought, conflict and food shortages and the ban on all communication with the outside world mean that countless individuals in Afghanistan are under threat of starvation. Oxfam welcomed the World Food Programme's decision to get food supplies through. I warmly welcome the fact that Oxfam is continuing to work in Afghanistan and that it plans to help deliver food to hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise would not have it.
I hope that the minister will impart to her colleagues in the British Government the need for food to get through before the full harshness of winter sets in. The effective work of non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam should be assisted even in the most troubled times. Linlithgow Oxfam group and other comparable groups in Scotland should be applauded for their work in support of Oxfam, which aims to drive back the frontiers of poverty, ignorance and disease.
I, too, congratulate Mary Mulligan on bringing the debate to the chamber. I also congratulate Linlithgow Oxfam group on its 26 years' work. Like Fiona Hyslop, I heard of the work of the group some time ago. That work is important because Oxfam, like many voluntary organisations, works nationally but is sustained by work done by local volunteers working actively week in, week out. Those volunteers not only raise money, they raise awareness.
The work that Oxfam has done to raise awareness about fair trade is important. A few weeks ago, Berta Gomez, who is a banana trade union worker from South America, came to the Parliament. She told us about the living and working conditions of women there. They are fighting to make their lives better—fighting for workers' rights and against poverty and oppression. They are campaigning with the little that they have to set up a women's health clinic and they seek our support and our awareness of what is happening.
When I heard Berta Gomez, I felt guilty about how I do my shopping. My kids grew up knowing that they should not buy things from particular companies or shops. I asked her about fair trade: "What about fair trade bananas? I don't buy the bananas that your company produces." She thinks that the fair trade campaign is important, because if people like me in the richer part of the world continue to buy fair trade produce, her company will treat the workers in her area better.
We must remember the implications of the work that is done by Oxfam and other organisations. That is important. Awareness raising is important. As the constituency MSP for Falkirk East, I want to thank Oxfam for the work that is happening in Braes High School and in other schools.
Active citizenship is not just about what happens in schools; it is about what happens in the community—locally, nationally and internationally. Only by understanding what is happening to those of the same age in other parts of the world can youngsters start to appreciate what it means to be an active citizen. That work is important—it is how sustainability is supported.
Congratulations. Most of us would like to go on for at least the next half hour and praise the present work. We must remember that we all have a responsibility in supporting the work of Oxfam, raising awareness and fighting world poverty.
As things stand, two members are unlikely to be called. Therefore, I will accept a motion without notice to extend the debate until 6 o'clock, so that everybody can be involved.
Motion moved,
That the meeting be extended until 6 o'clock.—[Fiona Hyslop.]
Motion agreed to.
I am terribly relieved, as I thought that I would have to go at a rate of knots. I thank Mary Mulligan for securing the debate.
What we have heard about Linlithgow Oxfam group and all the other Oxfam groups across the country shows that every piece of input from an Oxfam activist taps into the wider picture of Oxfam's marvellous work across the world. I pay particular tribute to Oxfam workers working elsewhere in the world—Iain Gray referred to some in Mozambique. Every day they work with people in the greatest need.
I have met some wonderful Oxfam activists across the world. I remember when I was in East Timor a couple of years ago meeting some people who worked for Oxfam. They had worked in the region before, but all the NGOs were kicked out of East Timor when the troubles started a few years back, as the oppressors were trying to hide what was going on. It fascinated me that, because they felt so strongly about East Timor, those Oxfam workers had taken leave of absence from their jobs with Oxfam to go back to East Timor for the ballot—that is commitment.
When I was in Peru last year, I met other wonderful Oxfam people who were working in a shanty town just outside Lima. They were working on a women's health project and had done some fantastic work. They were working with other NGOs—Mary Mulligan mentioned the importance of working together—to promote a better quality of life for people in that town. It especially interested me that they were not working from the top down—everything that they did had a teaching element. Oxfam teaches citizenship in our schools and works worldwide to ensure that people have the tools to make their lives better.
I pay tribute to an initiative from Clare Short, who has done rather a good job in the Department for International Development, to take aid into places such as Peru through NGOs such as Oxfam rather than through Governments. I am pleased that we are going down that road, because the NGOs are the people at the sharp end who know how to do that.
