The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-10712, in the name of Humza Yousaf, on Scotland and Malawi, a special relationship.
14:50
I welcome the opportunity to highlight the special relationship that exists between Scotland and Malawi.
I thank members for attending the debate. I know how important the relationship is to members of all political persuasions across the chamber. Their attendance shows a real commitment to, and belief in, the relationship between our two countries. The timing of the debate is particularly appropriate, given the fact that the next round of the Malawi development fund opened this morning.
I was very involved in the Commonwealth games, as were members across the chamber, and I was asked constantly throughout my 11 days in Glasgow what my favourite part of the opening ceremony was. Was it the Irn Bru holding up the bridge, dancing Tunnock’s tea cakes or Nessie? That was of particular interest to our foreign dignitaries. All of that was, of course, great but my favourite moment by far was when Glasgow’s opening ceremony became the first opening ceremony ever to raise money for some of the poorest children throughout the Commonwealth. That first overshadows all the other firsts that we have had as a great city and a great country.
That was a great initiative in which to take pride, but the reason why people took such pride in it was that it highlighted our inherent feeling, as Glaswegians and Scots, that we have a responsibility to show our compassion on the world stage. I was pleased that that was a standout moment for many people.
This year, 2014, has also been a momentous year for Malawi. I was delighted to have the opportunity in January to take the Queen’s baton to Malawi, as it arrived there during its journey throughout the Commonwealth. I represented Scotland on the baton’s welcome to Lilongwe. It is a momentous year also because, in May, Malawi held its first ever tripartite elections. I congratulate the people of Malawi on those peaceful and stable elections and I welcome the new Government of Malawi. The Scottish Government, the chamber and, no doubt, the Parliament look forward to working with the new Government and parliamentarians for the mutual good of both our countries.
In his inaugural speech, which I read in great detail, President Professor Peter Mutharika spoke of Malawi being a young democracy and a country known for its political tolerance. He highlighted to his fellow Malawians that they had begun another leg of 50 years and that the next 50 years of their journey presented Malawi with an opportunity to reset its priorities, rethink its strategic focus and redefine Malawi as it makes progress. We want to continue to support the Malawian Government and its people on that second leg of their journey.
On 6 July this year, Malawi celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence. I was delighted to attend the Scottish celebrations in Glasgow, which were organised largely by the Scotland Malawi Partnership. They were also attended by Lord McConnell and people from across the political spectrum. The celebrations had a real Malawian feel to them and affirmed the special and warm relationship between Malawi and Scotland. Diplomatic protocol and friendliness dictate that I not tell members the score of the table tennis match between me and the Malawian high commissioner, but it is fair to say that I won.
Scotland is an active player in international development. That reflects our historic outward-facing relationship with the world and our desire to be a good global citizen.
During the Commonwealth games, I spoke in the fantastic Empire Café about some of the more unsavoury parts of Scotland’s history, such as the fact that Glasgow was the second city of the empire. At that event, there was a discussion in which the view was expressed that, for all the negative aspects of our history, we have a responsibility to the poorest and that, for all the slave owners that we had, we also had some of the greatest abolitionists, one of the greatest of whom was Dr David Livingstone, who undertook a journey to explore the Zambezi and took education to Malawi, helping to establish its educational infrastructure.
The Scottish Government has committed to continuing to contribute at least £3 million a year to Malawi from our £9 million international development budget. At present, we fund 40 projects that straddle all four of the strands of the 2005 co-operation agreement.
During the Commonwealth games, I had the privilege of meeting Malawi’s newly appointed Minister for Sports and Youth Development—who had been in her post for only three weeks—the honourable Grace Obama Chiumia. She described the relationship between Scotland and Malawi as being like that of sisters in a family. Like families do, we also played and competed together at the games. The Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners’ Rights and I were present at the Scotland v Malawi netball game. For all that the Malawians are our sisters, I have to confess that they beat us pretty thoroughly. The cabinet secretary is a former netball player and was ready to get her trainers on, but time did not allow that to happen.
My visit to Malawi during the Queen’s baton relay was a phenomenal pleasure, because I got to see at first hand the impact that our international development projects are having. It is an enormous privilege to do that, as not everybody gets to see how the money is being spent. There are many who will question why we choose to spend the money on those projects but, having seen them at first hand, I can attest to the impact that they are having. Although we have a modest budget—of which we are all proud—the impact that it is having is quite unbelievable. I was shown the Malawi renewable energy acceleration programme—MREAP—and, when I visited one of the projects near the Mulanje mountain, I was told how the micro hydroelectric scheme that we are helping to fund and develop had allowed a woman in a nearby village to be the first woman there to give birth in a room with a light in it. That is unbelievable in the 21st century. Think about how many lights and how much energy we have.
I visited the fistula hospital that Ann Gloag set up. We are helping to fund a project there. Many people are aware of the condition, but consider a heavily pregnant woman who is about to go into labour walking up to 20km or 30km and then delivering a stillborn baby and ending up with a fistula that could leave her incontinent and which is in need of repair. Such women can be cast out by their communities or divorced by their husbands. Through the fistula hospital and the initiatives that we are funding, we are not only repairing fistulas, which gives the women a better quality of life, but we are providing the women with solar-powered batteries, which they can use to raise income from, for example, people using them to charge their telephones. That means that the women go from being outcasts to being leaders of business in their community.
As well as with the work on maternal health and renewable energy, I am pleased with what our initiatives are doing with regard to sustainable economic development. Although we believe that our aid is imperative and important, we also want to ensure that we can help Malawians to create local wealth, local businesses and local jobs in order to lift themselves out of poverty. That is why I was delighted to meet representatives of the Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, whose microfinance initiatives and projects we have funded before.
