THIS YEAR, South Norfolk MP, Richard Bacon’s Parliamentary recess will be a little different, as he prepares to leave his constituency on 15th August, to join MPs and Peers from around the UK who are taking part in VSO’s Parliamentarian Volunteer Scheme 2011.
The international development charity has invited Richard to put his 10 years experience of political lobbying to use overseas, fighting for the rights of marginalised farmers in Tanzania.
VSO sends MPs and Peers on carefully selected placements across 44 countries; joining the 1,500 long and short term volunteers currently overseas, including 15 from across East Anglia. VSO have run the scheme for over four years; the placements not only help VSO’s partner organisations in Africa and Asia by providing them with skilled volunteers, but they also give the MPs and Peers first-hand experience of global issues.
Working on behalf farmers is not new territory for Richard, as much of his campaigning has focused on livestock farmers in his constituency; in particular the effect recent increases to pig feed has had on the community.
Richard’s work this summer will focus on working with VSO’s Tanzanian partner, the Agricultural Non State Actors Forum (ANSAF), lobbying to create a better standard of living for marginalised farmers. ANSAF is a network of local organisations that promotes best practice in agriculture and recommends reforms to the Government.
Across his placement, he will be supporting negotiations with the Government in Tanzania, ensuring they involve MPs and councilors in decision-making at a local level. He will be meeting marginalised farmers and gaining first hand insight into how despite new government schemes aimed at encouraging more investment in agriculture and encouraging banks to lend to farmers, the money allocated in the national budget is too low to fully modernise agriculture in the country.
Richard’s wife Victoria is joining him for the last week of his visit to Tanzania. They will travel together to Kagera in the north of the country, to look at the work of a charity called ‘Friends of the Children of Tanzania’. FoCT provides support to orphans, vulnerable and disabled children and their carers in this part of Tanzania. This visit is of special interest to the Bacons as Victoria and her twin sister, Sarah, are the founders of a recently established charity called “Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope”. Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope has been set up to raise money to provide young amputees in the developing world with essential operations and prosthetic limbs.
FoCT is the first organization that Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope is supporting. The money they have raised is specifically being put towards the funding of a ‘Jaipur Limb Centre’ which will give needy young children access to a prosthetic legs without them having to travel long distances, which currently prevents many of them many of them from getting the help they need. Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope and the Friends of Children of Tanzania are working in partnership to apply an effective low-cost technology, called the Jaipur Foot, so that patients can have a new leg at a low cost.
VSO’s selects MPs and Peers from across the political parties to contribute to VSO’s long-term development goals, including education, HIV and AIDS, disability and governance.
Kathy Peach, Head of External Affairs, VSO UK said: “Our partner ANSAF will be making use of Richard’s valuable skills and knowledge in lobbying and influencing policy. He, like all our MP’s, will be working with disadvantaged people in some of the poorest communities in the world, helping them to get their voices heard by decision-makers. We hope their VSO experience will provide both Richard and Victoria with a unique and valuable insight into development issues which will inform their work back in parliament and across East Anglia.”
2 August 2011
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