Malawi
The next item of business is a debate on Malawi.
Despite newspaper reports to the contrary, I am fit and well and managed to do a lot of work in Malawi. I am just looking round the chamber to check that my MSP colleagues who were also in Malawi are fit and well and back at work. Yes they are. Good. We are all fine, and we all had a highly constructive visit.
I am pleased that we are having a subject debate on Malawi following my first ministerial trip there. The relationship between Scotland and Malawi transcends politics and is, because of the history of our two nations, supported by all MSPs and the whole of civic Scotland.
I had always been supportive of Scotland's partnership with Malawi and the agreement of the Parliament and the previous Scottish Executive to an international development budget, but when I took up the post of Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture last year, I was keen to take stock of progress on all our international development work—the time was right for me to do so. I also wanted to give everyone in Scotland who is involved in international development work the opportunity to comment on the Scottish Government's broad objectives in that area and, most important, on the mechanisms that we use for allocating funding.
We approached the process with careful thought and consideration because we must ensure that when we design an international development policy, we take on board a wide range of views and remain clear about our objectives. Most important of all, we must take on board the views of the Government and people of Malawi. I was determined not to rush the process, but instead to take time to ensure that we got it right. I wanted to draw on performance to date and to look forward to our future aspirations and priorities.
The refreshed international development policy will include a section specifically on Malawi and will confirm our commitment to continue to work closely with the Malawian Government in identifying future funding priorities.
As everyone knows, the programmes between Scotland and Malawi were originally set within the framework of the four strands of the co-operation agreement: health, education, civil society and governance, and sustainable economic development. Those four areas are still at the forefront of our policy delivery, and many initiatives that fit into the co-operation agreement are still being undertaken and supported by the Scottish Government through the international development fund. We will continue to operate in those broad areas although during my visit I agreed with my counterparts in the Government of Malawi to develop a much stronger focus within those areas. I will say more about that later.
Members will be aware of the recent announcement of the remainder of this year's international development budget and will recognise that we have focused heavily on the strands that the Malawian Government felt were hugely important.
I awarded £5,000 assistance to emergency relief for the flooding in the Chikwawa district and to address the severe health implications in the area. That assistance was match-funded by the University of Strathclyde and the Lord Provost of Glasgow. It is important to acknowledge the many organisations in Scotland that care about and contribute to Scotland's partnership with Malawi.
While in Malawi, I visited Bwalia Hospital and the University College of Nursing and College of Medicine. I was very pleased to see the work that is being done between Scotland and Malawi. Government and institutions are trying to build capacity there.
The same is true in education. We are now focusing resources on encouraging the development of the vocational education and skills training sector. In order to tackle that at source in Malawi, I recently announced funding of £250,000 to Adam Smith College in Kirkcaldy to develop a programme of capacity building with the staff of every Government-funded further education college in Malawi, which will work with a group of about eight colleges in Scotland. I am pleased to say that progress is looking good.
I am very keen to ensure that everything that we do is joined up and that nothing is done in isolation. One example of that approach is the Chisomo Children's Club, which is a day centre for rescued street children. The club is not only about feeding children during the day and giving them some education—it is also about trying to re-integrate them into their families and villages and, where possible, helping them to complete their education. The club is now also funded to provide the children with vocational education and skills training to get them on to the path of employment so that they can work themselves out of poverty.
I saw the work of Mary's Meals, which provides likhuni phala to children who receive one meal a day from local volunteers. That one meal a day ensures that many children do not starve, but it also encourages them to attend school, which increases educational attainment. The other aspect of the project's work that is so important is that it works with communities. The whole community is involved in collecting, cooking and distributing the food or, as we saw, helping with the pre-school children. It is essential to get communities completely involved so that good work such as that is sustainable.
I turn to governance and civil society development, which is a strand that needs a good bit more work. I am not sure whether David Stewart is in the chamber, but he asked me the week before last about civic governance in Malawi and stressed its importance. I am delighted that we are funding a new relationship between the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Council for Non-Government Organisations in Malawi to strengthen its capacity to support the non-governmental organisation sector in Malawi. We had a very positive meeting with CONGOMA and Government representatives. I was very heartened to see the support that the Malawian Government is giving to the strengthening of civil society in Malawi. That is very important.
Institutional linking is also important. Government cannot do everything—this is not about Governments deciding what is best. Institutional linking between Scotland and Malawi is hugely important. One of our Deputy Presiding Officers, Alasdair Morgan, visited the Office of the Ombudsman in Malawi last week. Civil society development can gain from linking strong institutions in this country that have had—let us face it—many more years of democracy than Malawi has had. The benefit that can come from working together is hugely important.
Does the minister agree that, in looking at a country such as Malawi, it is important to promote the institutions of democracy? Does she further agree that its Parliament needs to be seen as being strong against the Executive, which in turn strengthens the confidence that external investors, for example, have in the country? Will she say something about the links that the Parliament is making with the Malawian Parliament to try to build up that institution in Malawi?
You have less than one minute, minister.
That is hugely important. It was a mark of the members of the Scottish Parliament who were in Malawi last week that they focused on some of those issues. I am sure that more will be said about that.
Sustainable economic development is an important strand and the Government of Malawi is hugely keen that we get involved in that. We must work from the bottom up and fund people so that they can provide sustainable livelihoods for themselves, their families and their communities. In a place such as Malawi we should, further down the line, aim to be able to walk away and leave a viable and successful state that has in place all the appropriate institutions. We have started to consider that with the Government of Malawi and have provided £240,000 for work on that. Part of the funding is for the Malawi enterprise programme, which helps women attain microcredit and promotes youth business in Malawi. When I was there, I saw examples of that work that impressed me hugely. That is an important way forward. Opportunity International is extremely important, as it allows microfinance and enables people to get bank accounts and to save. That is an excellent example of where Scotland can add value.
Scotland is good at this. We should make our relationship with Malawi one that is very special.
I welcome the debate and Linda Fabiani's opening comments, which indicate a great deal of continuity from the previous Administration's approach. I also welcome the announcement on 7 February of the Scottish Government's allocation of more than £677,000 in continued support for international development programmes in Malawi. Perhaps in her winding-up speech, the minister will confirm whether the budget of £4.5 million for international development programmes for this year has now been allocated fully.
Although international development is largely a reserved matter, three years ago the foundations of Scottish international development policy were laid with the aims of complementing the United Kingdom Government's international development policy, contributing to the millennium development goals, which have poverty eradication at their heart, engaging the Scottish population in international development issues, and transferring Scottish skills to where they are most needed in the world. Malawi is central to that effort. The signing of the co-operation agreement on 3 November 2005 was a momentous event that celebrated and cemented Scotland's historic links with Malawi and paved the way to a successful development partnership. I very much look forward to hearing the speeches of those who were instrumental in putting those policies into action, especially Jack McConnell and Patricia Ferguson, but also Karen Gillon and Sarah Boyack, who visited Malawi only last week.
It is a depressing thought that so many things have not changed since I first became actively involved in international development issues more than 40 years ago—indeed, some things have got worse. For example, it is shocking that 30,000 African children will die today from diseases that we can prevent and cure. However, there has been recent progress, not least in Malawi, and the UK Government has increased its commitment to the global development challenge. That is reflected, for example, in the 11 per cent real-terms increase in the Department for International Development budget for the forthcoming spending period and in the £70 million a year that that department has pledged to Malawi in the period 2007-11.