As I said earlier, education has always figured strongly in Scotland’s relationship with Malawi, and it does so to this day with the education that the Church of Scotland provides. I am delighted that, as part of the Livingstone bicentenary celebrations, we provided funding for 37 gifted and underprivileged Malawians to study masters degrees in Malawi, with the aim of keeping that local knowledge and those local skills within Malawi. We are going to be working hard to develop capacity and sustainability in the Malawian education system. Representatives of Education Scotland who were with me in Malawi signed an agreement with their Malawian counterparts in relation to the inspection system for schools in the country, which will help to drive up standards.
I remind members that the first of the Malawian triennial funding rounds opened earlier today. We look to distribute £13 million over the period and I very much look forward to receiving applications.
In the first week that I was in this job, I noticed that the special relationship spans the length and breadth of the country and all sectors of society, from nurses to teachers to faith groups and everyone else. I put on record my thanks to groups such as the Scotland Malawi Partnership, its sister organisation the Malawi Scotland Partnership, the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland and the many, many others who are involved in supporting the aims of the Government’s international development policy.
I look forward to listening to and participating in the debate as it unfolds and to accepting the amendments in the spirit of our consensual and collaborative approach on the issue of Malawi.
I move,
That the Parliament congratulates the people of Malawi on their recent successful democratic elections; recognises that Scotland and Malawi have a special relationship that has endured for over 150 years and was formalised at governmental level in 2005 with the signing of the partnership agreement between the governments of Scotland and Malawi; notes that the basis of this relationship is one of reciprocity and mutual trust between the peoples and governments of both countries; recognises and welcomes the role of individuals and organisations across Scotland in supporting and developing Scotland’s special relationship with Malawi; further recognises that Scotland demonstrates its commitment to international development through the maintenance of the international development funds for Malawi and its other priority countries; notes that the Scottish Government’s engagement with Malawi and its other priority countries draws on Scottish knowledge, skills and expertise, historically in relation to health and education, as well as in response to new challenges, notably climate change and renewable energy, and further welcomes the next funding round for Malawi and the Scottish Government’s ambition for Scotland to be a good global leader in the field of international development, championing best practice and innovation in partner countries such as Malawi.
15:00
It is a pleasure to speak again in the chamber about Malawi and to consider our shared commitment to that country. I whole-heartedly agree with the minister’s comments about the involvement of UNICEF in the Commonwealth games. That initiative was amazing. It is the kind of thing that makes us wonder why we have not done it before. The opportunity of that captive audience there in the stadium and at home was too good to miss.
I had the pleasure of hearing the UNICEF ambassador, Sir Roger Moore, speak movingly and knowledgeably about his commitment to the cause and about how UNICEF plans to take forward the work that it will do with the money raised. For anyone who views Sir Roger Moore as the caricature that we sometimes see in Bond films, I can say that the Sir Roger who spoke before the opening ceremony of the games was a different person entirely. He is someone whom I could have listened to all night, but then I would have missed the opening ceremony, which probably would not have been so good.
While the initiative to support Malawi was begun by a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition Government, over the years it has been a source of some pride in our Parliament that we have been able to come together in our support for Malawi and for international development. We recognise that, whatever our circumstances, the plight of people in Malawi and other countries is of such concern that we will work above and across the political divide to provide assistance where we can.
In our schools and colleges, and in our churches and community organisations, people from a diverse range of backgrounds and interests come together to support our brothers and sisters in Malawi, and they expect no less of us. That is why I was delighted last week that, during the Commonwealth games, the minister was part of a photo call with the Malawi and Scottish netball teams following their match. The coming together of two teams who had just battled it out on the court, in recognition of the partnership that our two countries enjoy, seemed to me to be a very good symbol of that work. I was only sorry that my volunteer pass did not give me access to the venue so that I could go along and cheer on the minister and both teams.
The recent report produced by the University of Edinburgh for the Scotland Malawi Partnership identified just how effective that work in Malawi over the years has been. Estimates contained in that report would suggest that approximately 2 million Malawians have benefited directly from the activities of SMP members, with many more benefiting indirectly. The report suggests that as many as 4 million have been affected by work undertaken by SMP members. Of course, the relationship is not a one-way street. Some 300,000 Scots are estimated to have benefited indirectly from those inputs. It is important to remember that it is a two-way relationship.
We will all know of examples from our constituencies and regions, not least because half of Scotland’s local authorities are members of the Scotland Malawi Partnership and involved in that vital work. My local authority in Glasgow is particularly active. The Lord Provost has a special fund that is used to support education, water, health and sanitation projects in Malawi.
City Building, the arm’s-length construction and maintenance organisation, which happens to be based in my constituency, has built two prosthetic and orthotic clinics at Lilongwe central hospital, in partnership with the charity 500 miles. It has refurbished part of the former town hall in Lilongwe to transform it into a public health clinic, including an optician’s and a dental suite. It has also built an HIV-AIDS clinic at Chikwawa district hospital. Each of those facilities is making a real difference to the lives of local people.
Perhaps the most inspiring example of all is the Malawi leaders of learning programme, which Glasgow City Council runs with Malawi’s South West Division. That project delivers new school facilities but also encourages young students and teachers form Glasgow’s schools to work in Malawi, teaching and learning with their Malawian counterparts. Springburn academy has been involved in that work and it has been a real pleasure to hear the students talk about their experiences.
This year’s awards ceremony featured a presentation from a group of pupils who had just returned from Malawi and it was nothing less than inspiring to hear their accounts of their time there and to see how proud they were of their achievements and the confidence that it had given them as they talked about what they had done and the new friends that they had made. I have no doubt that the benefit was not just to the young people and teachers in Malawi whom they worked with but to the pupils themselves and the wider school community in Springburn. All that work is underpinned by the millennium development goals, about which my colleague Siobhan McMahon will say more in closing.
