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Ilisu Dam

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she was consulted about human rights and sustainable development issues relating to the Ilisu Dam project in Turkey; and what advice she gave. [124181]

Clare Short: We were consulted about this project, as a part of ECGD's wider Whitehall consultation, in January 1999. We commented on ECGD's terms of reference for an independent review of environmental and resettlement impact reports produced by the project sponsors. DFID has no engagement with Turkey other than our support for emergency relief following the earthquake in August and November 1999. We have therefore had no advisory input into the Ilisu Dam project.

Ethiopia and Eritrea

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement about her development aid policy towards Ethiopia. [124502]

Clare Short: We have reviewed our development relationship with both Ethiopia and Eritrea in the light of the recent renewed conflict.

We have concluded we should maintain only interventions related to food security and activities with

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civil society. We are pressing the World Bank and EU to follow suit. Our briefing on the situation in Ethiopia has been placed in the Library.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the humanitarian situation of the Eritrean refugees in eastern Sudan. [124075]

Clare Short: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees confirms that since 18 May up to 50,000 Eritrean refugees have fled from the conflict with Ethiopia and crossed the border into eastern Sudan near Kassala. 41,000 are already registered. The situation in the refugee camps is not critical, but UNHCR say that water, health and sanitation are the main priorities. The World Food Programme is also engaged on the ground as is the European Commission through Oxfam. Other international non-governmental organisations are carrying out further urgent needs assessments. We are ready to respond to proposals arising from these assessments.

Mozambique

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what additional resources she has made available to Mozambique following the recent flooding. [124058]

Clare Short: My Department committed £20 million for emergency humanitarian and rehabilitation assistance to Mozambique following the floods. We also provided £10 million of budget support in March 2000 to help counteract the effect of the floods on the Government of Mozambique's budget.

At the Rome Conference in May this year my Department pledged £6 million so far uncommitted from this year's country development programme for flood reconstruction efforts. We are currently assessing the most effective way to spend this money.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list (a) the projects that her Department is currently funding in Mozambique, (b) their aggregate value and (c) projects postponed or ended as a result of redirection of funding to reconstruction work. [124057]

Clare Short: (a) The projects DFID is currently funding in Mozambique are:











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(b) The aggregate value is £53 million. In addition we provide support to Mozambique's budget averaging about £10 million per year, and have committed £20 million to flood relief this year.

(c) No projects have been postponed or ended as a result of redirection of funding to reconstruction work.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the response of the European Community Humanitarian Office to the flooding in Mozambique. [124569]

Clare Short: Reports indicate that ECHO projects were able to progress without delay, despite some claims of delays in transfer of funding. My Department is sending a monitoring team to Mozambique in mid-June. One of their tasks will be to liaise with ECHO officials on the ground to assess the effectiveness of their response.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the humanitarian situation in Mozambique. [123918]

Clare Short: The humanitarian situation in Mozambique has continued to improve as the flood waters have receded and road access has improved. However, the continued provision of emergency assistance to those worst affected by the floods will remain essential while longer term rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts get into full swing. For example, the World Food Programme is continuing to make food deliveries to over 500,000 people, which includes some 10,000 still accommodated in displacement camps and unable to return to their homes due to the residual flooding.

Those who have returned home are beginning to rebuild their houses and plant crops. Many have been provided with materials and tools provided under relief projects. There have been no major outbreaks of communicable diseases and agencies are working effectively with the Mozambican authorities to rehabilitate schools and health units.

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to incorporate EU spending on development assistance into her Department's public service agreement figures on the percentage of bilateral programme resources allocated to low income countries. [124562]

Clare Short: UK contributions to EU spending on development assistance are classified as multilateral spending. A revised Public Service Agreement will be published in July.

Nigeria

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received from the Nigerian Government about debt relief. [123972]

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Clare Short: There have been frequent exchanges over debt relief with the Nigerian authorities. We have made clear our strong support for a generous rescheduling for Nigeria in the context of an IMF-endorsed economic programme. We have also made clear we would be willing to consider partial debt cancellation if a strong record of reform is established and a debt sustainability analysis shows it to be necessary.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's aid to Nigeria in 1998-99. [124060]

Clare Short: Health, education, water and sanitation and rural livelihoods were the main sectors for our assistance. In addition, we provided support for economic reform and for the election process in the second half of the year.

Uganda

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the decision of the Paris Club not to discuss debt relief for Uganda at their meeting on 16 May. [123973]

Clare Short: Uganda received debt relief of $347 million in 1998 under the original HIPC initiative, and, earlier this year, qualified for a further $656 million relief under the revised HIPC framework. The Government of Uganda was scheduled to come to a meeting with the Paris Club of official bilateral creditors on 16 May to implement this element of their debt relief. However, in the week before the meeting, we, and a number of other Governments, were concerned to receive reports of Uganda's role in fighting at Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was therefore agreed that the implementation of Uganda's debt relief should be postponed. I am pleased that the Government of Uganda are responding to these concerns. We hope that the Paris Club meeting will be rescheduled soon. Uganda continues to receive interim relief on its debt service payments to the IMF and World bank.

Departmental Staffing and Costs

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the numbers of staff employed directly by her Department on (a) 1 May 1997 and (b) 1 May 2000. [124571]

Clare Short: Our Department employed the following:

Date (10)Number of staff
(a) 1 April 19971,001
(b) 1 April 20001,322

(10) The figures are compiled on a quarterly and annual basis. We have therefore quoted the position on 1 April because we do not hold exact figures for 1 May.

Note:

These figures do not include staff employed on contract terms in the UK and overseas.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the administration costs of her Department on (a) 1 May 1997 and (b) 1 May 2000. [124572]

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Clare Short: Information on DFID's administrative (running) costs for each of the last six financial years is provided in Table 3, page 130, of the latest version of the Departmental Report, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many press officers there were in her Department in (a) May 1997 and (b) May 2000. [124570]

Clare Short: The number of press officers was four on both occasions.

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