Although it is at times disheartening to see just how much work is still needed in Malawi, it is encouraging to see progress. For example, although Malawi is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, poverty levels fell by 5 per cent in 2006. Moreover, the latest figures show that life expectancy is rising after years of decline, and they reveal significant falls in infant mortality. The Save the Children report, "Saving Children's Lives: Why equity matters", which was published two days ago, reveals the horrifying extent of child mortality rates in developing countries throughout the world. Sub-Saharan Africa, with about 11 per cent of the world's population, accounts for nearly half of the total infant deaths throughout the world, and 19 of the world's 40 worst-performing countries are found there. However, because of support for the various health programmes in Malawi, the mortality rate there for under-fives dropped by more than 10 per cent between 2004 and 2006, which prompted Save the Children to identify Malawi as a positive example of the progress that can be made in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Malawian Government's community home-based care programme is a key development. One project, which is supported by Oxfam and funded by the Scottish Government, works to provide basic medical care to rural communities in the 81 villages that are worst affected by HIV/AIDS. Across Malawi more generally, the number of people contracting HIV and AIDS is starting to stabilise, with greater access to testing and anti-retroviral drugs, particularly in urban areas but increasingly in rural regions as well. Moreover, a UK Government-supported programme to make a substantial increase to health workers' salaries in Malawi is reducing staff emigration and improving the health prospects of those who are most in need of health care.
There have been further improvements in education—for example, more than 80 per cent of children now attend primary school. There have also been improvements in management of the economy, with growth of more than 7.5 per cent over the past two years. However, there is clearly a very long way to go. It is therefore vital to build on the successes while maintaining the continuity and sustainability of the programmes that are already established.
Sustainability has to be one of the central principles of our involvement in Malawi; we have to bear that in mind whenever a project is funded. Involvement has to be based on partnership and a sustained engagement with local people to help them to develop in the way that they decide on. Before any project is begun, or indeed extended or ended, there has to be full consultation with the communities that will be benefiting from the intervention and also with other agencies and partners. Moreover, when funding decisions are made—as was recognised by the previous Administration—additional weight should be given to projects that promote women's equality and empowerment, thereby positioning women's rights and contributions at the heart of the development process.
Finally, we need to harness the expertise and experience of Scottish non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations in Malawi in order to ensure that we encourage and deliver best practice and channel Scottish skills and good will in ways that offer the most effective assistance to the people of Malawi.
Over and above all that, we must never forget the broader international context. There has been significant progress in debt cancellation for Malawi since Gleneagles, but there are still big trade injustices and the particular challenge at present of the European Union's economic partnership agreements. As John McAllion of Oxfam told us at a recent meeting of the cross-party group on Malawi, Malawi will have to remove tariffs on EU goods this year, which could affect both its food production and public spending levels.
We should never forget the bigger international picture because, at the end of the day, no amount of development of good practice will be successful if the international rules continue to be stacked in favour of the developed countries of the north and against the developing world of the south.
It is my pleasure to be able to contribute to this afternoon's debate on Malawi. When I had the pleasure and privilege two years ago of being part of a cross-party parliamentary delegation that visited Malawi, I was of course struck by the great challenges facing the country, but I was also struck by the great natural beauty of Malawi and, above all, by the friendliness and approachability of the people. The memories of that visit will remain with me for a long time.
Malawi has long historic links with Scotland. The links are remembered to this day, and the affection of the Malawian people for the Scots is still very much alive and will be recognised by anyone who visits the country now. The links go back to David Livingstone, the great Scottish missionary and explorer, and the many others who followed him, such as Dr Robert Laws from Aberdeen.
Those Scots went to Malawi not as conquerors or colonisers but as liberators. They went at a time when Malawi was being ravaged by the Arab slave trade, and they went—fundamentally, in Livingstone's case—to stamp out the slave trade. Livingstone went with the twin aims of bringing Christianity and commerce to Malawi. He felt that only by improving the economy of the country and by opening up trade routes could he provide alternative sources of income to the people of central Africa, thus ensuring that the slave trade would have no future. It speaks volumes that Livingstone is remembered with affection in Malawi today.
When we visited Malawi, we visited some of the missionary graves, and I am sure that others who have visited more recently will have done the same. It is striking to see memorials to young Scots; many of them were in their twenties, and I do not remember any who were older than perhaps their mid-thirties. Those people would have gone to Malawi 150 years ago, or perhaps slightly more recently. It must have been a huge culture shock in the 19th century to leave Scotland and go to a country on the other side of the world, where they faced disease and famine. Many of them gave their lives—a tremendous sacrifice that is still remembered by the Malawian people. It speaks volumes that in post-colonial Africa, when so many countries, on achieving independence, changed the names of their towns and cities to more African-sounding names, Malawi's principal city is still called Blantyre, after the birthplace of David Livingstone, such is the reverence that the people of Malawi still have for that great Scot.
I pay tribute to the previous Executive and the current Government for the work that they have done in Malawi. Particular tribute should be paid to the former First Minister, Jack McConnell, for his personal interest in the Malawian project and for driving forward the 2005 co-operation agreement, which was signed by Mr McConnell and the President of Malawi. During my visit to Malawi, I was struck by the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people. We visited the British High Commissioner's residence in Lilongwe and I was particularly struck by the elegance of the surroundings—the manicured lawns and the building's marble floors—and our attendance by staff in starched white uniforms, who looked after our every need. When we came home, I said to my wife Emma that I had found my perfect retirement job, which was as the British High Commissioner to Malawi. It seems that the ex-First Minister had the same idea a little earlier than I did. I am sure that we all wish him well when he takes up that important role, and that he will use that role to develop the existing links between Scotland and Malawi.
We will hear a lot today about the problems in Malawi, such as its economy, which has the fifth-lowest gross domestic product in the world. Malawi has low life expectancy, an horrendous rate of HIV/AIDS, a lack of basic health care and problems in education. I want to focus on civil society and governance, which is one of the strands of the co-operation agreement.
Although the Scottish Government will allocate money from its budget to support Malawi, it will only ever be a drop in the bucket compared to the vast sums being spent by the UK Department for International Development and by other international aid agencies. The best way we can help is not necessarily to give money but to consider how we can help to strengthen some of the institutions in Malawi, and Government and civil society. There is a desperate need in Malawi to improve the economy and encourage foreign investment. The country has tremendous potential, not only in tourism, but in other sectors. Foreign investors need to have confidence in the stability of a country and in its political structures. Malawi is already well ahead of many of its African neighbours, but there is much more to be done.
I have been interested to see the excellent work that has been done by Parliament—rather than the Executive—in building links with the Malawian Parliament in order to strengthen the role of that legislature. However, we need to do much more. In terms of the expenditure of the Scottish Government in Malawi, and its commitment to that country, there is a particular need to build up civil society there, and its Parliament as an institution.
The minister referred to the excellent work that is being done by many voluntary groups throughout Scotland. When I returned from Malawi, I was amazed by the number of invitations I received from different groups—church groups and schools—to speak to them about my experiences in Malawi. Governments can do a great deal, but the people can do so much more. Voluntary groups throughout Scotland are doing excellent work—through the Scotland Malawi Partnership and by other means—to build up and develop links and to help people on a one-to-one basis. That is extremely valuable. I congratulate the Government on the initiatives it is taking and encourage it to push on with that important work, particularly in improving civil society and governance.
I am delighted to be speaking in the debate. I have been extremely fortunate to have been to Malawi twice with the Scottish branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. I am glad to hear that the minister is well following her visit, which I know she enjoyed.
All the MSPs who visited Malawi for the first time were particularly struck by certain events or visits that they made while they were there. I will return later to the one that especially affected me. After the visit, and the visit of the then First Minister, Jack McConnell, a co-operation agreement with Malawi was signed on 3 November 2005, as other members have mentioned. I add my congratulations to Jack McConnell on all the work that he has done. He will be a great asset and a help for both Scotland and Malawi when he takes up his new post.
A commitment was given through the international development fund, initially for £3 million per annum. That was increased by 50 per cent to £4.5 million for 2006-07 and 2007-08. I was a little disappointed that the Scottish National Party Government did not meet its manifesto commitment for its first 100 days, for the aid budget to be increased by 100 per cent. Rather, the aid budget will be doubled only by 2011.