As the chamber will have noted, the Scottish Labour amendment also talks about the work being done by the Scottish Government complementing that of the Department for International Development. That is vital if we are to avoid duplication of effort and maximise effectiveness. After all, both Governments are working with the interests of Malawi at heart, so it is important that they learn from one another and regularly discuss and develop partnerships wherever and whenever it makes sense to do so. DFID might have expertise and reach that the Scottish Government does not have, but, similarly, DFID could learn from the approach that the Scottish Government has taken over time in developing projects on the ground, working with the Malawi Government to identify what its priorities are.
We must also remember the many organisations throughout Scotland that work in Malawi day in, day out. They are too numerous to mention but include the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, Mary’s Meals and a host of others.
I particularly want to mention Amnesty International, because it does a very difficult job: it reminds us that we have to be a critical friend of Malawi and that there are issues that we must take the opportunity, when appropriate, to raise with the Malawi Government—issues such as the anti-homosexuality laws that apply and the fact that the death penalty is still in force in Malawi, even though, thankfully, it is not often used these days. We have to be a critical friend and we have to raise those vital issues when the opportunity arises.
I applaud the many groups, organisations and individuals throughout our country that are involved with Malawi. I hope that they will continue their involvement for a very long time to come.
I move amendment S4M-10712.1, to leave out from “historically” to end and insert:
“in relation to health and education, as well as in response to new challenges, notably climate change and renewable energy, priorities set by the Malawi Government; welcomes the work carried out in and for Malawi by a wide range of schools, churches, NGOs and community groups around Scotland, and further welcomes the next funding round for Malawi and the Scottish Government’s ambition for Scotland to be a good global leader in the field of international development, championing best practice and innovation in partner countries such as Malawi and complementing the work done by the Department for International Development around the world.”
15:07
I warmly welcome this debate and declare my interest as a member of the Scotland Malawi Partnership. Like other members in the chamber, I had the privilege of visiting Malawi on a parliamentary visit some years ago. Just as the minister said in relation to his visits, I would say that those who visit Malawi and see the projects that have been supported by the Scottish Government’s spend cannot but come away impressed and deeply moved by the difference that they are making to people’s lives.
I want to touch on three aspects of the support for Malawi. The first is the Scottish Government’s programme. As the minister accepted, the programme started in 2005 and has been continued and developed by successive Scottish Governments. It is extremely welcome and, as I said, makes a huge difference on the ground.
The second is the civic engagement that Patricia Ferguson has just talked about and to which the minister referred as well. We are all aware of a range of charities, schools and church groups across Scotland, in all our constituencies and regions, which are helping in Malawi. Of course, the Government plays a key role here, but the support from broader Scotland goes way beyond what comes from Government. It is of huge value and I know that it makes a tremendous difference to the lives of millions of Malawians.
The third aspect, which my amendment touches on, is that we cannot talk about the support for Malawi without also making reference to the support that we in Scotland give through the United Kingdom and DFID, which in 2014-15 amounts to some £90 million to Malawi, supporting education, healthcare and food assistance.
The UK is one of only five countries meeting the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income going to international development and humanitarian causes. That is very welcome and I noticed how the Scotland Malawi Partnership welcomed the fact that the Scottish Government is working hand in hand with the UK Government in delivering that target.
We know that we here in Scotland have a special relationship with Malawi. We only had to watch the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth games and see the rapturous welcome for the Malawian team when it entered Celtic Park to know that there is a special affection here in Scotland for Malawi.
The minister raised the important question of Scotland’s and the UK’s legacy in many of our former colonial parts of the country. Of course, there are dark periods there. It was interesting that at the time of the Commonwealth games a poll was published that showed that 49 per cent of people in the UK thought that the British empire left a generally positive legacy and 15 per cent disagreed. When I visited Malawi, I was struck by how positively our influence was viewed.
The minister also talked about David Livingstone, who was perhaps the Scottish figure who had the most influence and has the most resonance in Malawi’s history. David Livingstone did not go to Malawi to conquer, exploit or enslave the people; he went there to bring freedom. He went as a liberator. His self-confessed objective was to open up central Africa to Christianity and commerce. Commerce was so important to him because it was the way to defeat the slave trade. For much of his life, he was not actually engaged in missionary work; he spent much of his life in exploration and trying to open up trade routes east to west across Africa, so that central Africa could be available to trade with the rest of the world. He saw that as the way to build a local economy that would not be dependent upon the slave trade, so that it could be stamped out.
Anyone who goes to Malawi today will be struck by how the twin objectives of ending the slave trade and introducing Christianity made David Livingstone so important to Malawians today. Of course, Malawi is a very Christian country, as anyone who has been there can testify.
We can also play a role in helping to strengthen democracy. In my amendment, I mention good governance. The minister reminded us that a new Parliament has been elected in Malawi, and the Scottish Parliament has played an important role in twinning with members of the Malawian Parliament and helping them to strengthen their roles. We have a particular role to play in helping members of the Opposition to hold their Government to account. That could happen the other way around, but we will leave that debate for another day.
Politics in Malawi is rather different from in our country. They do not have party politics in the same way as we do. Political parties tend to be based around regional or tribal groups, or around the personality of a leader. That makes for a different environment in which parliamentarians have to operate. We can do a lot to help Malawians to strengthen their Parliament as an institution and to help them to hold their Government to account.
I am afraid that you must close.
I realise that I am out of time. I do not think that anyone who visits Malawi can help but come away with a strong impression of the deep affection for Scotland, and of the importance that Malawi gives to the ties that we continue to develop. I am happy to applaud the Scottish Government’s on-going support.
I move amendment S4M-10712.2, to insert at end
“; further welcomes the contribution of the UK Government in achieving these successful democratic elections; recognises the £90 million that the UK is sending to Malawi in 2014-15, and supports the UK Government’s objectives to address the poverty and inequality facing large parts of the population, support economic growth and wealth creation to turn the economy around and sustainably help people out of poverty and actively promote good governance and an open society in Malawi”.
We move to the open debate. We are quite tight for time this afternoon, so speeches should be four minutes maximum.
