Development Aid (Fiona Hall MEP)

Fiona Hall MEP <info@fionahall.org.uk>

Back to Fiona's work in the European Parliament

Fiona's work in the Development Committee and Joint Parliamentary Assembly

Fiona in Kenya with charity Practical Action

Climate Change and natural disasters

Fiona acted as co-rapporteur on a report on climate change and natural disasters (2005, EU-ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Edinburgh) and was draftsperson for a Parliamentary opinion calling for all illegally harvested timber to be banned from EU markets.

Fiona could witness the consequences of climate change in Kenya firsthand on a visit to the country with development charity Practical Action in 2006. After devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean, Fiona called for more EU funds to help developing countries like Haiti better prepare for more frequent and violent natural disasters linked to climate change.

Arms trade

Because of her efforts to bring consistency to EU policies on arms trading and development, Fiona has been awarded a star by the EU Coherence Programme. Fiona called on European governments to sign the convention on cluster munitions and put pressure on them to finally agree a "common position" on arms exports. She has repeatedly called for the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports to be made into a legally binding position and co-hosted an ALDE seminar on the impact of the small arms trade on African development.

Trade agreements and development aid

Fiona continues to campaign for development-friendly Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. She fought in the European Parliament for the EU to provide €1 billion to developing countries worst hit by volatile and high food prices. Fiona has also repeatedly called on the UK government to honour its commitment on the Millennium Development Goals by spending 0.7% of GNP on overseas aid.