Malawi is a very poor country. It is landlocked, and life expectancy is around 46 years. DFID's poverty figures show that 50 per cent of people there live on an income of less than 23p per day. HIV and AIDS have stabilised at about 14 per cent of the population. In the capital city, Lilongwe, HIV and AIDS cases among pregnant women fell from 25 to 16 per cent in the five years to 2003, and I know that the figure is still coming down. The under-five mortality rate declined to 133 deaths per 100,000 live births—I stress live births—in 2004, which is a 43 per cent reduction in 12 years.
Free primary education was introduced in 1994, and enrolment has risen by 60 per cent. In 2000, the average class size was 114. I remember visiting schools with Karen Gillon and others and finding class sizes of substantially more than 100. By 2006-07, the figure had come down, perhaps to 85—the equivalent of a whole primary school year here. Now, 81 per cent of children aged between six and 13 go to school. However, secondary schools are not free, so many children cease education at the end of primary school. Often, primary schools have children who are older than 13, because they did not manage to start school until after the age of six.
Hunger is ever present. One fifth of the population are not able to meet their minimum daily food needs. The last year I was there, the maize crop—the main food source—had failed, which resulted in huge shortages and a huge amount of hardship. However, Malawi is now making good progress in achieving food security. For the second year running, the country has produced a record maize harvest. That is due to a successful Government fertiliser and seed subsidy programme, as well as to good rains. The 2007 harvest was 3.2 million tons, which is a surplus of 1 million tons. That will provide the Government with reserves for the future, and any sales will give the country welcome income.
I now return to the visit that made the most impact on me. Before I went to Malawi, I was approached by a constituent, Anne Findlay. She told me about a group of nurses and a doctor who were spending their own time and money delivering a maternity programme called ALSO—advanced life support training in obstetrics for health care professionals. She wanted me to visit Bottom maternity hospital. I agreed. I went, and I was thoroughly appalled at the conditions. I met Tariq Maquid, Grace, the head nurse, and others. We could not have met a more dedicated band. The infant mortality rate in 2004 was 984 deaths per 100,000 live births. Those who died before birth are not recorded. Graeme Walker, a doctor who works at the Royal infirmary of Edinburgh maternity unit, told me that he had never, in all the years he had worked at the maternity unit, seen a death at birth.
My visit was soon followed by that of Jack McConnell. I know that his visit to Bottom hospital had the same profound effect on him that mine had on me. Soon after his return, the ALSO group was awarded funding from the Scottish Executive to continue its work training midwives. Many of those nurses and doctors have now been to Malawi several times, giving up their time, including holiday time, for the benefit of nurses in Malawi. Nurses are now trained in various different parts of Malawi. However, one of the big problems in maternity care is the number of nurses who leave Malawi once they are trained. Many of them come to the United Kingdom. The ALSO team is helping to stem that flow.
One of those nurses, Linda McDonald, decided to do more to help Bottom hospital by raising money. A recipe book was launched and more than £100,000 was raised. The STV Christmas appeal in 2006 was for Bottom hospital and, with Tom Hunter matching the money pound for pound, more than £800,000 was raised from the Scottish population for a new maternity hospital in Lilongwe.
I became a member of the Malawi Underprivileged Mothers trust, which is run by Linda McDonald—I have found that one cannot say no to Linda. Other funds have been raised and a second recipe book has already raised more than £50,000. With those funds, Tariq and Grace will get a new maternity wing at Top hospital for serious cases. The refurbishment of Bottom hospital by the Rose Project in Dublin will improve maternity care for thousands of deserving mothers and their babies from all around Lilongwe, thanks to the fundraising efforts of Linda McDonald and the generosity of Tom Hunter, STV and the Scottish people.
We move to the open debate. We are considerably oversubscribed. Speeches should be up to six minutes, but please do not feel that it is compulsory to take six minutes.
I am glad to be able to participate in this debate as someone who had the privilege of going to Malawi last week with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation. I came back with a positive view of Malawi, which has enormous potential for the future. We went at one of the better times of year—in the latter part of the rainy season, when the country is at its greenest and is perhaps most like Scotland. Malawi is one of the most attractive countries. It has an enormous potential for tourism and agriculture, if it diversifies and moves away somewhat from its predominant crop of maize.
As Murdo Fraser said, the people of Malawi are enormously welcoming and friendly—we found that wherever we went, particularly in rural villages—although many of them suffer adversity. If they are able to maintain those characteristics as development moves ahead, it will stand them and their country in great stead.
I turn to development issues. One of the positive things that I learned—other members are probably aware of this—was that many of the measures that we can take to help countries such as Malawi do not necessarily have enormous budgetary implications. I am thinking, for example, of the provision of the simplest types of educational equipment; the provision of simple buildings in villages for self-help initiatives, particularly health initiatives; and measures to combat malaria, which is still the second most common cause of death. Malawi is one of the countries that are coloured red on the map of African countries that are most at risk of malaria. Malaria is a totally preventable disease that is debilitating even when it is not fatal. Many of the measures that we can take are relatively cheap, particularly if local materials and labour are used, and they have a concomitant beneficial effect on the local economy.
Malawi has seen a huge population explosion over the past decade and a bit. Although the economy is growing at a fairly strong rate, that growth will have to be sustained if Malawi is to address the needs of its growing population. Population growth might slow as measures to reduce child mortality become effective—there is a link between child mortality reducing and birth rates going down—but there is a lag in that regard.
Economic growth will be necessary over a long period. For such economic growth to take place, and for it to improve, it is necessary for Malawi to improve its transport infrastructure. It is unlikely that Scotland will be able to contribute significantly to that, given that transport tends to be a relatively expensive item in any budget, but I mention it because the issue is not often raised in these debates, and I suspect that my colleagues might not mention it. However, transport infrastructure is a priority of the Malawi Government and it is vital if rural development is to increase, tourism is to prosper, and—more important, for humanitarian reasons—rural areas are to have adequate access to medical and educational facilities.
The spinal trunk road network—if I can describe it in that way—is basically adequate, partly because of European Union investment, and it can perhaps cope with some increase in traffic, but the other road network consists of dirt tracks and is a disincentive to movement, given that it is virtually impassable in some places at certain times of year.
A basic rail network exists, but there are no passenger services. Usually, it is used only seasonally to export tobacco—ironically, there is a potential conflict in the fact that, although we are trying to reduce the consumption of tobacco in western countries, it is an economically important crop for Malawi. Of course, Malawi is landlocked, so it needs adequate access to the sea through other countries for its exports. Currently, however, its rail links through Zambia and Mozambique are problematical at best. That area needs considerable attention.
I welcome the minister's assurance that Scotland's policy will proceed in agreement with the priorities of the Government of Malawi. That is important. I think that the Government of Malawi is undergoing some stresses at the moment, but I hope that those difficulties will be resolved. One of our tasks as parliamentarians is to ensure that the institutions of Government that request assistance get any help that we can give them in terms of technical expertise.
I met the ombudsman and his chief investigating officer, as the minister said, and was impressed by their energy. I was also impressed by some of their powers. That is one area in which we in Scotland could learn from what has been done in Malawi. There, the ombudsman is someone to be feared, but I am not sure that our local authorities regard our ombudsman in the same way.
At the General Assembly of the United Nations in September—I am always keen to read what happens at the General Assembly—the President of Malawi said:
"I can say with confidence that Malawi is indeed becoming a success story."
Some might disagree with that judgment, but as an aim it is worth pursuing and it is certainly worthy of whatever assistance we can give.
As other members have said, it is always a great pleasure and privilege to speak in this chamber on the subject of Malawi. My problem is usually trying to limit myself to my allotted time. Accordingly, I will focus on only one area that is of concern to me but which cuts across all the other strands of our co-operation agreements.
We have heard about the many problems that the citizens of Malawi face every day, which those of us who have been to that amazing country have seen for ourselves. We have heard about the scourge of AIDS across the country, the lack of education for many, particularly girls, and the attempts to ensure that the democratic process is understood and participated in by all Malawians.