Fiona Hyslop asked what the Parliament can do and pointed out that we face certain difficulties. Donald Gorrie mentioned the World Trade Organisation. We should consider the major campaign that Oxfam is running on the agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property—TRIPS—which affects us by imposing a 20-year patent protection on all products and manufacturing processes. The 20-year rule is delaying the supply of equivalent but cheaper generic medicines to countries that need them. We all remember the publicity about the South African Government's great coup in winning its case on cheaper generic medicines. Oxfam is currently running a big campaign on the issue and is asking people to sign up to its global petition. I am being hurried up by the Presiding Officer, so I will close by asking every member to lobby friends and colleagues and get as many people as possible to sign up to Oxfam's global petition.
Mary Mulligan is to be congratulated on securing the debate and congratulations are also due to Oxfam Linlithgow.
I attended a fringe meeting in Brighton last night, after the formal session of my party's conference. I sat beside a young man who spoke eloquently about the disengagement of many people—especially young people—from party political processes. It is not that they are not interested in politics, but that political processes sometimes seem uninterested in them and the issues that are important to them. On Sunday, he had been outside the security perimeter in Brighton with the demonstrators.
This kind of debate shows that if political parties want re-engagement to enable genuine and constructive working together, we must listen to the genuine concerns of activists and interested parties on issues such as international development.
Our success or failure as democratic politicians will in part turn on how much we are prepared to use democratic fora such as this chamber to empower voluntary associations, charities and others outside the chamber to make the case on the great progressive causes of our time, which include international development. We have ambitious aims and are prepared to engage with the structures of poverty at home and abroad. It is one of the wonders of the 21st century that it has taken us so long in the 20th century to articulate a case for a global health fund for vaccines, research and development aids and tax credits. It should be one of the great ambitions of western civilisations to raise out of poverty a billion children throughout the world by 2015 and break the link between trade and aid.
I am heartened that our country is taking the lead on these issues. As our Prime Minister told the world community only yesterday, out of the shadow of the current evil should emerge lasting good. He then spelled out some of the elements of the good world that should emerge. In the short to medium term, we face the necessity of destroying the machinery of terrorism and we will not stint in achieving that end. Most important, we must bring to all nations the hope of a new beginning; a greater understanding that poverty is also an act of aggression; and an awareness that justice and prosperity for the dispossessed is the best guarantee of our collective security. For progressives, those are essential components of our collective purpose. We are making progress. Since 1997, aid for overseas development has increased by 50 per cent in real terms.
With Oxfam and other advocacy groups such as Save the Children, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund and Christian Aid taking up the case of the dispossessed and the poor, those voices will be heard. Perhaps they need to be heard now more than ever. Of course we need to do more. In the meantime, I say well done to Linlithgow Oxfam.
One point has not been raised in the debate. As a lifelong supporter of Oxfam, I am proud of the fact that it is the most efficient charity of its size in the world. A very small amount of money is spent on administration and a very large amount of money is applied exactly where it is needed. Oxfam deserves congratulations on that.
I thank Mary Mulligan for securing the debate, as it allows us to assert our links to the rest of the world. Such occasions are very important to all members and particularly to those of us in the cross-party international development group.
I have fond memories of Linlithgow Oxfam. It has a lovely habit of calling politicians to account during election campaigns and asking them to present their policies alone. One has to be pretty well-briefed to face the Linlithgow Oxfam group and I congratulate its members on ensuring that, at every election, not only the people who stand but others are well-briefed on foreign affairs.
I will concentrate on education, which has been mentioned. I pay tribute to Currie High School. I have visited the school several times and the feed-through from its engagement with a project led by Oxfam has been absolutely wonderful. However, it is a pity that so far only seven schools have managed to take part in the project. I would like the Executive to reflect on the fact that many other campaigning groups such as the World Development Movement—to which I also subscribe—all the groups within Scottish Environment LINK and other charities would love to take part in the kind of project in schools that Oxfam is leading.
