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Ethnic Monitoring
Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to include Irish as a category in her Department's ethnic monitoring of staff recruitment. [63881]
Clare Short:
Monitoring in this area is based on ethnic origin and not nationality. The ethnic origin categories monitored by my Department are those used in the 1991
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census which did not include an Irish category. They will be reviewed in the light of any suggested changes for the 2001 Population Census.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list (a) by project and (b) by country, the maternal health projects her Department supports. [64173]
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Clare Short:
We directly support maternal health projects and programmes in around 20 countries, mainly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. A list will be placed in the Libraries of the House. It includes support for national safe motherhood programmes in Malawi and Nepal. It does not, however, include the maternal health work of multilateral organisations such as the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Population Fund, the European Community and the World Bank, or international civil society groups such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation, all of which receive substantial support from the UK's Department for International Development.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of her Department's budget is allocated to improving maternal health in developing countries. [64177]
Clare Short:
In calendar year 1997, 3.6 per cent. of the UK overseas development assistance (£73 million) was invested in reproductive health, excluding expenditure through the EC and the World Bank, which we are unable to dis-aggregate. We estimate that around 15 per cent. of this spend was invested directly in reducing the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth. But clearly our spending on improving basic healthcare systems also benefit material health. We are reforming the Department's management information system to track all spending in relation to the International Development Goals. This will include a dedicated marker for contributions to reduced maternal mortality.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans her Department has to support the development of the hemp industry into the production of industrial fibre. [64175]
Clare Short:
While my Department has been active in the development and use of many vegetable fibre crops--e.g. jute, flax, sisal; it currently has no plans to support the hemp (Cannabis sativa) fibre industry in any developing country.
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is the current level of financial assistance the Government are providing to the Palestinians. [63860]
Clare Short:
During the last financial year (1997-98), the Department for International Development (DFID) invested £30 million in development cooperation with the Palestinians. This comprised £16 million through DFID's direct programme in the West Bank and Gaza and contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees and £14 million in contributions to the EC's programmes for assistance for the Palestinians. DFID expects to spend a similar amount this financial year. In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department of Trade and Industry provided some small scale assistance totalling just over £50,000.
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Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the companies which have agreed to join the Ethical Trading Initiative. [64176]
Clare Short:
The following companies have joined the Ethical Trading Initiative or have agreed to join and are in the process of doing so:
In addition, a substantial number of other companies have expressed an interest in the Ethical Trading Initiative, especially since its annual conference which took place earlier this month, but I understand they are still deciding whether to become members. A number of NGOs and unions are also members and my Department has provided financial support to the ETI. I strongly commend all companies with supply chains in developing countries to consider joining.
Copies of ETI's base code and membership information have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of her Department's budget is spent on education projects. [64172]
Clare Short:
The percentage of identifiable expenditure under my Department's bilateral programme spent on education (including scholarships) for developing countries in 1997 was 11 per cent. and is expected to be the same in 1998. It is not possible to identify the percentage of expenditure spent on education under our contributions to multilateral programmes.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the vade-mecum for the European Communities budget line B2-5122. [64188]
Ms Quin:
The vade-mecum for budget line B2-5122 can be found in Official Journal No. 44 (Volume 41) published on 16 February 1998, a copy of which is available in the House Library.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason European Communities budget lines (i) B3-300 and (ii) B3-301 are not broken down by member state; what elements of
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these budget lines are known by his Department to have been distributed in the United Kingdom; and for what purpose. [64094]
Ms Quin:
The Commission is not obliged by either Regulation or Treaty to maintain its accounts broken down by Member State for budget lines B3-300 and B3-301. the Commission is also not obliged, as a matter of course, to inform Member States which individuals or organisations have received information services or devolved funding. Official Journal No. L44 (Volume 41) published on 16 February 1998, a copy of which is available in the House Library, gives an explanation of the purpose of each Community budget line.
B3-300 covers a range of information measures including opinion polling, impact assessment, sponsored visits, publications, TV productions and internet sites. B3-301 funds, in the UK, European Document Centres in university libraries (45) and European Information Centres providing business intelligence on operating in the EU (21). The information held in these various centres generally includes UK Government publications, as well as EU documents and academic and commercial literature and databases.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those publications from the European Information Association to which his Department subscribes; and if he will arrange for copies to be placed in the Library. [64093]
Ms Quin:
This Department subscribes to the following European Information Association publications: European Information; EIA update. These are available in the House Library.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the matters currently being discussed by European Community working groups which await treaty base pending the ratification of the treaty of Amsterdam; and what level of representation his Department provides to these groups. [64193]
Ms Quin:
On 30 November 1998, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers published an interim progress report on the work in hand for the implementation of the Treaty of Amsterdam. This list covers work in the areas of Justice and Home Affairs, external EU relations/CFSP and Institutional questions. Work in these areas involve officials in the working groups and Ambassadors and Ministers as appropriate. I have placed a copy of the Presidency paper in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Turkish Government on the imprisonment of (a) Mrs. Leyla Zana and (b) other members of the Turkish Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [64121]
Ms Quin:
We have raised the imprisonment of Ms Zana and the other former Democracy (DEP) Party MPs with the Turkish authorities on a number of
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occasions. We have repeatedly stressed to the Turkish government that the prosecution of democratically elected politicians for the non-violent expression of their views is wrong, and damages Turkey's international standing.
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