However, let us consider for a moment the plight of Malawi's 60,000 deaf citizens. Malawi has only one deaf sign language interpreter, and she is in full-time education, which means that she must divide her time between her studies and interpretation. With only one sign language interpreter, how do those 60,000 deaf people cope? In practical terms, they cannot be fully involved in decision making about their treatment if they happen to be in need of health care. In education, it means that they are unlikely to be able to take advantage of any opportunities that are available to them. Further, we are aware of reports of individuals who have been wrongly imprisoned simply because they could not defend themselves and did not understand the process to which they were subject.
The kind of work that is done by organisations such as Deaf Action is important. Since becoming involved in Malawi, Deaf Action has made good progress towards helping to increase the numbers of interpreters. However, the work has not stopped there. The organisation has also helped to raise awareness in Malawi of the needs of deaf people.
Deaf Action has worked closely with the Malawi National Association of the Deaf. Together, they met national ministers. One of the Deaf Action employees is deaf, and the experience of working with a deaf person and his interpreter was a positive experience for all concerned. I know from my own interaction with some of the Government ministers in Malawi that that was a first for them and they regarded it as quite a privilege. Accordingly, they volunteered to champion the work.
Deaf Action was able, because of its connection with the Government here, to open doors that would otherwise have stayed closed. As a result of contacts that have been made for it, Deaf Action in Malawi has been able to apply to the high commissioner for support that will go directly to MNAD to enable it to continue its work.
I understand from reports that I have had that Deaf Action regards its experience of meeting MNAD as humbling, not least because some 60 deaf people from all over Malawi travelled—at great personal cost, and using the limited infrastructure that Alasdair Morgan so vividly described—to come together with their Scottish counterparts. They gave a detailed explanation of their needs and difficulties, which enabled Deaf Action to draw up an appropriate training plan for Malawian interpreters.
It is reassuring that people who have been recruited to train as interpreters come from every region of Malawi, and not just from around the areas that are close to the two major cities. I understand, too, that MNAD entered into a very democratic process in selecting those who would be trained, which is a good sign of grass-roots democratic activity.
The work of the deaf community in Malawi, with help from friends around the world, cuts across all areas of the co-operation agreement, and of course it chimes with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, articles 9, 13 and 24 of which deal specifically with the rights of deaf people. I very much hope that the work will continue, so that as we strengthen the policy areas of health, education, civil society and the economy, we ensure that all Malawians can take advantage of those improvements and make their important contribution to the progress that is undoubtedly happening in Malawi.
In the early years of the Scottish Parliament, some members hesitated and were reluctant to engage in making international policy, even international development policy. That view extended to the functions of both the Parliament and the Executive. That reluctance was driven by several factors, but the principal factor for some members was the view that international development policy was reserved. However, this debate—as has been the case with other debates on international development policy—demonstrates that the Parliament has moved forward in recognising that we have a responsibility and a part to play in international development.
The role played by the Scottish branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was a significant catalyst in changing our thinking about the role of this Parliament. It also had an impact on the Government at the time. The CPA recognised early on that there was a strong desire on the part of Parliaments in other parts of the world to engage with the new Scottish Parliament and Scotland's new-found democracy, and it considered how we could build on such relationships. However, it also recognised that engagement should occur in a purposeful manner, and should not consist of a group of MSPs fleetingly visiting one country and saying, "That was great. You're doing really well. Please come and visit us some time." Instead, it should be about engaging in a meaningful and enduring way, which has been reflected in the on-going relationship between this Parliament and the Malawian Parliament.
As members have done, we must acknowledge that despite the criticisms from some quarters—even within the chamber—and from that other Parliament at Westminster at the time, the then First Minister, Jack McConnell, recognised that the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive had a purposeful role to play. That position was endorsed by the minister in charge of international development at the time, Hilary Benn, who made it clear that international development is everybody's business. It is important that we continue to recognise that within the Parliament.
The relationship with Malawi moved on—as other members have mentioned—to the co-operation agreement that was signed in November 2005 between the two countries. It is clear that, since then, the relationship between our Governments and the Parliament has matured and strengthened to our mutual benefit. I believe that it will endure if there is the continuing will to ensure that it does so.
With the on-going review of the Government's international development policy, we will no doubt see changes in the existing strategy. They may take the new Government into areas where the previous Executive did not go, but no matter what happens I am sure that they will provide new opportunities in other areas. I hope that, at the end of the review process, the relationship with Malawi that we have developed at both an institutional and political level will be retained as a key part of the policy.
I welcome the fact that, contrary to what Mike Pringle said, the Government will double the amount of money in the Scottish Government's budget that is invested in international development. I welcome the fact that the Malawian funding has been ring fenced—it is one area of ring fencing that I am happy with and would not like to be subject to an outcome agreement.
I acknowledge that, as Murdo Fraser said, the money that the Scottish Government can invest in international development and the approximately £3 million investment in Malawi are modest, given the scale of the difficulties that that country faces, therefore we should focus, albeit not exclusively, on two areas: health and education. Malawi has some of the poorest health indicators in the world for a range of conditions, but significant progress can be made. I hope that during the Government's review we will consider providing more targeted support to key areas where we can improve capacity and access to services.
I refer to capacity and access in that order because it is important that, before promoting greater access to health and education, we ensure that there is significant capacity to cope with it. I understand that point from my experience of visiting a school in Malawi. When the Government introduced free education provision, the school, which had 14 classrooms, saw its pupil numbers increase to 9,500 overnight. It clearly did not have the infrastructure to cope with the increasing access to the service. I hope that we will consider that point during the policy review.
I hope that, at the end of the review, there will be a greater focus on the good development practice of the organisations that we support to ensure that they engage in a meaningful way at a local level and that they are open, transparent and accountable in how they operate, to ensure that they create sustainability at a local level rather than for themselves.
I am delighted to take part in today's debate. Unlike many other speakers, I have not had the opportunity to visit Malawi. My impressions come from images on television and what I have heard from people in my constituency.
Among those people is Vicky McKenzie, a primary 7 teacher at Lairdsland primary school in Kirkintilloch. Last year, Vicky and her pupils took part in a videoconference with children attending the David Livingstone international school in Blantyre. Both classes had prepared PowerPoint presentations, and a great time was had by all as they conversed through the magic of technology. Indeed, I am told that several other teachers made a point of being in the classroom at the time. They had lots of visitors that day. It is intended to repeat the exercise later this year. This time, pupils from other primary schools in Blantyre—those not so fortunate as to have computers or broadband connections—will be invited to take part.
In May, three teachers from other primary schools in East Dunbartonshire will travel to Malawi through the Link Community Development programme. They are going to the Dedza region near Lilongwe, where they will teach at local schools for two weeks.
Like other parts of Scotland, East Dunbartonshire has developed links with schools in Malawi, but I am delighted to say that visits are not all one way. In September, three head teachers from Malawi are arriving in Scotland to visit our schools, as part of the co-operation agreement that was signed with Malawi in 2005, one of the four main areas of which was the development of educational links. The agreement referred to
"further developing teacher exchange programmes and supporting the development of training of trainers for local delivery"
and
"facilitating academic links and twinning initiatives between local government, schools and higher education institutions".
For the Scottish children who are involved in such initiatives, the relationships are important. The children from Lairdsland primary school and other schools send to Malawi parcels of books, pencils, photos and class work. They have even sent a camera, so that they can receive pictures along with messages and other materials.
In Labour's election manifesto last year, we pledged to develop volunteering opportunities abroad, as we all know that giving children a decent start in life with access to good-quality education is the route out of poverty. As we have heard, people in Malawi do not worry about class sizes of 18 for primary 1 to primary 3; class sizes of 80 to 100 are normal. As has been said, completion rates are among the worst in Africa and girls tend to lose out in secondary education and in further and higher education.