15:13
I congratulate the minister on initiating the debate. It is timely because Malawi has just celebrated 50 years of independence and because of the many recent meetings that there have been between our two countries during the Commonwealth games.
In relation to Malawi’s milestone of celebrating 50 years of independence, I thank all those members who signed the motion that I lodged, particularly Alex Fergusson, Jackie Baillie and Richard Simpson, who were the only members of the Opposition parties to recognise the significance of the date. They did not immediately hit the delete button when they saw the word “independence”. Not being able to separate the wood from the trees springs to mind when I think about their colleagues, but the motion is still live and as I am an optimist I hope that others will sign it.
I was pleased to be able to attend the independence celebrations at Whiteinch community centre on 12 July, when Malawians and friends of Malawi gathered for an afternoon of speeches, good food, drink and music. I was particularly pleased to see two busloads of Malawians from Aberdeen and even people who had come up from south-east England to take part in the festivities in Scotland as there was nothing comparable in their own areas.
The event was much appreciated by all, and I thank the organisers and the Scotland Malawi Partnership for their role in making it a huge success. The participants were particularly pleased to see the minister there and to hear him announce that a further round of funding from the Scottish Government’s Malawi development fund would be opened so that people could bid for new projects in Malawi.
I was also pleased to meet up again with Robert Kalin from the University of Strathclyde. He is involved in a number of projects relating to the provision of clean water, and it is time that we invited him back to give the cross-party group on Malawi an update on the impact of that work.
I thank Humza Yousaf for taking the time to meet Malawi’s new Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture during the Commonwealth games; I know that she and the Malawi high commissioner much appreciated the meeting. As Humza Yousaf mentioned, the new minister is the honourable Grace Chiumia, with whom I have been paired since 2010 through the Scottish Parliament’s parliamentary pairing initiative with the Malawi Parliament. I am very proud of her achievement, not least as she was one of only four women who were returned to the Malawi Parliament after the elections, despite substantial efforts to ensure the maximum retention of women MPs and to encourage more women to stand. Sadly, there are fewer women in the current session of the Malawi Parliament than there were in the previous session. I hope that the minister’s meeting with Shona Robison also went ahead despite the fact that she was held up in traffic.
While Grace Chiumia was here she avidly supported Malawi’s netball team, which is ranked as one of the best in the world. She is a keen netball player herself, and the Malawi Parliament has a netball team of its own, which has played against the Kenyan Parliament. The Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs is a former netball player, as am I, so perhaps we have the beginnings of a team here. I am sure that the honourable Grace Chiumia will be an excellent minister; she has certainly given me much to do in gathering information to send her.
I know that we do not have much time in the debate, Presiding Officer, but I reiterate that Scotland’s relationship with Malawi is very special and makes a real difference to the lives of people in Malawi and those in Scotland who are involved with Malawi. I hope that the relationship will strengthen and deepen as we move forward, and I support the motion.
15:17
I welcome this first debate following the recess, coming as it does immediately after the Commonwealth games. It is important that we celebrate our special relationship with Malawi. Its existence during the past decade has enriched both countries through the various relationships between the two Governments and the two Parliaments and between people, which are all crucial.
I strongly support the Labour amendment because it places an extra emphasis on the vital connections that we are building between people. That is not to say, of course, that the relationship between the two Governments is not important: the development programme and the development of links between the two Governments during the past decade have been vital.
The initial links in health and education have been crucial in enabling our contribution to reducing maternal mortality and the levels of HIV infection that exist in Malawi. They have also been crucial in addressing the challenge of expanding and improving education opportunities, particularly for young girls not only in primary school but, as time goes on, in secondary school and in further and higher education.
Those initial key areas of work have enabled a large number of non-governmental organisations and community organisations to come in with and build on the Scottish Government’s work and to add their own contributions.
The work that is being done on climate change and renewables is important. Agriculture, for example, is crucially important to Malawi. When we last visited, rampant inflation was a key issue for the economy and all the Malawian community groups related to farming were very concerned about access to fertilisers. There is research on climate change, but a huge raft of work is needed on water quality. One lesson from our last visit was that it is not enough simply to put infrastructure in; trained local people with the skills, knowledge and resources to keep that infrastructure working are also needed. In a developing country there is nothing worse than a broken water feature—it is a tantalising feature that shows people what might have been.
The chance to share knowledge and skills and to promote sustainable development is crucial. The minister’s point about enabling Malawi’s economy to grow is right. In terms of civic participation, we can do more through fair trade and the Co-operative movement to enable some of the smallest and most isolated communities in Malawi to be successful.
The Parliament-to-Parliament relationship, which Murdo Fraser briefly mentioned, is important. People in Scotland should not underestimate the importance of the sharing of good practice. The foundation of our own Parliament was based on accountability, transparency and equality, and on the knowledge that we were building on the best practice of other institutions. We do not say that we represent the only way or the best way to do everything, but we can say, “Here is our experience, for good or ill. Here is what has worked and what has not worked.”
A large part of the work that Alex Fergusson and I did on our last visit was to share our experiences, particularly on audit and on holding Government ministers to account. A successful parliamentary democracy needs effective opposition. It is very interesting to visit a country that is a developing democracy; it is not about imposing what we do and how we do it, but about opening up a discussion and a debate on how best to hold a Government to account.
I will finish on the people-to-people link, because that is the crucial element that Patricia Ferguson’s amendment focuses on. Most of us get very excited about the people-to-people link, because of the huge number of people in our community—as is well recorded by the Scotland Malawi Partnership—who are involved in day-to-day organisational campaigning, volunteering, community solidarity and the provision of support for one of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged communities.
I am afraid that you need to close, please.
Thank you very much.
15:22
It has been said of Malawi that it is the warm heart of Africa. What better country could we seek to have a relationship with?