Only yesterday, I visited Blackness Primary School. I advise anyone who wants to see the results of good teaching with a tiny class to do the same. The pupils were being taught about what is going on in the Amazon rainforests and it was fabulous to see the empathy that the little children had with their environment and people in other countries. I am quite sure that those results are reflected in the other schools involved in the project.
I warmly recommend that the Executive should do what it can to become a focus for educational development using all the voluntarism and good will that can be found in all the organisations in Scotland, especially Oxfam.
I also congratulate Mary Mulligan and the Linlithgow Oxfam group.
Although Oxfam's name is synonymous with addressing the issues of poverty in developing countries, its newest development programme is the UK poverty programme, which focuses on poverty at home. I want to consider that programme this evening.
In 1999, the UN human development report ranked the UK as the third worst of 17 industrialised countries for its record on poverty and its combinations of high levels of poverty and inequality. Oxfam's programme and expertise can play a large part in the process of stamping out poverty in this country and can help with the Executive's aims and commitment in that regard.
The UK poverty programme was set up in the mid-1990s and was established in Scotland in 1997. The programme is aimed at developing ways of working that empower people who face poverty to find solutions and change the policies that have created poverty. The aim in Scotland is to establish working relationships and partnerships with organisations that are interested in tapping into Oxfam's vast international experience. A key objective of the work is to introduce international development practice and perspectives into anti-poverty work in Scotland. I shall mention two areas of practice that are used overseas but not often applied here.
The first area of concern is what is called voice poverty, which is defined as the denial of people's rights to influence the decisions that affect their lives. The UK Coalition Against Poverty's commission on poverty, power and participation has identified many barriers to engaging in the decision-making process for people who are experiencing poverty. In addition to basic logistical barriers, those included a lack of respect for poor people, a lack of understanding of how participation should work and a lack of will to hand over any power for effective change. Oxfam's programme is working to increase the participation of people who are experiencing poverty in the decision-making processes that affect their lives, which is something that this inclusive people's Parliament should take a great interest in. It also has gender implications.
The second area of concern is that of gender poverty. Women constitute the majority in the poorest groups in Scotland. They still constitute 70 per cent of low earners and when they work part-time they earn 30 to 40 per cent less than men who are in similar part-time jobs. I have other data on the situation, but I think that we have heard them before and we do not have time to hear them again. To be effective, anti-poverty initiatives must be grounded in a deeper understanding of gender differences, household relations and other cross-cutting elements of discrimination. The Oxfam programme is working to increase awareness and understanding of how poverty impacts differently on men and women.
Although it is right to recognise and debate Oxfam's work abroad, and to congratulate the Linlithgow group, it is also right that we should recognise the work that is being done to tackle poverty in this country. Oxfam should be congratulated on that also.
I declare an interest, as I am a member of Oxfam. I am therefore pleased to have been asked to reply to tonight's debate. As many members have said, no one could have imagined, when Mary Mulligan lodged the motion, that we would be debating it in the present circumstances. Aid work is always on our agenda, but it has taken on a new resonance in recent weeks.
I add my congratulations to Mary Mulligan on bringing the issue to the attention of Parliament, so that we could have this debate, and I join other members in congratulating the Linlithgow Oxfam group. That group sounds like a pretty fierce one that is well worth paying attention to, if Robin Harper's experience is anything to go by. We recognise that it has 26 years of experience in fundraising and campaigning for poverty eradication and social justice throughout the world and, as Elaine Smith said, at home as well.
It is important that we acknowledge the range of work that Oxfam undertakes, from fundraising for major emergencies in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kosovo and Mozambique to raising awareness of global poverty, debt aid and trade. The work of the organisation is a great example of the contribution that ordinary people and local communities can make to the continuing worldwide struggle against poverty.
I further add the Executive's thanks to Oxfam in Scotland and its supporters for their contribution to the promotion of social justice throughout the world. We appreciate Oxfam's 60 years of experience of working in developing countries. Iain Gray eloquently gave us an insight into the organisation's efforts and work. We welcome Oxfam's clear statements on its beliefs, identity and work with others, especially its work with local partners in the countries that are affected—which Linda Fabiani explained—to overcome the injustice of poverty and suffering. Oxfam has been progressive in developing experimental models of working, as it has helped people to help themselves, and in rejecting old-fashioned models of imposing solutions on people. Many people in the chamber will be aware of Oxfam's worldwide coverage: it works in more than 80 countries.
