---

EU Aid

13. Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the distribution of the EU aid package to overseas countries. [21894]

Clare Short: European Community aid is distributed on a regional basis to all developing countries and countries in transition. Provisional figures for 2000 show that the percentage of EC development assistance spent in low-income countries continues to fall and is now below 50 per cent. This is unsatisfactory but difficult to change because many members states and large parts of the Commission support the distribution of aid for political rather than developmental purposes.

In November 2000, the Council and Commission adopted a new development policy which makes poverty reduction the central objective for all EC programmes in developing countries. In line with our published strategy on working with the European Community we continue to work to improve the impact of EC aid on the Millennium Development Goals including through the allocation of a much higher percentage of EC aid to poor countries.

Sierra Leone

15. Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance she is giving to the amputee victims of terrorism in Sierra Leone. [21897]

Clare Short: There are around 1,000 amputee victims of the conflict in Sierra Leone. DFID has provided £110,000 to the Mercy Ships project, which helps both conflict amputees and polio victims—the latter greatly exceed the former. Through our contributions to the EC's humanitarian programme we also support the work of Handicap International, the main provider of prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation support at the amputee centre in Murray Town, Freetown.

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the work of her Department in Sierra Leone. [21895]

Clare Short: In Sierra Leone, we are engaged primarily in promoting security and good governance. We are providing £30 million per annum to provide long-term support to the police, strengthening the Ministry of Defence to ensure the armed forces are more democratically accountable, and helping reintegrate

19 Dec 2001 : Column: 347W

ex-combatants wishing to return to civilian life. We are supporting the Anti-Corruption Commission, helping to reform the judiciary, training the media, assisting the Government to prepare for elections next year, and providing budgetary support to help meet the running costs of government. We also provide substantial support to meet the ongoing humanitarian needs of those displaced by the conflict.

Somalia

16. Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department has given to Somalia in the last 12 months. [21898]

Clare Short: This calendar year we have pledged almost £3 million to Somalia, mainly directed towards emergency and humanitarian activities:

International Committee of the Red Cross

2001 Appeal for Somalia—£1,000,000

United Nations

2001 Consolidated appeal for Somalia—£410,850

World Vision

Primary health care in Middle Juba—£328,785

Primary health care in Bay Region—£266,163

International Organisation for Migration

Workshop to encourage Somali women's participation in the peace process—£88,969

Norwegian People's Aid

Water rehabilitation, Sool region—£200,173

Medecins sans Frontieres

Health assistance, Bakool Region—£207,000

Health assistance, Middle Shabelle—£377,689

Africa Educational Trust

Developing community school partnerships in Somaliland—£123,863.

The pursuit of a lasting peace agreement in Somalia remains the highest priority. To this end we, with the international community, continue to support the efforts of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Palestinian Territories

17. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the work of her Department in the Palestinian territories. [21899]

Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 12 December 2001, Official Report, columns 915–16W.

Latin America

18. Mr. Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans her Department has for further work in Latin America following the economic crisis in Argentina. [21900]

Clare Short: We are working to implement our existing strategy for Latin America, which is focused on reducing poverty in the region through the promotion of pro-poor growth, reducing inequality and improving governance. In addition to our programmes in Guatemala and El Salvador we provide support to improve the effectiveness of national development programmes in

19 Dec 2001 : Column: 348W

middle-income countries with major inequality and poverty problems such as Brazil and Peru. In Nicaragua, Honduras and Bolivia, which are highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) we are working with the Government, civil society and other donors to help with the implementation of their poverty reduction strategies.

Details of our strategy for Latin America will be published in various country strategy papers in the new year.

UNICEF

19. Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she next plans to meet the Executive Director of UNICEF to discuss its work. [21901]

Clare Short: I met the Executive Director of UNICEF in February in New York and briefly in Paris in October in the margins of a Unesco conference. I have no plans to meet her in the near future but I would hope to see her next time I am in New York, she is in London or we are both attending the same international conference.

HIV/AIDS

20. Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's work on HIV/AIDS. [21902]

Clare Short: HIV/AIDS is the single most important development challenge in Africa. We know what needs to be done to tackle the disease, and countries such as Uganda, Thailand and Cambodia have shown that political commitment and leadership can help to contain the spread of the disease. My Department supports comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, control and mitigation programmes. We continue to give greatest priority to prevention, but we also place emphasis on reducing the personal, social and economic impact of illness and death caused by the disease.

We seek to support the development, strengthening and implementation of national strategies to combat HIV/AIDS and to provide assistance in the framework of such strategies. We have recently approved several new major programmes to support national HIV/AIDs responses in, for example, Russia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, China and India totalling around £300 million, and a £20 million programme is being designed to support Mozambique. A major new multi-sectoral HIV programme for South Africa is also planned for this year.

My Department is supporting the development of HIV/AIDS vaccines through the support of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Work is under way to support the development of microbicides to prevent HIV. We are also working on a range of initiatives which aim to increase the long-term affordability and availability of treatment for HIV/AIDS and related infections.

Our strategy for our HIV/AIDS works is outlined in our HIV/AIDS strategy paper published in summer 2001 and available in the Library of the House.

29. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to help poor countries which have been hard hit by HIV and AIDS. [21911]

19 Dec 2001 : Column: 349W

Clare Short: HIV/AIDS is the single most important development challenge in Africa. The epidemic is undermining economic growth and fundamentally threatens social and economic development in many countries. It also poses a threat to health in many other countries around the world. My Department supports comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, control and mitigation programmes. We continue to give greatest priority to prevention, but we also place emphasis on reducing the personal, social and economic impact of illness and death caused by the disease.

We seek to support the development, strengthening and implementation of national strategies to combat HIV/AIDS and to provide assistance in the framework of such strategies. We have recently approved several new major programmes to support national HIV/AIDS responses in, for example, Russia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, China and India totalling around £300 million, and a £20 million programme is being designed to support Mozambique. A major new multi-sectoral HIV programme for South Africa is also planned for this year. We have committed £25 million to support the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa.

In addition, the Government are exploring the potential of a number of options for increasing the long-term affordability and availability of treatment for HIV/AIDS and related infections, while maintaining a focus on the development of sustainable health systems which is needed to deliver them.

Our strategy for our HIV/AIDS work is outlined in our HIV/AIDS strategy paper published in summer 2001 and available in the Library of the House.

---