I ask the minister to consider a new teacher exchange programme in addition to the programme that Link Community Development organises, which sends Scottish teachers to Malawi for only short periods, sometimes in the teachers' holidays. Perhaps we should establish a new programme that would give Scottish probationary teachers who are without a job and who are sitting at home waiting for the call to do supply work the opportunity to work in Malawi. They could go there for six months or a year as part of a development programme. The exchange could be two way. I understand from talking to teachers in my constituency that many teachers in Malawi do not have a university education; they have an education diploma. Perhaps we could offer teachers from Malawi a placement in Scotland that is linked to a training programme to improve their skills further. Such exchanges could be life-changing events for both sets of teachers.
Another of my constituents, 18-year-old Collette Oliver, is taking part in the leadership programme that Sir Tom Hunter is establishing. She was the school captain at St Ninian's high school in Kirkintilloch and she has taken part in a range of activities organised through the Hunter Foundation. One of her most memorable experiences was spending three weeks in Malawi helping to build a school.
Bricks and mortar are one thing, but helping youngsters to build a future is another. Scottish education is world famous. The Government has committed £3 million a year to Malawi, which includes funding for the school improvement programme. A teacher exchange programme would help to achieve our aims, and I strongly urge the minister to consider the idea. By using young Scottish teachers in that way, we would do much to enhance educational opportunity in Malawi, while giving young Scots a fantastic opportunity for career development. That could only help our children when those teachers return.
Scotland's new relationship with Malawi is undoubtedly one of the great achievements of devolution. I thank the Scottish Government for providing the opportunity to discuss that relationship and I congratulate the minister and the representatives of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on their successful trip to the country in the recess. I pay tribute to the work and experience of members who have done much to strengthen the relationship between the two nations.
Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa and—perhaps not coincidentally—as the Scotland of Africa. I am not sure whether that is attributable to the warmth of its people, its landscape or its erratic weather conditions. Malawi is rich in heritage and culture. In a part of the world where borders that were established in colonial times do not necessarily respect traditional ethnic or cultural boundaries, it has much in common with its near neighbours—traditions and customs, dances and languages, families and friends. It is a source of inspiration to us all. Malawi also stands out as an African nation that has made a successful and peaceful transition to multiparty democracy from one-party rule in the mid-1990s.
As we know, the country is marked by widespread and endemic poverty. On the United Nations human development index, Malawi ranks 164th and is the 14th poorest country in the world. Nearly two thirds of Malawi's population live below the poverty line of $2 a day, 40 per cent do not have basic reading and writing skills and 14 per cent are infected with HIV/AIDS.
Those statistics shame us all. It is scandalous that the UN should still have to compile such indicators more than 30 years after the richest countries promised to allocate at least 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product to international development and when we are halfway towards the millennium development goals target date of 2015. In the 21st century, we have the knowledge, the resources and the ability to end poverty wherever it exists. I am pleased that the Scottish Government is showing some political will in that respect.
It is worth noting that despite the huge challenges that exist, Malawi stands as a proud member of the international community and chooses to work in partnership with our country and other countries to develop its economy and society.
Statistics tell only one side of the story. We must look beyond the bare facts for the human face of development. I have not yet been lucky enough to travel to Malawi, but a number of my friends and colleagues have done so, and they have told me about the challenges that its rural areas face. The people in its northern and southern regions often think that their opportunities are squeezed by the more prosperous central region. As an MSP for the South of Scotland, I can understand that.
I have also heard about the innovative projects and programmes that are making a real difference to people's lives in Malawi. The Eva Demaya project, for example, is based 15 miles from the nearest tarmac road and the northern town of Rhumpi, and it relies on solar power for electricity and boreholes for water. However, a genuine partnership exists between a Scots-Dutch couple and the local community that is making a real difference to people's daily lives. The centre provides a mix of conventional western treatments alongside traditional Malawian healing and homoeopathic methods. In addition, it provides food, decent clothing and employment opportunities in an area in which all three are in short supply.
The Chesney Trust for Education in Malawi is another project that was founded by a Scots volunteer who visited Malawi and fell in love with it. Away from infrastructure such as roads and electricity, which we in Scotland take for granted, the trust is building a school with a special unit for hearing-impaired children—Patricia Ferguson mentioned hearing impairment—that will also serve as a focus for local employment and development. We can find many similar examples, which is why Scotland's relationship with Malawi has rightly been described as a partnership. Many MSPs can give similar examples of constituents who have built links with Malawi.
In the South of Scotland, St Michael's academy in Kilwinning was one of the first schools in Scotland to establish a link with a school in Malawi—St Peter's school in the northern capital of Mzuzu. The partnership has had a transformative effect on St Peter's school. Equipment, buildings and resources have been provided that otherwise would simply have been out of the school's reach. However, it has also had a transformative effect on the school in Scotland. The partnership gives real meaning to the concept of global citizenship and enables young people from both countries to broaden their horizons. When young Malawians come to Scotland or young Scots visit Malawi, what is remarkable is not that they notice the differences in their material lives, but that they discover the similarities of their experiences. They do not like doing homework, they are on the look out for a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and they want to be the next champion in their favourite sport. From that, we can see that genuine partnership works both ways. There should be a two-way street. For that reason, I encourage the Scottish Government to ensure that when it distributes grant funding it considers not only how Malawi can learn from Scotland, but how Scotland can learn from Malawi.
Agencies such as Oxfam in Scotland, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund and others that have been mentioned understand that people in developing countries are not only looking for charity—they are looking for justice. Much of the development work that is taking place in Malawi and throughout the poorer parts of the world seeks to strengthen communities by building capacity and empowering citizens with knowledge and capital. Community-based health awareness and care programmes, credit unions and women's centres offer models of local development work that we can learn from and can consider applying in some of Scotland's most deprived communities.
In conclusion, we all agree that the partnership between Scotland and Malawi is one of the great achievements of devolution so far. The new Scottish Government has clearly demonstrated its commitment to building on that positive and healthy international relationship, which is based on global co-operation and respect and does not seek to perpetrate the stereotypical images and notions of the past.
I refer members to my entry in the register of members' interests.
In June 2001, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa said in an address to members of the Scottish Parliament:
"I should like to believe that … those who represent the Scottish people will raise their voice and say, ‘We cannot have such an extraordinary situation of enormous wealth in one place and extraordinary poverty in another.'"
In the years that have followed that speech, we in Scotland have expanded our international activity to promote Scottish business, create jobs and improve the wealth of our country through new promotions in North America, China, Europe and elsewhere, but it was right that we decided that we should not only take something from the rest of the world, but give something.
Four years after the speech, in the run-up to the G8 summit at Gleneagles, the Parliament spoke out with the people of Scotland. The Parliament and the people of Scotland joined demands to make poverty history, supported the millennium development goals and said not only that poverty and premature deaths are wrong for those who are directly affected, but that they damage all of us. In seeking to expand the work of the Parliament and the Scottish Government into the areas that affect us all, as internationalists as well as Scots, we refreshed an old friendship with the people of Malawi.
Malawi is a country where more than one in 10 of the population has HIV/AIDS and where more than one in 10 children dies shortly after they are born. It is also a country with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Most of Malawi's schools do not have electricity, so they can open only during daylight hours, and a large number of children—if they can get to school at all—learn from memory because there are no books, pencils, desks or chalk with which to write on the blackboard.
A Malawian said to me that, 150 years ago, Dr Livingstone did not discover Malawi—Malawi discovered Dr Livingstone and Scotland. A hundred years ago, Scots went to Malawi in large numbers to build schools, hospitals and roads to ensure that the country had, at the start of the 20th century, an infrastructure that would allow it to develop. Fifty years ago, Scots stood with the people of Malawi and demanded that the United Kingdom Government help to prevent Nyasaland—as it was called then—from becoming part of Rhodesia, with all the problems that there would have been in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s if that had happened. Now, 50 years on from that, Scots are standing with Malawians again.
