The Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce MP

CONFERENCE REPORT: Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, Liverpool , September 2010

On the Conference floor:

With no Liberal Democrat Minister in the Department for International Development Malcolm was called upon in his capacity as chairman of the international development select committee, to address the debates and meetings in this area at the party's Autumn conference in Liverpool.

He addressed the main conference hall and moved and passed an amendment on the International development policy paper.

He said:

"A working party presented an updated policy paper on international development to the conference. It was far-reaching and generally well received. However, I was concerned that it sought to end all UK development assistance to China and India.

Malcolm meeting with the White Ribbon Alliance about their maternal health campaign- an important aspect of the MDGS which are discussed in the Lib Dem policy paper

"I can understand that people see China as an emerging power and indeed India becoming increasingly important and influential. However, these two countries between them account for 60% of the poorest people in the world. As I said to the conference moving an amendment to review rather than stop altogether the U.K.'s cooperation with India and China we cannot claim to be committed to making poverty history if we turn our back on the majority of the world's poorest people.

"It is also the case that development cooperation between the Department for International development and Indian and Chinese authorities really does help reduce poverty and strengthen relationships between our countries in a positive way. It is not appropriate for huge amounts of the UK's development budget to be spent in this way but it would be inappropriate to disengage altogether.

"It may also provide useful examples of measures that could possibly be taken elsewhere in Asia or Africa that could contribute to reducing poverty and promoting developments in countries that have had less success so far than either India or China.

"I'm glad to say the conference agreed with me and my amendment was carried."

The amendment was moved by Malcolm Bruce MP and the Gordon Liberal Democrats with neighbouring MP, Sir Robert Smith summating.

Fringe Meetings:

Malcolm addressed several fringe meetings to discuss a variety of international development related issues. These included:

• ActionAid and Women Liberal Democrats hosted a fringe entitled: "On the Frontline: Women, Peace and Conflict". Chaired by Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor of Channel 4 News; also on the panel- Baroness Northover, LD Spokesperson for Women and Equality and Dorcas Erskine, ActionAid UK. (A summary of Malcolm's speech follows below.)
• The Foreign Policy Centre, BBC World Trust and ActionAid UK: "Can Aid Help Poor People and hold their leaders to account?" Other speakers included: the author Michela Wong, James Deane of the BBC World Service Trust and Dorcas Erskine of ActionAid UK. The event was chaired by Bronwen Maddox, Chief Foreign Commentator of the Times.
• Institute of Development Studies: "Where did all the aid go: Seven Lessons for Effective Development". Speakers included: Lawrence Haddad, IDS; Tony German, Development Initiatives and a representative from the ONE campaign. Aid has made a difference to the lives of millions but chronic poverty still exists. As we look set to struggle to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and in a time of severe austerity and spending cuts in the UK how can we get the best value for money out of the ring-fenced international development budget?
• Save the Children: Afghanistan, Pakistan- how do we win the peace? Chaired by the journalist Rageh Omaar. Other speakers included: David Mepham, Save the Children and Jeremy Browne MP, Liberal Democrat and Foreign Office minister.
• ESRC Genomics Network: Pills of progress: improving healthcare in Africa. Diseases like malaria and AIDS kill millions worldwide. The session explores policy options beyond pills and the 'technofix' to tackle disease. Other speakers included: Diarmaid McDonald, Stop AIDS Campaign and Dr. Rebecca Hanlin, Geonomics network.
• VSO: Should I stay or should I Go?-Development and Migration. Speakers included: Dr Paul Williams, a VSO health volunteer in Ghana, Dt Terry John, International Committee of the BMA and Laura Chappell, senior research fellow at the IPPR.

Malcolm addressing the VSO fringe on migrant health workers

Article: ActionAid and Women Liberal Democrats: "On the Frontline: Women, Peace and Conflict"

"Why violence against women is an issue of national security"

By Malcolm Bruce MP

It is a fact that women are living in some of the direst circumstances in situations of conflict. Not only is poverty often most severe in conflict situations, but women are frequently deliberately targeted for violence in order to fuel conflicts and undermine prospects for peace, development and human progress. Without addressing violence against women, we're not going to get people out of poverty, and we're not going to end conflicts.

Malcolm Bruce addressing ActionAid and Women LDs fringe

I visited a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is supported by the European commission and also our government. 90% of the work of that hospital was about providing medical support to women victims of violence who have sustained injuries so horrific that you can barely imagine. Having spoken to some of these women, I have come to realise how this violence is not just physically debilitating, it is also socially destroying. The stigma and ostracisation that these women face tear at the social fabric of their communities and threaten any prospects for peace. We are not yet dealing with this social destruction and we need to be.

Women must be part of the solution of ending violence against women. But I don't see this as a 'women's issue'. I see it as a security issue. It is a fact that violence against women is used as a weapon in wars to destabilise communities. It is also a fact that women are key to peace building and are integral to helping families and communities rebuild after conflicts. That affects people other than women; indeed it affects whole nations and even the international community, of which Britain is of course part.

It can be tempting to treat violence against women as something to do with women and leaving it at that. But compartmentalising violence against women in conflict situations as a women's issue makes it difficult to challenge the root causes of the problem. We must resist this tendency to compartmentalise. This is about men too - their decisions and their roles and how we can transform inequalities between men and women.

Our coalition government's priority for international work includes a focus on a country whose conflict we are currently engaged in for reasons of national security: Afghanistan. This is evidenced by the two Parliamentary Inquiries that are currently open, one by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and one by the Defence Select Committee. They both ask how we can best achieve 'success' in Afghanistan.

Do we have the right answers? We know that more girls are going to school in Afghanistan as a result of strong recent efforts. That is a good thing. But we also know that girls in schools are often targeted for violence as part of the conflict. We must therefore ensure that part of our intervention efforts in Afghanistan include success indicators on the rights of women and girls - are we strengthening them or putting them at further risk?

There are some very articulate and courageous women in the parliament of Afghanistan. They are taking on a difficult task, challenging social and cultural norms to bring change to many more women and girls in the country. In many ways, this is the difficulty: the destiny of women in countries in conflict requires the speaking out by brave women from those societies, though it puts them at risk. We must be as brave, and be clear that if we are going to be involved in international affairs, we are entitled to ask questions on the international stage about the rights of women, violence against women, and women's involvement in peace building and development. The courage of women in conflict situations deserves to be matched by strong and dedicated leadership by men and women in Britain standing alongside them and working for change.

(The above is a summary of the speech Malcolm made to address the fringe meeting at Liberal Democrat conference hosted by ActionAid with Women Liberal Democrats on Sunday 19th September.)

Other meetings:

Malcolm and Lord Rennard meet with the NSPCC about the Childline campaign

Malcolm met with many organisations, charities and businesses to discuss issues including: international development (including poverty reduction, conflict resolution, the protection of women and maternal health), deafness campaigning, post office network, pensions and access for blind people and Wet AMD, a visual impairment disease.

Malcolm learns about the Guide Dogs campaign on better access to transport services