The Government see Burma’s Parliament as crucial to the country's reform process and to the long term development of an effective democracy. We began our engagement by hosting a visit from the Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann to the UK in April 2012.

The Department for International Development is funding the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) to facilitate exchange visits between the UK and Burmese Parliaments. The first stage of this project included a scoping visit by cross-party British MPs in July 2012. WFD will facilitate a visit by the chair and key members of the Burmese Public Accounts Committee to the UK in spring 2013, to be followed up with a training session for MPs in Burma. In December 2012, at the request of Aung San Suu Kyi, we also facilitated a visit to the UK by three Burmese MPs from the Draft Bills Committee. Following that visit, we are working with Aung San Suu Kyi and Shwe Mann to identify where else the UK could in future best support the development of Burma’s Parliament.

The Department for International Development's (DFID) expenditure is classified according to input sector codes agreed at the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD DAC). There is no sub-code for legislatures, and therefore we cannot give an accurate picture of funding without investigating this manually across DFID's portfolio, which would be extremely time consuming and valid only for a short time. Details of DFID's planned, operational and complete projects are published in a database accessed through the DFID website:

http://projects.dfid.gov.uk/

DFID's support to parliaments is wide ranging. For example, it has included work in Nepal to help ensure marginalised groups are brought into the political process, plus work to improve the scrutiny role of specific parliamentary bodies, such as the public accounts committees in Uganda and Rwanda.

The Department for International Development (DFID) supports the delivery of all the millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015, including MDG7 “Ensure Environmental Sustainability”.

National parliaments and legislatures have a key role in the delivery of all the MDGs, including MDG7, through their responsibility to put in place legislation on management of natural resources and in scrutinising the actions of government. For example, DFID is helping to improve forest governance by working with countries to put in place and enforce new legislation on illegal timber. DFID supports 13 country parliaments directly as well as supporting the National Democratic Institute, the United Nations Development Programme and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, among others, all of which offer support to strengthen democratic processes and parliaments.

More information on DFID's support for MDG7 can be found in DFID's “Supporting a Healthy Environment” publication which can be found on our website at:

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/Key-Issues/Climate-and-environment/

DFID continually invests in the skills of its officials. Governance specialists, currently numbering over 120, lead on our work with national legislatures. In order to become a governance adviser a range of competencies are tested, including knowledge of political systems. There is a coherent body of evidence that suggests open political systems including strong legislatures help sustain conditions for growth and poverty reduction. This is consistent with the “Golden Thread” of development referred to by the Prime Minister.

DFID's support to parliaments is wide-ranging. For example it has included work in Nepal to help ensure marginalised groups were brought into the constitution making process, plus work to improve the scrutiny role of specific parliamentary bodies, such as the public accounts committees in Uganda and Rwanda.

Officials from our embassy in Rangoon have discussed with Burmese Members of Parliament (MPs) from a wide spectrum of parties the issue of parliamentary calendars and shared UK parliamentary processes. However, the Burmese parliamentary calendar remains an issue for Burma's parliament to decide.

As part our policy of engagement with the Burmese Government and their reform agenda, we support a number of organisations including the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the British branch of the Inter-Parliamentary Union who are putting together programmes for parliamentary engagement in support of representative governance in Burma.

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy visited Burma in July accompanied by a small cross-party delegation of MPs. We look forward to the forthcoming report following their visit.