Nigeria: Threat to Aid Cut is on Human Rights - William Hague

London — British Foreign Secretary, Mr William Hague, has said that UK's threat to cut aid to anti-gay countries was to make such countries respect human rights.

Fielding questions on Twitter about Africa yesterday, Mr Hague explained that the issue was not just about cutting aid, but "about delivering support through different channels when governments do not respect human rights".

Last year, UK coalition government threatened to cut or even stop aid to many African countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, following enactment of anti-gay legislation or open resentment of homosexuality in those countries.

Mr Hague also said the UK condemns female genital mutilation (FGM), describing the practice as an "extreme violation of human rights" and stressed that the government was "working with the United Nations to reduce it".

On Somalia, he said "step-change" was needed to bring about peace and stability in the country and the region, adding: "that is why we are holding a conference on Somalia in London on February 23".

The foreign Secretary stated that the UK was not against the adoption of Sharia law in Somalia, pointing out that Sharia was "neither the problem nor the solution (to the issues in Somalia). It is the absence of rule of law, and not the absence of laws, that is the issue".

He lamented that the country had been without the rule of law for 20 yrs which resulted in one million deaths and 1.46 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), adding that 2.4 million people in the country depend on food aid while the average life expectancy is just 48 years.

"I am the first British Foreign Secretary to visit Somalia in 20 years," he said, adding that a new UK ambassador to the country had been announced.


(2012-02-07/allafrica)