Michael McCann MP representing the British Group of the IPU at a conference on help for developing countries.

Michael McCann MP represented the British Group of the IPU at a top level conference on help for developing countries at the end of November.

He flew to Busan in the Republic of Korea to attend the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness which brought together government ministers from countries all around the world, parliamentarians, NGO representatives, and executives of private firms.

The three day-event – from 29 November to 1 December –  was addressed by many senior international figures including the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon, Queen Rania of Jordan and the Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.

The forum discussed the importance of giving aid and how it was working – millions more people have access to water, more children go to school, the child mortality rate has lowered and action was being taken to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria. But the delegates also discussed ways of improving the system– such as cutting bureaucracy and eradicating corruption.

Michael McCann’s report on the Forum >>

Further information about the IPU >>

Further information about Membership >>

The IPU Review has informative articles on the activities at home and abroad of the British Group of the IPU.

IPU Review: Summer 2011

The Summer/Autumn 2011 edition includes reports on: Chile celebrates the 200th anniversary of its National Congress A prison visit in Santiago Making contact with North Korea Venturing into Outer-Mongolia Helping the world’s least developed countries Angola’s trade appeal to Britain Vital elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo Mexico’s drug war Giving girls more options in education and careers China wants closer links Georgia’s tense relations with Russia