I do not believe that international development and our relationship with Malawi should be dominated by party politics or disputes about who has what responsibilities. The kids in those classrooms do not care about the distinction between reserved and devolved issues; they want us to help, and we should help. I do not believe that any level of government should discourage another from becoming involved in helping those, elsewhere on the planet, whose need is greater than ours. I also do not believe that the Scottish Parliament should use such issues for party purposes. I therefore praise the minister and her colleagues for continuing the work in this area. She has recognised that the relationship between Scotland and Malawi is bigger than party politics, and she will have my support as long as she continues to do so. I wish her well and I hope that the relationship between the Scottish Government and the Government in Malawi continues to improve and develop.
However, the relationship was never about politicians; it has always been about people. It is about ensuring that people can come together, and throughout Scotland the number of schools that are involved in the relationship has risen from 10 to about 150. There are medics who are training Malawians in anaesthetics, tackling epilepsy and midwifery. There are academics in Scotland who—at the University of St Andrews, the University of Strathclyde and many other universities and colleges—are working to ensure that people in Malawi have the skills to compete in the 21st century. Scottish businesses of all kinds are now helping people in Malawi to build their own businesses. Many other organisations and individuals in Scotland are helping, too, and we should praise and congratulate them all.
It was always our job to encourage and inspire Scots to become involved—not to do it for Malawi, but to help Malawians do it for themselves. In seeking to achieve that, I ask the minister to consider how we can further improve what we do, for example, in supporting volunteering through the work of Voluntary Service Overseas; in supporting the delivery of goods, as an immediate measure to help Malawians; and in continuing to support professional training.
Two hundred years ago, the Scots who led the enlightenment—Hume and Smith, and Robert Burns, who never travelled further than Newcastle—saw that Scotland, even then, was becoming part of an interlinked, interdependent world. They recognised that, for Scotland to succeed, we had to reach out and that, for Scots to be all that they could be, they had to be part of that world and not hide from it. I believe that, today, we are achieving that again.
While there is in Malawi a village without water and a classroom without electricity or even the internet; while there is a mother dying in childbirth or a child dying immediately after birth; and while there are still people who cannot have the basic vaccinations that we take for granted, our work in Malawi—and, indeed, elsewhere—is not finished.
Back in 2005, this was about the kind of people that we are, as Scots. I believe that, in the past three years, we have done a good thing. However, there is much more for us still to do. I am sure that the Parliament will be united in moving forward to do it.
As one of the members who were privileged to visit Malawi last week, I was struck by something to do with the point on which Jack McConnell just finished: as citizens, as members of Parliament and as members of the Government, we are able to make a real difference. Other members of the delegation were able to identify positive changes that had taken place since their previous visit two years ago. It is important for us to be able to tell our constituents, civic Scotland and those who are raising funds for and have built links with Malawi that they are making a difference to one of the poorest countries in the world.
We met far too many people and saw far too many projects for me to mention them all now, but other members have referred to the core issues of health and education. I would add fair trade and business development to that list. We were incredibly impressed by some of the local health projects that are tackling the poverty, malnutrition and poor water quality that Malawians experience. A particular issue is the status of women, who still die routinely during childbirth. That is unthinkable to us, with our modern standards of health care.
A huge amount of positive work is under way. We met people in villages in Chikwawa, where the incidence of cholera has been reduced; in those villages, people have not died of the disease in the past year. That project is also reducing the number of people who die from malaria and improving the survival rate of women giving birth. People appreciate and strongly support such projects. The volunteer health workers whom the projects fund are trying to work with the Malawian health system, which is crucial.
We saw the work that is being done at Mulanje mission hospital to support nurses' training. To attract nurses to work at the hospital and to retain them there, the hospital has ensured that they have somewhere to stay. We were struck by the fact that 15 per cent of Malawi's adult population have HIV. The impact of that is devastating. Work with orphans, to get them into schools, is crucial.
I refer to the twinning links that exist between Malawi and schools in my constituency such as Stenhouse primary, Dalry primary and Tynecastle high school. It was exciting to see the benefits of those links on the ground. A girls hostel has been built in Embangweni, and a huge amount of work has been done to support the links between our schools and Malawian schools. The benefits are tangible and are appreciated by teachers, parents and pupils. However, there is much more that we need to do. More books are required, so that children do not have to share 10 to a book. Basic facilities such as seats in classrooms are also needed, to enable kids to concentrate. There is a lack of dining facilities and there is poor sanitation—a lack of clean water and toilet facilities. I hope that the minister will look at how we can build on our educational programmes.
Government support for fair trade—the work that DFID is doing in Malawi—is crucial, but there is much that we can do as individuals. We need to tell our constituents that the people whom we met in Malawi—the Kasinthula cane growers—have had their lives improved already. Much more can be done if we think about buying fair trade goods. We need a relationship that is built on trade justice, fair wages and investment in local communities. That is a really practical way in which we as parliamentarians and, crucially, as citizens and leaders in our communities can help to ensure that the improvements that are taking place in Malawi and that need to happen in the future continue.
As many members have said, there are few countries with closer cultural ties to Scotland than Malawi. My friend Malcolm Fleming, who visited the country recently on behalf of Oxfam, got into conversation with a family and asked their daughter what she was studying in history at school. He was astonished to find that she had been memorising the dates of all the schisms in the Church of Scotland. She had reached 1843 and was still working on the rest.
Although the example that I have given may be bizarre, both the previous Executive and the present Government have recognised the strength of the connections that exist. Scotland has a real opportunity to make a significant mark by promoting sustainable development in the developing world. Other members have outlined the contribution that Scotland has made and the statistics relating to Malawi, which might be thought to speak for themselves. However, I would like briefly to highlight the human aspect of the situation and the reasons why Scotland is involved with Malawi in the first place.
I have not been to the country, but my friend who has says that it left a lasting impression on him. When he was there, he met 17-year-old Steve Julio and his brothers, who live in a rural part of Chiradzulu province. Steve said:
"When our parents were alive, we never really had any challenges in meeting basic needs".
He continued:
"The challenges started when dad died as he was the main breadwinner.
But mum still tried. Working our vegetable garden we grew and sold tomatoes to have a little to keep going."
However, in June 2004, their mother also passed away—one of hundreds of thousands of Malawians, and millions of Africans, who have succumbed to HIV and AIDS. Perhaps a failure of imagination on our part means that we do not understand the scale of that or what any of it means. Perhaps the only way of putting it is to say that the last time that Scotland saw death and dislocation on that scale may have been during the plague some seven centuries ago.
However, disastrous as the situation is, it is important to say that Malawi is not merely another reason for a wasteful and lazy western world to feel appropriately guilty; Malawi wants to work. I hope that, through Scotland's active engagement in Malawi's civic life and health and education services—our funding for which is rising from £3 million to £9 million by 2011—we will show which side of the argument Scotland takes. Scotland is remembered fondly by Malawi. The least that we can do is return that compliment.
We move to the wind-up speeches. I call Iain Smith—Mr Smith, you have six minutes.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is difficult to sum up such a debate when so much that one might want to say has already been said. I am sure that the minister will have even more difficulty, because there are another three speeches before she makes hers.
I am particularly struck by the speeches from members who have been to Malawi. I have not had the good fortune to have visited Malawi but, a few months ago, I went to Sierra Leone, which is another country in Africa that suffers from significant poverty—I think that it is the third-poorest country in Africa. Civil war has left its infrastructure devastated and it has gone from being one of the richest countries in Africa to being one of the poorest, thanks to the corruption of its officials.
Many of the problems that Sierra Leone faces are the same as those that Malawi faces—perhaps to a greater extent in some areas. When one goes there and scratches the surface of the problems for a few days, one wonders how on earth it is possible to do anything meaningful. The problems are immense. There are infrastructure problems, such as the lack of a secure, fresh, clean, safe water supply or a secure power supply to communities. The contribution of the many individuals, organisations and, indeed, Governments that try to tackle some of those problems is incredible. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament make a small contribution to that process, but the much greater contribution that the whole of Scotland makes to the process in Malawi is significant.