I will pick up on some of the things that Sarah Boyack said about agriculture and highlight some of the great challenges that we in our western developed world are imposing on countries such as Malawi—and perhaps on Malawi in particular.
Two thirds of Malawi’s exports are tobacco. We are rightly seeking to remove tobacco as a major part of our society, for the health of people in our country, and other countries are doing the same. However, when we do that it will have a significant effect on the economy of a country such as Malawi, in which two thirds of exports are tobacco based. We therefore owe a duty to countries such as Malawi to help them cross over to a more beneficial mode of agriculture. They are essentially self-sufficient when it comes to food for themselves, but we are already seeing a danger that tobacco farmers, in the face of reducing profits, move across to grow cannabis. That will not be helpful in the long term for people who are in desperate need in countries such as Malawi.
Climate change is making agriculture a more formidable challenge in many countries in Africa, and we in the developed world are largely responsible for that. We therefore need to ensure that we support people in Malawi, which we are already doing. We have a number of programmes there that we support.
I have, of course, said before in the Parliament that climate change in Africa in particular has a gender bias in that it differentially affects women over men, as women are generally the homemakers and the agronomists. While the men sit round the village table discussing the state of world affairs, the women do the actual work. They walk further to get water and get less from the soil for their efforts, as a result of climate change. Therefore, I very much welcome the initiative that the previous Administration took to build effective relationships with Malawi, which continues to be sustained by the current Government.
We have a number of relationships with Malawi. Hastings Banda, who was born in about 1898, came to Edinburgh to convert his medical qualification to one that was acceptable in the UK. In 1941, the University of Edinburgh awarded him three separate awards. My father, who was studying medicine, knew him; indeed, he was in some of the same classes. I do not necessarily hold up Hastings Banda’s contribution to Malawi as one of unalloyed success, but he at least started off the country.
Let us remember that many of the African boundaries were arbitrarily imposed by colonialists, so we share some of the blame in that regard.
A great thing happening in Malawi is that a sense of adherence to that country—artificial as it was in its genesis—is clearly being reflected in public life today.
A democracy can be tested simply: a democracy exists if a Government allows itself to be removed from office by a ballot of its people. Malawi has passed that fundamental test, which we should much welcome.
I welcome what both the Opposition parties say in their amendments. I do not know what the Government’s position will be, but each contains merit. Malawi is an important friend of ours; let us be an ever-important friend of Malawi.
15:26
I will concentrate mainly on health issues. Malawi has an average life expectancy of 38 years, which reflects some of the world’s highest rates for infant and maternal mortality, malnutrition and infectious diseases. Only 51 per cent of the 14.9 million population has access to good sanitation, 47 per cent of children under five are stunted, one in 36 pregnant women dies from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and HIV/AIDS, which is prevalent throughout Africa, affects 10.8 per cent of the population. Despite those dire health statistics, the country has one of the lowest number of doctors per capita—one per 50,000.
International epidemiological studies suggest that the rates of mental illness in Malawi are at least as high as those in western countries. Mental health provision is, to say the least, extremely sparse. The country has only one state psychiatrist, Dr Felix Kauye.
The Scotland Malawi Mental Health Education Project, which is a charity, is a good example of Scots working together with Malawians. The project delivers the teaching of a psychiatry module to medical students, supports postgraduate psychiatric trainees and delivers training to psychiatric nurses and clinical officers based in Zomba mental hospital and the Queen Elizabeth central hospital in Blantyre. It helps to organise the annual mental health conference, which is attended by delegates from most of sub-Saharan Africa, the UK, Europe and the USA.
It is a good example of a project that receives multiple support from the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, the Scottish Government, NHS Education for Scotland, the Tropical Health and Education Trust and local postgraduate deaneries and tutors.
The other big topic is tackling infectious diseases, particularly pneumonia and diarrhoea, and over the past decade Malawi has made significant progress in reducing deaths in children under five. However, pneumonia is still the single biggest killer, taking the lives of 1,000 babies and young children in 2010. Diarrhoea is another major threat, causing the deaths of 600 children a year. No single intervention is effective in the treatment or control of either condition. However, the good news is that Malawi is beginning to reduce infections and deaths from those two previously stubborn killers by using multiple actions; vaccines against pneumococcal bacteria and rotavirus are two of the newest tools, which are now part of its regular routine childhood vaccination schedule.
As Patricia Ferguson said, it is important that the Government here works in partnership with the Department for International Development, whose expenditure in Malawi is £117.5 million, on its education, health, agriculture, water and sanitation programmes. An emphasis on the rights of girls and women is important and, I think, accepted.
The Dunblane Likhubula partnership is an example of how one community can connect with another at many levels. The partnership started when Dunblane cathedral connected to a Church of Central Africa Presbyterian church guild, and from its initial church links it spread throughout the community to include Dunblane high school and many other groups. It supports bursaries for the secondary school and the provision of clean water and sanitation, and it works in partnership with Mary’s Meals to provide meals for primary school pupils in a kitchen that Dunblane donated. The Rotary Club of Bridge of Allan and Dunblane, working with the Gloag Foundation, supports the elimination of fistula through the Freedom from Fistula Foundation.
It is through such multilevel connections and support, which involve the UK Government, the Scottish Government and various organisations and communities in Scotland, that we can continue to foster the growing number of partnerships with Malawi.
15:30
As a child I was taken on a school visit to the David Livingstone centre in Blantyre—I think that I have told part of this story before. I was a 10-year-old who was reading voraciously about all sorts of interesting things around the world, and tales of adventures in Africa pervaded my brain that day and got me really interested. I heard medical horror stories that I have never forgotten—any member who wants to know what bilharzia is should go and look it up; it is horrifying. As a child I was engrossed in everything, from the ending of slavery to the romantic story of Livingstone’s body being carried across Africa so that it could be buried at Westminster abbey, as well as the animals, the flowers and jacaranda trees, the fight with a lion and so on—all those things were in the adventures about Africa that I had in my head.