As has been said already, international development is a reserved matter. The responsibility for the Government's relationship with voluntary organisations that work overseas lies with the Department for International Development. As many members will know, the department has a base in Scotland.
The central focus of the policy of the UK government, as set out in the International Development Bill, which is currently in the House of Lords, is a commitment to an internationally agreed target to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.
The second white paper on international development, published in December 2000, focuses on globalisation. It highlights the need to promote policies and measures to enhance the pro-poor impact of globalisation. International trade can make a crucial contribution to achieving that objective.
The Department for International Development's short-term humanitarian relief centres on its rapid onset emergency programme, which responds mainly to natural disasters but also to war situations. As has been said during the debate, grants are awarded to non-governmental organisations to provide assistance on the ground. The spend reflects the assistance that is requested each year.
I would like to make a specific reference to Afghanistan. Brian Fitzpatrick has emphasised some points that needed to be made. Yesterday, the Prime Minister made clear the humanitarian issues that will be at the heart of the Government's approach. For the record, the European Commission's humanitarian aid office has to date announced €27.3 million for the crisis; and on 19 September, Clare Short agreed a £25 million aid package. The department has allocated funding to United Nations agencies and the Red Cross movement. A further £11 million was announced on 28 September for Pakistan. However, I wish to re-emphasise that we are not complacent in the face of the critical issues. We will work with our colleagues at Westminster to pursue the issues that have been raised.
I want now to refer specifically to Scotland. There are more than 100 voluntary organisations in Scotland that work on international issues. I was going to refer to Donald Gorrie's contribution but he has left. Scottish-based charities have delivered remarkable achievements in emergency relief and overseas development. For example, there have been Edinburgh Direct Aid's convoys to Bosnia, the Scottish Charities Kosovo Appeal, and International Rescue Corps in Grangemouth, which was involved in rescue attempts following the Indian earthquake. I have recently received correspondence from the Mercy Corps, which is another not-for-profit organisation that exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression. It has headquarters in the USA and in Scotland, and it operates in many countries abroad.
There is also a substantial Scottish presence in UK and international aid charities working throughout the world. Scotland has therefore an active and varied voluntary sector involved in international development work. Those civil society organisations and networks play a vital role in empowering poor people overseas not just to tackle their immediate situations but to confront the forces that keep them poor. There is an increasing awareness of Scotland's voluntary sector as a player on the world stage. That is as it should be.
The Executive agrees that that part of the Scottish voluntary sector should be recognised and encouraged. The Department for International Development works closely with the Scottish Executive and Scottish organisations and civil society to achieve the Government's objectives.
Last year the Minister for Social Justice visited the Department for International Development to discuss its work in developing countries and to gain recognition for the role and contribution of the Scottish voluntary sector, faith groups and trade unions. Of the 100 plus voluntary organisations in Scotland that work on international issues, the Department for International Development has a direct relationship with around 20. Executive ministers want to see how the voluntary sector's networks in Scotland can be of help. To maintain the sector, we need to have contact at different levels.
As I have suggested, there is no sense of complacency in this debate. How could there be, given the world that we face at the moment? As many have said, we indeed live in an ill-divided world. Cathy Jamieson pointed out that we talk about diets in a world of starvation. That cannot be acceptable. Many ministers have to consider the consequences of obesity and eating disorders, and it is a most bizarre sense of priorities that allows that to happen at the same time as there is world starvation. We must reorder our priorities and our sense of urgency.
We maintain our commitment to partnerships in order to tackle the forces of world poverty that a Government can tackle. We will also work at grass-roots level.
It is especially fitting that we are discussing the work of the Linlithgow Oxfam group, which makes its contribution to tackling world poverty. As Jackie Baillie said in last week's debate on the voluntary sector, they are indeed unsung heroes.
Thank you, minister. It is 6 o'clock on the button.
Meeting closed at 18:00.