The minister mentioned the key issues in the co-operation agreement to which even greater focus needs to be given as the agreement is revised over the next few months: health, education, governance and sustainable development. Those issues are important and interlinked. It is not possible to deal with sustainable development if the population is not healthy or educated, and it is not possible to deal with education or health issues until we deal with governance and civil society issues to ensure that the other matters can be taken forward. That is a very difficult cycle to break, and one in which small steps must be taken.
We must realise that Scotland's financial contribution is minuscule compared with what is going in overall. I am sure that the minister realises that as well as anyone. DFID's contribution to Malawi over the next three years is intended to be $560 million—for some reason, DFID puts the figure in dollars—a year.
I point out that Scotland contributes to DFID's contribution in proportion to our population. The important thing is to ensure that the additional funding from Scotland is targeted where we can best add value.
It is even harder to make a summing-up speech when the minister intervenes to make the point that one is about to make, but I thank her for doing so. I was going to make the point that Scotland contributes towards that $560 million of aid from its taxation. Scotland can make a significant contribution, but the financial amount is small and we must ensure that we use the money effectively to add value to what is done elsewhere. Rather than trying to pretend that we can make all the difference ourselves through our contribution, we must work with others.
Malcolm Chisholm made an important point about trade injustice, which Sarah Boyack picked up on at the end of her speech. It surprises me how little that point has come across in the debate. We need to highlight trade injustice.
The European Union has a large overseas aid and international development budget, but it also has a series of policies that directly work against international development. We should, not only through lobbying in Europe but through the UK Government, seek to change many of those policies to ensure that we deal with European trade injustice and give developing countries a fair crack of the whip. In Scotland, for example, we could look at our public sector procurement policies while, on an individual level, we could consider buying fair trade produce.
Murdo Fraser quite rightly referred to Malawi's historical links with David Livingstone, and highlighted not only the importance of civic society and governance but what we can do in that respect. It is important that the Scottish Parliament continues its relationship with Malawi and helps to support civic governance. Indeed, in Sierra Leone, I worked with parliamentarians on their serious governance problems.
Health is a key aspect. The HIV/AIDS issue is very important, and members have highlighted the prevention of disease as a major issue. Instead of simply dealing with illnesses when they emerge, we can for a relatively small amount of money prevent many of them. Of course, trained and qualified medical personnel will be needed in Malawi to deliver such programmes. Compared with what we might expect, the number of qualified nurses in Malawi is staggeringly small, and we must ensure that the country continues to receive more support in that respect. Support is already available not only through the DFID programme but through the poverty reduction budget support system, which helps to provide better wages to health service workers. Such approaches are crucial if we are to tackle some of the country's key health issues and break the cycle that I mentioned earlier in my speech.
In winding up for the Conservatives, I, like other members, feel privileged to take part in this debate.
It is three years since I visited Malawi with the first Scottish Parliament delegation. At that time, my defining image of the country was of coffins lined up outside carpenters' shops in the villages and shanty towns that we drove through. It seemed as if the country's only growth industry was coffin making. Other members have listed various depressing statistics about Malawi but, for me, the most depressing is the fact that life expectancy is still under 40 years. As Malcolm Chisholm and others have made clear, Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries with one of the world's most rapidly increasing populations.
That said, as we have also heard this afternoon, all is far from doom and gloom. Malawians are resilient people. As Murdo Fraser reminded us, the country is remarkably beautiful and, even in the most unlikely places, flowers bloom and against all odds hope prevails.
When school groups ask me what I believe to be the Scottish Parliament's most important achievements, I have to say that high on what is a fairly short list is the special relationship that has been forged with Malawi. Indeed, I echo the tributes that have been paid to Jack McConnell's pivotal role in forging those links. Although he attracted much undeserved flak from sections of the media and accusations of empire building, he was right to press ahead and sign the co-operation agreement, and Malawi, with its links to Livingstone and other Scottish missionaries, was the right choice to make. I thought that Jack McConnell's speech was the most thoughtful and telling that we heard this afternoon. I hope that, when he heads out to Malawi as the new high commissioner, he will have time for a game of golf at that pretty little course in Lilongwe—perhaps using one of the sets of clubs that were donated by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
I welcome the new Government's pledge to double the amount of funding for international development over this session of Parliament and its commitment to provide a minimum of £3 million to Malawi. Of course, even if the whole £9 million for international aid was devoted to the country, it would, as Michael Matheson and others have pointed out, still be a drop in the ocean compared with other funding sources.
However, I believe that Scotland has a genuine opportunity to make significant change in Malawi, and although I recognise that there are many voices clamouring for a share of Scotland's tiny international development budget, it is my view that the lion's share of it should continue to go to Malawi. With the experience that we gain from the various programmes in which Scotland is involved in Malawi, we might be able to think about extending those programmes to similar, neighbouring African countries. It is right that all such matters will be considered in the European and External Relations Committee's forthcoming inquiry, but my instinct is that we should not dilute our aid effort by spreading it too widely or where it might simply be lost or swamped by the aid efforts of far bigger funders.
Of course, Scotland's contribution should not simply be about money. What has impressed me most has been the way in which the Scottish people and Scottish institutions have taken Malawi to their hearts. We have expertise in matters such as health, education, economic development and governance. It is encouraging to hear from members such as Sarah Boyack that many schemes are now showing positive results, but I agree with those speakers who made the point that when the Scottish Government chooses to support people in Malawi, sustainable development must be the priority. There is little point in funding projects for three years or so and then letting them wither away. Why raise people's hopes if they are only to be dashed again? I am glad that the minister appeared to agree.
When I came back from Malawi back in 2005, I wrote an article for a national newspaper in which I spelled out the basic problem of a lack of skills in areas such as agronomy, irrigation and construction, which arose simply because there was a missing generation of Malawians to pass on those skills. To my surprise, I was inundated with letters from Scottish carpenters, bricklayers and electricians, all of whom were willing to go to Malawi to teach those trades and who wanted to know how they could sign up. I am still not sure whether there is sufficient funding available to cover the travel and accommodation costs of such volunteers, but it seems to me that, if we do not take up those offers and make it easier for people to contribute, in whatever way they are able—including through service on the ground in Malawi—we will lose a huge opportunity to tap into the good will of the Scottish people, and Malawi will lose something far more valuable than money. David Whitton was certainly on to something with his proposed scheme, which would allow trainee teachers to serve in Malawi. That idea should be given consideration.
Murdo Fraser mentioned the pioneering work of Livingstone and the other great Scottish missionaries. It would be nice to think that a new generation of Livingstones might help to stem the tragic tide of coffins, to which I referred at the beginning of my speech.
I make no apology for being proud of the role that the Scottish Parliament and our people are playing through the partnership with Malawi. Like other members, I pay tribute to Jack McConnell, who performed a driving role, and to the new minister, who seeks to continue our relationship with Malawi.
I use the word "partnership" because that is what it genuinely is. It brings genuine and tangible benefits to all. It absolutely does not represent a traditional approach to aid, in that it is not—nor do I believe that it should be—delivered exclusively by NGOs, as other aid development projects are. Some people would take us down that road. It is a partnership that is not simply about money. As many members have said, in real terms, the amount of money that Scotland provides is small, although it helps to stimulate grass-roots development and provides added value through skills transfer, whether in health, education, governance or—following today's announcement by the minister—the voluntary sector.
For me, skills transfer means the provision of long-term tangible and sustainable benefits. Those people who learn from Scots who go to Malawi are able to pass their skills on to their colleagues. That cascade effect represents great value for the cost of facilitating someone to go and transfer their skills. Such benefits cannot be bought. The truest test of the partnership's success lies in the people who are involved in sharing skills, knowledge, experience and resources.
The partnership permeates all sections of Scottish and Malawian society. It involves the women of St John's guild in Carluke, who knit baby jackets and blankets to be given to maternity units in Malawi, where—as I saw at first hand last week—they act as makeshift incubators for premature babies or those who have taken ill. In areas where electricity is not available, the warmth of knitted materials ensures that those babies are able to get the heat that they need to develop and to have a greater chance of surviving.