The United Reformed church in Kemp Street in Hamilton, in my constituency, which is the church of David Livingstone and his family, still has strong links with the family and with Africa. That takes me to another adventure. In 2008 I was very blessed to be able to join the Westminster Foundation for Democracy on a visit to Malawi, to encourage women to stand in the elections. We are delighted that some of the women that we know in Malawi have been re-elected and are still involved in Government and politics. I am equally delighted that the Scottish Government has announced its development fund to empower women in Malawi, which is important. Members of all parties and none in the Scottish Parliament have always had a commitment to the issue.
My travels took me from Lilongwe to Nkhata Bay and I was able to see many projects, which are run on different funding models. My attention was attracted to projects that have been supported by the Scottish Government, from support for cassava growers and sweet potato growers to projects to set up fish ponds. I saw villages that run on a truly co-operative system, trading in food and creating commerce, jobs and the freedom from poverty that Murdo Fraser talked about. It was interesting to watch the trade between villages—there would be arguments about who had the best fish or cassava pod, whether a big fish was worth two pods and so on. It was fantastic to see that type of commerce going on.
Civic Scotland continues to have a relationship with Malawi, and in my travels in the country I met schoolchildren at a number of primary schools who could tell me things that I did not know about David Livingstone—that was quite a feat, because I was a bit of a fan and had read about his time in Malawi and Zambia and his work to open up a route for boats across Lake Malawi. It was amazing to see so many wee kids taking all that on board.
The Scotland Malawi Partnership had a pop-up shop at the Commonwealth games last week, which had all sorts of information about Scotland’s amazing and positive relationship with Malawi. According to a new report from the University of Edinburgh, some 94,000 Scots and 198,000 Malawians have been actively involved in building that relationship, which the Scottish Government’s welcome international development grants help to maintain.
It is imperative that we nurture and grow the positive, deep and long-standing relationship that Scotland enjoys with Malawi. Our relationship with Malawi and with other members of the family of nations proves that Scotland is a good global citizen.
We now move to closing speeches.
15:34
This has been a very interesting debate, with very good contributions from Richard Simpson on health matters, Stewart Stevenson on the history of Hastings Banda, and Christina McKelvie on the political elements—to name but a few.
The Scottish Conservatives recognise and are proud of Scotland’s strong and enduring historic links with Malawi, which began with the missionary work of the explorer Dr David Livingstone, and we support the good work being undertaken in Malawi through more than 40 Scottish Government-funded projects.
We also recognise the scale of the challenges facing Malawi, which, as we have heard, ranks 171 out of 187 on the United Nations human development index. While Malawi has made some progress on its millennium development goals, it is still unlikely to meet most targets. Poverty levels in Malawi remain at 51 per cent and, despite many efforts, have not registered a significant reduction since 2004. Moreover, rural poverty has increased to 56.6 per cent, and income inequality, too, has increased.
There has been welcome progress on under-five and infant mortality, HIV treatment and access to water and sanitation, but maternal mortality remains high, with 10 women dying every day, and the well-publicised concerns about governance, accountability and transparency in the country have led to some international donor countries ceasing to fund projects directly through the Malawian Government financial systems.
Nevertheless, I agree with the minister’s positive remarks and sentiments, and I thought that Patricia Ferguson made some very good points about UNICEF. I well remember Sir Roger Moore playing Simon Templar in “The Saint”, and he along with many others is doing some saintly work for Malawi.
It is clear that Malawi will continue to need significant support, which is why we are also proud of UK Department for International Development’s work. As Murdo Fraser has stated, DFID has committed funding of around £90 million this year alone as part of a package of support worth up to £360 million between 2011 and 2015. The UK is one of the world’s most generous donor nations to Malawi; the UK Government correctly wants to support wealth creation and economic growth in the country, and it is backing a new private sector development programme that will support the agricultural diversification that Stewart Stevenson referred to and which will address financing constraints to growing businesses.
Another big part of Scotland’s special relationship with Malawi is the outstanding work done there by the Scottish charity Mary’s Meals, which is a charity based in my local village of Dalmally and which was founded by my truly inspirational constituent, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow.
Each day, Mary’s Meals gives almost 690,000 children in Malawi a meal when they attend primary schools or under-six centres. This flagship programme began in Malawi in 2002, and this year alone the charity is investing £5.36 million in the country, around 75 per cent of which will be used to purchase maize and soya from 20,000 smallholder farmers, providing a reliable income to thousands of families and multiplying the programme’s benefits throughout the country. It is indeed added value.
The charity’s programmes are based on strong partnerships with the school, the children and the local community who are responsible for delivering and managing their programmes, and the food is prepared and served by tens of thousands of community volunteers. School feeding is a recognised social safety net that encourages vulnerable, hungry children to enrol in and attend school, and Mary’s Meals meets hungry children’s immediate needs by providing them with a meal and their long-term educational needs by encouraging them to go to school. All of that has been made possible because of a massive grass-roots movement of supporters in Scotland that is also growing globally.
You must close, please.
I totally agree with Sarah Boyack’s point about the importance of the people-to-people element of the Scotland-Malawi relationship, and I pay tribute to the more than 20,000 active supporters of Mary’s Meals in Scotland.
We welcome today’s debate and look forward to progress being made in Malawi, and I support Murdo Fraser’s amendment.
15:39
I am pleased to take part in this debate celebrating Scotland’s relationship with Malawi, and I welcome the funding announcement that the minister has made this afternoon. As he knows, however, I have had reservations about the allocation of previous moneys by the Scottish Government, and I know that he appreciates my concerns in that respect. I hope that those concerns will not be an issue this time round and that all applications will be treated on their individual merits.
