Britain Creates New Department For International Aid

Accra (GAR), June 23, - The British Government has created a Department for International Development (DFID) to replace the Overseas Development Administration (ODA). The DFID, to be headed by a cabinet minister, will work towards the eradication of poverty from the world by supporting and complementing the efforts of governments of developing countries. It will apart from administering aid programmes in developing countries, have the additional role of ensuring coherence across British government departments to meet wider development aims of the United Kingdom. A statement released in Accra today by the British High Commission, said the Government's strategy for combating world poverty will be set out in a White Paper. In the first development White Paper for 22 years, the Government will commit itself to a coherent programme of action to help the poorest people work their way out of poverty, the statement added . The strategy includes debt, trade, the World Bank and IMF as well as human rights and aid. Ms Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development who heads the new department, said DFID will create partnerships with other governments and international institutions to eliminate abject poverty from the world. She said ''We need a strategy that addresses the roots of the problems faced by poor people in developing countries. ''The fundamental answers lie in human development coupled with structures that encourage and regulate the market in a way which creates sustainable economic development. ''Massive poverty means suffering, disease, war, environmental degradation and instability. It is in all our interests that we begin to tackle these problems,'' She said

Accra (GAR), June 23, - The British Government has created a Department for International Development (DFID) to replace the Overseas Development Administration (ODA). The DFID, to be headed by a cabinet minister, will work towards the eradication of poverty from the world by supporting and complementing the efforts of governments of developing countries. It will apart from administering aid programmes in developing countries, have the additional role of ensuring coherence across British government departments to meet wider development aims of the United Kingdom. A statement released in Accra today by the British High Commission, said the Government's strategy for combating world poverty will be set out in a White Paper. In the first development White Paper for 22 years, the Government will commit itself to a coherent programme of action to help the poorest people work their way out of poverty, the statement added . The strategy includes debt, trade, the World Bank and IMF as well as human rights and aid. Ms Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development who heads the new department, said DFID will create partnerships with other governments and international institutions to eliminate abject poverty from the world. She said ''We need a strategy that addresses the roots of the problems faced by poor people in developing countries. ''The fundamental answers lie in human development coupled with structures that encourage and regulate the market in a way which creates sustainable economic development. ''Massive poverty means suffering, disease, war, environmental degradation and instability. It is in all our interests that we begin to tackle these problems,'' She said