The partnership is villagers in Stonehouse and their partners in Mulanje who are working together to develop sustainable projects, whether by supporting people to rear, buy and sell chickens, which provides food, employment and income long into the future, or by developing clean water supplies, which enables health improvement and therefore community development and better education for young people.
The partnership is the children from Blackhall and Carnwath who are sharing knowledge and understanding with friends in schools in the Zomba district, thereby developing a new generation of real global citizens. It is also the young people from Kirkmuirhill who are working with young people in the Nkata Bay constituency to share vocational skills and to participate—we hope—in an educational exchange. In Scotland, those young people from Kirkmuirhill are seen as poor and disadvantaged, but they are young people who believe that they can learn from and share with their friends in Malawi.
I returned yesterday with other MSPs from our visit to Malawi, which was, without doubt, a humbling and challenging experience. However, it was also an experience that showed the progress that has been made in the time since we were last in the country. I am grateful to the CPA for enabling me and other MSPs to participate. As a person and as a politician, I have grown from that experience. I came into politics because of a basic belief in social justice—a belief that inequality and injustice were wrong and that they must be tackled and changed wherever they happen, across the world as well as in here in Scotland.
Few can forget the emotion of the opening ceremony of the first session of the Scottish Parliament, when members burst spontaneously into song with Sheena Wellington and sang together:
"That Man to Man the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that."
That is not a quaint sentiment, but a real desire to change the world. In this partnership, we have an opportunity to take small, but—I believe—significant steps.
Our visit had many facets, one of which was health. We visited Mulanje mission, where, 30 years ago, one of my constituents was a doctor. She would doubtless be amazed at the changes and developments that have taken place. She would also be delighted at the report that we received that, from last year's figures, the maternal mortality rate is going down, for the first time. As a result of free access to maternity services and the support that the Scottish Parliament is providing, through our Government, for primary health care services, people now have better access to food, clean water and antenatal care. At Orphan Care Malawi, we saw the real progress of children whom we first met in 2005.
Another facet of our visit was education. We visited a number of schools and the proposed site of the Edinburgh girls high school, which my good friend Janet Chesney is developing. Only a fraction of girls who are eligible to attend secondary school in the northern region of Malawi are able to do so. I commend both Janet for her work and the Synod of Livingstonia, which is prioritising education for girls in its developments. We visited two of its schools and to see the Synod's work at first hand.
Governance was another facet. We had many meetings and discussions with our colleagues in Malawi. We agreed to take forward twinning between our members to share knowledge and understanding. We also stressed the need for mutual respect between Government and Parliament. That is something that we do not always get right in this place, or something that we always find easy, but it is something that is absolutely crucial to a successful multiparty democracy.
Along with the minister, we attended the launch of the youth business Malawi trust. That shows that we can work in partnership and that good models of successful entrepreneurial skills development in Scotland can play a part in developing the lives of young people in Malawi.
For me, one of the most challenging parts of the visit was our visit to the Old Bandawe mission. In addition to worshipping in the church, which was established by Scottish missionaries, and being welcomed by the great-great-grandson of the man who had welcomed Dr Robert Laws in the 1800s, we had the opportunity to pay our respects at the graves of the Scots who journeyed with him. Almost all of them—parents, children and babies—died of malaria.
It was challenging and, in many ways, depressing to realise that malaria remains one of the biggest killers in Malawi today. Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, but the cost of basic essentials such as mosquito nets remain out of the reach of many ordinary Malawian people. The difficulties involved in going to hospital also mean that people often leave it too late for treatment to be effective. It is surely a shame on all in the developed world that, 150 years on, the disease continues to ravage Malawi.
I commend the Government and the previous Executive for the work that they have done in Malawi. However, the partnership is about the people of Scotland—it is about who we are in the world and what we say to the people of the world. I hope that our partnership with Malawi will continue, and that my children will be able to do the things that I can do now.
As Iain Smith said, it is difficult to cover everything that members have spoken about, so I make my excuses in advance in case I do not cover some of the points that were made. However, I will pick up on some specific issues.
As always when we discuss Malawi and international development, I have been struck by the consensus in the Parliament about the way in which we are headed and about our moral obligation to and friendship with Malawi, which Karen Gillon talked about. Another issue that many members have spoken about is Malawi's potential. As we have heard, it is a beautiful country. Last week was a nice time of year to go there, with beautiful verdant scenery around us when we travelled, very like that in Scotland. I have seen Malawi looking very dry and different, but the beauty is there.
Aileen Campbell touched on a feature of Malawi that has huge potential but which has never been made the most of—the peace. It is a small African nation in a region of Africa that, sadly, suffers from a lot of turmoil. Within that, there is the oasis of Malawi, with friendship and peace. Individuals going there from Scotland feel a sense of security. That has huge potential.
Alasdair Morgan talked about infrastructure and tourism. The capacity for tourism has not yet been truly tapped, but I hope that it will be. Through a programme that was started by Patricia Ferguson and continued by the present Government—despite our review, we have been meeting all the previous commitments—the Malawi Institute of Tourism has undergone capacity building. That is an economically sustainable developmental approach, which is important.
On commitments from the Scottish Executive, I assure Malcolm Chisholm that the £4.5 million that was agreed previously has now been expended or allocated in this financial year. I will attend the European and External Relations Committee fairly soon to discuss such matters in more detail. One important point is that the money has been allocated with the agreement of the Malawian Government. It has always been crucial in the partnership that we have that it is for Malawians to decide what is best for them. We work in partnership and in discussion and come to joint agreement—it is not for us to impose anything.
I can confirm that, over the next two years, we have doubled the previous baseline budget of £3 million a year for international development and that, in year 3 of the spending review period, the budget of £4.5 million will be doubled to £9 million. As many members have said, within that, a minimum of £3 million is ring fenced for Malawi. That has given clarity about the funding for Malawi, which the Malawian Government has welcomed. The time was right to consider our agreement and to make changes as appropriate, which is what I wanted to do.
Karen Gillon summed up the matter well when she said that we have a partnership with Malawi. When I spoke to people in Malawi last week, I was keen to stress that we do not consider that we are aid donors to Malawi; instead, we are friends who are working together after a long history of shared interest. It is important that we do not set ourselves up as an aid donor to Malawi—the relationship is about friendship and partnership, not aid. We have often heard about the brain drain in all sorts of professions from countries such as Malawi. When we consider that, we must ask who is aiding who. We must be careful and specific in the language that we use.
Part of the added value from the partnership with Malawi and from the additional money that comes from Scotland to projects in Malawi can be about mobilising other partnerships. For example, we funded a project last March with Opportunity International. The opportunity bank in Malawi is about microfinance and about people being able, for the first time, to open bank accounts and gain the self-respect that can come from seeing their money rising. Our Government funding for that was matched by two different Scottish entrepreneurs, so the money was tripled right away. That then unlocked more than £400,000 from the European Union for the same project, so the small amount that went in from Scotland had great potential to open up much more funding.
On the issue of sustainability, we have the Scotland-Malawi business group. There is a board here in Scotland of respected Scottish businesspeople, and there is a board in Malawi of respected Malawian businesspeople. They are working together to ensure that young entrepreneurs have the mentorship that they require and can access loans that allow them to build up their businesses. That then allows them to sustain themselves, their immediate family and their extended family—and kinship is very important to people to Malawi; it sustains the way people live in the absence of any welfare state. Such sustainable ways of working are building the country up. Many people have spoken about added value and capacity building within the different professions. They are crucial.
Also important is the strong commitment that we see here, right across the chamber and right across civic society in Scotland. I agree with Jack McConnell and others about that.
Government cannot do everything and we should not pretend that we can. However, we can spearhead a message of friendship and partnership that can continue into the future. We can celebrate the wonderful relationship that we have had historically with Malawi, have currently with Malawi and, I believe, will have with Malawi far into the future, way beyond when Karen Gillon's children have grown up.