After receiving pleas from North Hertfordshire young people last year to help young people in the Third World go to school, North East Hertfordshire MP Oliver Heald has been supporting Government development initiatives to improve the education and health of the poorest and most vulnerable children.
International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell MP has recently written to Oliver pointing out that the UK Government has provided support for 5.3 million children to go to school in the desperately poor countries of the World. Of course, an education is no help if you are starving or too ill and Andrew Mitchell also reports that the UK has paid to vaccinate 12 million against killer diseases and saved 2.7 million children and mothers from starvation.
The Minister was able to demonstrate a range of other achievements in his annual report.*
Commenting Oliver said:
“Young people locally often write to me about their wish to see children of their age in the poorest countries have an education. Last year, we took a petition to Downing Street. I was pleased to hear from Minister Andrew Mitchell just how much help the UK has been able to give to help these most vulnerable children of the World, not just to survive, but to learn for the future.”
*The DFID Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 can be found here: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications1/departmental-report/2012/Annual-report-accounts-2011-12.pdf