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New Partnership for African Development

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the New Partnership for African Development with regard to Togo. [20640]

Clare Short: The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) is an Africa-wide initiative that does not focus on specific countries. NEPAD has set up teams to work on five areas, which are capacity building on peace and security, economic and corporate governance, infrastructure, central bank and financial standards, and agriculture and market access. Togo is not a member of the NEPAD Steering Committee or Implementation Committee. If Togo implements the principles set out by NEPAD, it should also benefit from the faster progress in development and poverty reduction that will ensue.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the progress of the New Partnership for African Development in Nigeria. [20638]

Clare Short: The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), is an Africa-wide initiative, that does not focus on specific countries. Nigeria is one of the five members of the NEPAD Steering Committee, and therefore takes a leading role in NEPAD activities. NEPAD has set up teams to work on five areas, which are capacity building on peace and security, economic and corporate governance, infrastructure, central bank and financial standards, and agriculture and market access. Work on these areas should bring benefits to Nigeria, as it will to other countries in Africa.

Departmental Sickness

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many days were lost due to sickness absence in the Department in each of the last four years. [21332]

Clare Short: Days lost owing to sickness absence in the Department in each of the last four years were as follows:

Year	Number
1997	9,276
1998	8,691
1999	9,276
2000	8,399

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China

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what terms and conditions her Department attaches to agreements with non-governmental organisations working in China in relation to (a) human rights and (b) family planning policy. [20972]

Clare Short: My Department is committed to a rights-based approach to development, based on three principles of participation, inclusion and obligation. We actively seek to promote this approach in all the work which we do anywhere in the world, including in China, and with all partners, including non-governmental organisations.

UK assistance for reproductive health programmes anywhere in the world is provided in line with the principles of free and informed choice set out at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994. We provide a core contribution to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in order to support its work in some 140 countries, including China. It is a prerequisite for membership of the IPPF that affiliate family planning associations agree to provide information and services in line with ICPD principles.

New Deal (Young People)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people are employed by the Department under the New Deal for Young People; and at what cost to public funds. [21317]

Clare Short: One member of staff is employed by DFID under the New Deal for Young People. The costs to public funds in the current financial year is estimated to be £10,626.

Africa Private Infrastructure Finance Facility

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the work done by the Africa Private Infrastructure Finance Facility. [20657]

Clare Short: The Africa Private Infrastructure Finance Facility (APIFF) is due to be established by the end of December 2001. It is, therefore, not yet operational. The overall aim of APIFF will be to improve private sector delivery of infrastructure services in Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to economic growth and increased access for the poor.

World Trade Organisation

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions her Department has had with the World Trade Organisation on increasing the representation of developing countries in the WTO. [20971]

Clare Short: We are in regular touch with the WTO on this issue, most recently on 7 December.

The UK is in favour of the expansion of AITIC, the Swiss NGO which has been supporting resource- constrained WTO members since 1998, into a broader- based organisation with a wider mandate than at present. We worked closely on this with other donors in the run-up

10 Dec 2001 : Column: 546W

to the WTO Ministerial meeting at Doha. At the Ministerial, an important commitment was made by a range of beneficiaries and donors to establish a task force on AITIC's future development. The first meeting took place on 7 December in Geneva. The WTO was represented. Some of the £1 million available from my Department to support countries which are under-represented in Geneva (which I announced on 7 November) might assist this work.

We also hope that AITIC might take forward some of the constructive recommendations made by John Weekes' "Study on the Assistance and Representation needs of the Developing Countries without WTO Permanent Representation in Geneva" (published in August 2001), which my Department part-funded through the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Departmental Expenditure Limit

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the increase in the departmental expenditure limit from 2001–02 to 2002–03 will be accounted for by wage costs. [21241]

Clare Short: The level of wage costs within departmental budgets this year and in future years will be dependent upon negotiations. Departmental reports published next spring will give full retrospective costs.

Togo

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on reports of civil and political rights abuses in Togo. [20639]

Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.

We deplore the present situation in Togo, where there have been grave human rights abuses.

The European Community suspended aid to Togo in 1993. We are working closely with EU partners to maintain pressure on the Togolese Government to observe the principles of democracy and human rights. In October the EU issued a public statement raising its concerns about the deteriorating political atmosphere, stressing the need for the parliamentary elections scheduled for early 2002 to be held in a free and transparent manner, and calling for the unconditional release of an opposition party leader still held in detention.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

September 11

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many families she has met of the victims of the 11 September events. [17201]

Tessa Jowell: I have been co-ordinating work to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place in the UK and US to support the families of UK victims and of those victims with close links to the UK. The present estimate is that 78 such families lost a relative. I have met many of them—here and in New York.

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Departmental Sickness

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many days were lost owing to sickness absence in her Department in each of the last four years. [21347]

Dr. Howells: The information is set out in the following table. The figures for the current year cover the period up to 30 November.

Year	Number of days absence
1998	3,127
1999	3,191
2000	3,599
2001	2,991

Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has made to seek to ensure that the 2002 Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens are open to teams from both codes of rugby; and if she will make a statement. [20977]

Mr. Caborn [holding answer 6 December 2001]: Decisions on the sports at the Games are taken by the Commonwealth Games Federation who agreed with the Commonwealth Games Council for England and the host organisers to include Rugby Sevens in Manchester next year.

Rugby Sevens is governed in England by the Rugby Football Union. They set eligibility criteria in association with the international rugby union governing body. These restrict them to selecting the England team from members of affiliated clubs.

Civil Servants

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many civil servants have left her Department as a result of (a) voluntary, (b) statutory retirement, (c) dismissal and (d) employment outside the Civil Service in each of the last five years. [21388]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 6 December 2001]: The information is set out in the table. The figures for the current year cover the period up to 30 November.

Year	Voluntary	Statutory retirement	Dismissal	Employment outside civil service
1997	32	2	—	15
1998	36	5	—	18
1999	34	4	1	16
2000	46	3	1	19
2001	41	2	—	16

10 Dec 2001 : Column: 548W

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many civil servants have (a) transferred at their own request and (b) otherwise been transferred (i) from another Department to her Department, and (ii) from her Department to another Department, in each of the last five years. [21387]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 6 December 2001]: The information is set out in the following table. The figures for the current year cover the period up to 30 November.

	Own request		Been transferred
Year	to DCMS	from DCMS	to DCMS	from DCMS
1997	6	3	—	22
1998	3	8	—	—
1999	4	6	—	—
2000	4	8	—	—
2001	9	17	46	—

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