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Voluntary Service Overseas
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what help she intends to give to Voluntary Service Overseas in relation to the insurance premiums payable by them in the aftermath of 11 September; [34876]
- (2) what discussions she has had with Voluntary Service Overseas and other voluntary organisations about insurance premiums. [34884]
Hilary Benn: DFID has not been approached by either Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) or by other voluntary organisations about additional insurance premiums payable by them in the aftermath of 11 September 2001. This is a matter for VSO and the insurance companies.
DFID already provides VSO with over £23 million a year under a three-year Partnership Programme Agreement worth £71.5 million.
Legal Costs
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what legal costs have been incurred by her Department in each of the last four years. [34346]
Hilary Benn: Our records show that DFID has incurred legal costs totalling £230,972 in 1999–2000, £271,228 in 2000–01, and £249,030 in 2001–02 to date. The records for 1998–99 do not readily distinguish legal costs from other running costs—a disproportionate effort would be required to produce the information requested.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the publications issued by her Department in each of the last four years; and what the (a) circulation, (b) cost and (c) purpose of each was. [34202]
Hilary Benn: The main DFID publications for each year are listed in our departmental reports to Parliament for 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, which can be found in the House of Commons Library.
All DFID publications are free of charge unless otherwise indicated. This is in line with DFID's commitment to openness, as well as to raising awareness and understanding of development issues.
Due to the disproportionate cost involved we are not able to provide the full level of details requested. We have an actively managed database of over 11,000
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organisations and individuals who have asked to be informed about new publications, and also use supplementary distribution channels for material which is likely to be of interest to specific audiences. DFID's overall expenditure on publications in each of the last four years was as follows:
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 166 |
| 1998–99 | 347 |
| 1999–2000 | 570 |
| 2000–01 | 639 |
The increase in expenditure in each of the last three years reflects both the expansion in the range of material which we now make publicly available, and also the increased demand for this material.
Burundian Rebels
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government are taking to monitor the activities of the Burundian rebel groups operating from refugee camps on the Tanzanian border. [33983]
Hilary Benn: The Government of Tanzania continues to insist that Burundian rebels are not using refugee camps in Tanzania as a base for their actions. The refugee camps on the Tanzanian border with Burundi are run by UNHCR. They provide us with regular reports on the situation in them and take all reasonable steps to ensure that the activities in the camps are consistent with their status. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.
Botswana
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 311W, on Botswana, what action she has taken to secure water access for the San bushmen of South Africa. [34574]
Hilary Benn: The Government of South Africa recognises the rights of access to basic water supply and sanitation in its 1996 Constitution and, through its Free Basic Water Policy, aims to make available 6,000 litres of water per month per household free of charge. This policy is motivated on the grounds that water is a basic service which is essential for health and that affordability should not constrain the access of poor and vulnerable people to this service. This policy applies to all disadvantaged and vulnerable groups within South Africa, including the San.
DFID is providing assistance to the South African Department for Water Affairs and Forestry, to support their water services sector programme, with the goal of enhancing the livelihoods of marginalised groups through the creation of access to sustainable water and sanitation services.
Burkina Faso
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement
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on the new partnership for African development in relation to Burkina Faso. [34650]
Hilary Benn: 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. Burkina Faso is not a member of the NEPAD steering committee or implementation committee. If Burkina Faso 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 what funds her Department provides to the Government of Burkina Faso. [34648]
Hilary Benn: We do not have a substantive development programme in Burkina Faso. However a small amount of funding is allocated for small-scale grants to developmentally worthy activities. Last year £19,000 was provided in this way to fund a food security project. The EC maintains a large development assistance programme. In 1999 (the last year for which we have details) this amounted to £33.93 million, the UK imputed share of which was approximately £6.3 million.
Malawi
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance she is providing to people affected by floods in Malawi. [34651]
Hilary Benn: The Government of Malawi has not requested assistance. Flooding in low lying areas of the Shire Valley is seasonal and specific to a few areas. However my Department has contributed £3.5 million to the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF), a public works programme which has a particular focus on remedial measures in flood prone districts. Income derived from the programme by the local population provides an alternative source of income when flooding occurs.
Afghanistan
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department has provided to the Jawand district of Afghanistan since 11 September. [34647]
Hilary Benn: DFID assistance for emergency food provision in Afghanistan is channelled through the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which has received £6 million from my Department since September 2001. Needs have been met in most areas, but there remain pockets of unmet need in places difficult to access due to poor weather and insecurity. WFP is deploying helicopters into the country to assess the condition of hungry families as quickly as possible in such isolated areas, including Jawand district in Badghis province. This is one of the most seriously drought-affected and inaccessible areas, where WFP reports that food access is precarious.
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Because the area is extremely difficult to access in the winter, six months' worth of wheat, or 300 kilograms per family, were distributed in Siah Sangh town in Jawand district in early January. WFP is gearing up to move in
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other food items as soon as possible. By early January, 5,000 tons of food had been delivered to Jawand province, to a total of 15,000 households, or roughly 90,000 people.