The debate has been a good one that has allowed us, once again, to talk about the special relationship that we Scots have with our friends in Malawi. It has allowed some of us who have visited Malawi to talk about our experiences and the memories that have shaped our vision of the country. The debate has also allowed members to talk about the local projects that are running in their areas through church groups, schools or the many spheres of the voluntary sector. By sharing such examples, we begin to understand just how strong our relationship with Malawi is.
On Sunday, I attended my local parish, St Bernadette’s in Motherwell, for mass. It was not unusual that the mass was about Malawi given that our parish has designated the first Sunday of every month as Malawi Sunday, meaning that there is always a display in the porch and that prayers are offered for the country. However, it was unusual that a Malawian priest was taking the service—the mass was said by the parish priest of St Anne’s in Namulenga, Malawi.
The parishes have a formal partnership that was established last September, following a visit to St Anne’s parish that was undertaken by my parish priest, Father Stephen Reilly, as part of a classrooms for Malawi project. My parish has now established a partnership team within our community, and it runs a parish 50/50 club with a monthly draw to provide a stable income for that project. The local primary school of St Bernadette’s has also established a link with St Anne’s primary school, and the schools continue to learn from each other. That is another example of the tremendous work that ordinary people are doing on a daily basis to ensure that the relationship that our country has with Malawi continues to go from strength to strength.
In the previous debate on Malawi, which took place a few short months ago, I spoke about the conditions that many female prisoners experience in the country. I spoke about Amnesty International’s concerns about the country’s human rights record, and I asked that the Scottish Government impress upon the Malawian Government that it has a lot more work to do on its human rights and equalities records. As I stated in the previous debate, it is to be welcomed that both the Scottish and UK Governments give large amounts of funding to Malawi. However, with that money should come responsibility, and I can think of no more important an area than this.
Recently, St Margaret’s high school in Airdrie was visited by a woman who had been freed from prison as a result of the actions of one of the school’s pupils. During a visit to Malawi last June, Lauren Strain paid for a lawyer for an unjustly convicted woman, which resulted in the woman’s release from prison. The Malawian woman had been jailed after her son died from an infected wound that was received during a fight with his brother. Locked up in a run-down prison for her son’s death, the woman gave birth to a girl on Christmas day. After hearing her story, Lauren paid £40 for a lawyer and within a few days the Malawian mother was released along with her newborn child.
Lauren Strain carried out that act not for praise but because she could see the injustice of what is currently taking place in prisons across Malawi. That small act by Lauren has made a huge difference to that woman and her family, and we should be able to build on that. The elections in May of this year provide us with this opportunity to start afresh in many areas and to re-establish some of the work that we may not have been getting right previously. I hope that the Scottish Government will seize the opportunity.
Members have also heard me speak previously about the fantastic work that the Coatbridge charity Aiming Higher in Malawi does. I will not reiterate many of the points that I have made previously in relation to the charity, but I want to let members know of two projects that the charity is currently undertaking in the hope that it will receive the Scottish Government’s support for its endeavours.
Aiming Higher in Malawi and St Margaret’s high school have set up a Catholic women’s co-operative in Makhoza as a result of a meeting with a young HIV-positive woman, Ruth Samson, who was being sponsored by St Margaret’s pupils. Ruth was an outcast in her village but, through her relationship with the generous Scottish pupils who visited Malawi several times over the years, her community was saved. Thanks to the fundraising efforts, Ruth now has a new house with a painting by a local Malawian artist on the side of it and, as a result of the co-operative, the villagers have managed to grow enough crops to feed themselves, with a surplus to sell.
The Scottish Catholic Observer has reported that, at the start of the project, when the Makhoza women were asked what their greatest need was, they asked for a shrine in which to praise God and decided to pray for their friends in Scotland every day for a year. They said that their faith had encouraged them to produce wonders, and they extended their thanks and prayers to all their Scottish friends.
The second project that Aiming Higher in Malawi has been working on, with the help of North Lanarkshire Council’s provost, Jim Robertson, is helping disabled children in Malawi. In my previous speech, I spoke about the disadvantages that disabled children face while growing up in Malawi. The wheelchairs for Malawi programme supports children from the poorest rural areas by providing proper medical assessment, by purchasing and fitting wheelchairs, prosthetics, footwear and crutches, and by giving them the tools that will help them to achieve their life goals. In May, Jim Robertson held a gala dinner that raised over £20,000 for the project, but we can do more. I have passed an information DVD about the project to the minister, and I hope that he will look to throw his support behind it.
The global millennium development goals are due to expire next year, and the United Nations is negotiating the new framework. Although much progress has been made in recent years, the fact remains that one in eight people around the world continues to go hungry each and every day. We must ensure that the new framework tackles that statistic and makes it one that we never have to mention again.
SCIAF has called for the new framework to involve co-ordinated international action, with each and every state—not just those in the global south—playing its part. I hope that the Scottish Government will support such a framework and that it will work with our colleagues in the UK Government finally to eradicate food poverty once and for all.
15:45
It has been a shorter debate than usual because of various ministerial statements, but I have really enjoyed it, and I thank all those members who have taken part.
I have now had the pleasure of leading a debate on Scotland’s relationship with Malawi a couple of times, and it is one of those rare topics that brings everyone together, regardless of their political party. Although members have advice to give and rightly suggest that we should be a critical friend of Malawi, it is amazing that they can come together for an hour or so to praise one another in a giant love-in.
I give credit to previous Administrations. I am a great fan of all the work that Jack McConnell and the Administration behind him did to re-establish the relationship with Malawi. To his credit, Lord McConnell is happy to take phone calls whenever I need some advice on that relationship—well done for that.
Many members have said that the relationship that we have with Malawi, which has been about helping some of the poorest in the world through NGO-funded projects, needs to be about more than just aid. I want to touch on some of those themes.
Siobhan McMahon, Patricia Ferguson and others spoke about human rights and the importance of equality. It is absolutely correct that we raise those issues. Patricia Ferguson used the phrase “a critical friend”, and that is exactly what we must be. This Government condemns human rights abuses wherever they occur. In my meeting with the Malawian youth and sport minister, I mentioned Malawi’s human rights and the fact that Scotland is a tolerant and open country that believes in equality. I pointed to some of the steps that we have taken in that regard, such as the same-sex marriage legislation that we introduced. I said that we understood that Malawi operates in a regional context, that Malawi is on a journey and that we want it to make progress. We are willing to be partners and to allow our human rights agencies and civic society organisations to work with those in Malawi to help them to make further, much-needed progress. The minister welcomed that. I give members a reassurance that those issues were raised.
Patricia Ferguson was correct to mention the number of people and organisations that are involved in what is a two-way relationship. I have a great amount of time and affection for the Scotland Malawi Partnership, which does a fantastic amount of work. The fact that 400,000 people are involved in that relationship is incredible. The Scotland Malawi Partnership now has more than 700 members, which should be applauded.
As I said, in a collaborative spirit, I am happy to accept both amendments to the motion. We work closely with DFID in Malawi, and I met the head of DFID in Malawi to discuss how we might work together even more closely. I met Alan Duncan on the matter when he was the Minister of State for International Development, before he was moved in the reshuffle, and such engagement will continue, regardless of the constitutional set-up that we have post-18 September, because the UK and Scottish Governments have the joint goal of lifting the poorest in Malawi out of poverty.
I have always been fair in giving credit to DFID for the good work that it does, and I have met the staff who work in Abercrombie house. Patricia Ferguson was right to mention that, as well as benefiting from some of the work that DFID does, we can complement some of the work that it does. I gave evidence to the International Development Committee in the House of Commons in relation to Scottish independence, and in its final report it noted that the Scottish Government has a fantastic relationship with NGOs. I am paraphrasing—I might have added in the word “fantastic”—but it said that we have a good relationship with our NGOs and that DFID could take a leaf out of our book in how we work with civic society and NGOs.
I also agree whole-heartedly with Murdo Fraser and the Conservatives’ amendment. Although the UK Government has been working with the Malawian Government in relation to civic governance, we would agree overwhelmingly that the credit for the peaceful democratic election would have to go to the people of Malawi, who have done well in their transition.
Murdo Fraser was also correct that Scots are extra generous when it comes to international development. Not only do we contribute through our tax money to the UK’s budget, which is 0.7 per cent of national income, but Scots of course also contribute towards our own efforts up here in Scotland. That gives me fantastic pride.
A number of members touched on various facets of the relationship that we have with Malawi, and I will try to rattle through some of them as well.
Sport was mentioned, and in my discussions with Maureen Watt’s pair member of Parliament—the Malawi youth and sport minister—I said that we can do more to develop that relationship. The Scottish Football Association is doing some projects in Malawi, but there is a lot more that we can do. I think that Malawi became a lot of people’s second team during the Commonwealth games because of the rapturous applause and welcome that they got at the opening ceremony. It was a close-run affair for me between Pakistan, for my father, and Kenya, for my mother; then there was the Tongalese athlete who came out with the Celtic top. It was difficult for me to choose, but Malawi was definitely there.
Murdo Fraser touched on commerce, as did a number of other members, including Christina McKelvie. I want to say a little more on that. Murdo Fraser mentioned the three Cs of Dr David Livingstone: Christianity, commerce and civilisation. We can debate the point about Christianity, because apparently Dr Livingstone converted only one person and even that person became a lapsed Christian. However, I am sure that his Christianity was espoused in other ways and methods.
The commerce one is really important, not only because of Dr David Livingstone but because one of the first European companies to set up in Malawi was the African Lakes Company of John and Frederick Moir, which was set up in the 1870s. Mandala house was the headquarters of the company in Blantyre in Malawi. Although the company is now dissolved, Mandala house is still there and it still has pictures of the headquarters in Renfield Street in Glasgow. The company was renamed Mandala, and even many senior members of the Government had family who worked at the Mandala corporation. That includes former President Joyce Banda, whose mother worked there. The name still resonates in terms of ethical and fair trade, because the company was also set up to defeat the slave trade.
Sarah Boyack touched on the energy relationship. She made her points very well and very strongly. Paul Wheelhouse and I were delighted to host and take part in the European launch of the United Nations decade of sustainable energy for all during the Commonwealth games in Glasgow. We had a very passionate keynote speech from and a panel discussion with the UN secretary general’s special representative, Dr Yumkella.
I have mentioned trade, but Sarah Boyack also touched on fair trade. We have given our commitment to support that in any way that we can, which has helped Scotland to become the second Fairtrade nation in the world. I know that Mzuzu coffee is already being traded here. In the business conference that was jointly hosted for the Commonwealth games by the Prime Minister and the First Minister, I hosted a panel session on trade and investment and how we can lift countries out of poverty by closer trade links, so I am happy to commit to working on that.
Richard Simpson spoke with great authority and depth on the health side of things, and I agree with much of what he said. The temptation for a Scottish Government, be it part of the UK or even independent, might be to try to do too much and be everything to everybody. Richard Simpson was right to say that we should concentrate on a couple of narrow fields of health to make a big impact. He touched on the issue of infectious diseases. I mentioned that issue when I gave evidence to the International Development Committee, and Jeremy Lefroy MP, who is very involved in the global fund in terms of tackling infectious diseases, wrote me a nice card to say that he thought that our approach on the issue was to be welcomed.
Will the minister take an intervention?
Yes.
Sorry, but the minister is winding up.
No, then. I am sorry, but I cannot take an intervention.
I would like to reiterate what everybody has said about the depth and strength of the relationship with Malawi up and down the country and across all education sectors, the health sector, faith groups and so on. Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa, so it gave me great pride when the Malawian high commissioner said that Scotland was the warm heart of Europe through our humanitarianism and compassion. Long may that continue.
I thank all members across the chamber for their continued support.
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