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Mine Clearance
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the organisations to which the Government have given money for the purposes of mine clearance in 2001–02, specifying the amount given in each case. [43876]
Clare Short: The table gives the figures requested.
| Organisation | £ |
|---|---|
| The HALO Trust (bilateral) | 1,150,000 |
| Mines Advisory Group (MAG) (bilateral) | 1,000,000 |
| United Nations Mine Action Service (UNIMAS) | 5,000,000 |
| UNICEF (Mines Awareness) | 500,000 |
| International Trust Fund for De-mining—Bosnia | 500,000 |
| Organisation of American States (Nicaragua de-mining) | 189,000 |
| BACTEC de-mining (Kosovo) | 15,000 |
| DSL (Kosovo) | 750,000 |
| ELS (Kosovo) | 22,000 |
| QinetiQ | 100,000 |
| UNDP | 2,100,000 |
| Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian De-mining (GICHD) | 1,000,000 |
| Cranfield Mine Action | 221,000 |
| Landmine Monitor | 30,000 |
| DISARMCO (Research and Development) | 61,000 |
| ERA (Research and Development) | 117,000 |
| 12,605,000 |
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what Government expenditure was on humanitarian mine clearance in 2001–02, broken down by country. [43877]
Clare Short: Estimated Government expenditure for 2001–02 on mine action programmes by country is indicated in the following table:
| Country | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 3,150,000 |
| Eritrea | 694,540 |
| Nicaragua | 189,000 |
| Cambodia | 1,000,000 |
| Northern Iraq | 206,137 |
| Jordan | 197,402 |
| Laos | 300,000 |
| Georgia | 500,000 |
| Bosnia | 500,000 |
| Croatia | 326,529 |
| Kosovo | 2,000,000 |
| Global contribution to UNMAS and UNDP | 2,600,000 |
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Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent by the Government on (a) humanitarian mine clearance, (b) commercial mine clearance, (d) military initiative mine clearance, (d) mine awareness, (e) victim assistance and (f) research and development for mine clearance in 2001–02. [43878]
Clare Short: Estimated disbursements for 2001–02 are as follows:
| 2001–02 | |
|---|---|
| (1) Humanitarian Mine Clearance | (3)10.2 |
| (2) Mines Awareness | 0.5 |
| (3) Research and Development | 1.3 |
(3) Also includes some integrated mine awareness activities. As programmes are often integrated separate costs of awareness are not available. Specific mine awareness activities are undertaken with UNICEF as shown at item two.
United Nations Conference on the
Least Developed Countries
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government (a) have taken and (b) plans to take to respond to the Action Plan of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. [44360]
Clare Short: The Government are working to implement the action plan of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in a variety of ways both through out bilateral programmes and our multilateral work. Over the past four years, we have increased the proportion of aid allocated to least developed countries, as a proportion of our bilateral country resources, from 33 per cent. to 45 per cent.
We are supporting the Commonwealth Secretariat's Trade and Investment Access Facility to deliver a range of activities designed to strengthen the capacity of least developed Commonwealth countries to address trade issues. We also continue to work with multilateral organisations including the United Nations and the European Commission to ensure that the momentum generated by the third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, on key issues such as trade, aid untying and financial issues is maintained in follow-on international conferences. These include the current Financing for Development conference in Monterey (18–22 March) and the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
We consider it important to see the third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries as part of an on-going process of developing a partnership for poverty eradication between developing countries, including least developed countries, and the international community. We will therefore continue to work with our partners to build on the positive achievements made on recent initiatives such as the European Union's "Everything But Arms" agreement and the Development
21 Mar 2002 : Column 470W
Assistance Committee's recommendations on untying, both of which were strongly supported by the UK, to ensure that least developed countries can achieve sustained economic growth and development.
St. Helena
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the Government of St. Helena; and if she will make a statement. [43865]
Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development has had no recent discussions with the Government of St. Helena. DFID officials do have regular contact and last met members of St. Helena's Executive and Legislative Council earlier this month during their visit to the UK to discuss air access.
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid was given to St. Helena in each of the last six years for which figures are available. [43870]
Clare Short: Expenditure figures for UK development assistance to St. Helena in each of the last six years for which figures are available were:
| Total DFID programme | |
|---|---|
| 1995–96 | 9,267 |
| 1996–97 | 7,990 |
| 1997–98 | 8,765 |
| 1998–99 | 8,805 |
| 1999–2000 | 9,362 |
| 2000–01 | 10,116 |
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on progress towards the construction of an airfield on St. Helena. [43871]
Clare Short: A "Comparative Study of Air and Sea Access" was published last July. A copy of the report was placed in the House of Commons Library. It identified various options, which have since been under consideration by the St. Helena Government. As part of that process, the views of the islanders have been sought. The outcome has been a majority preference in favour of possible air access in future, as an alternative to replacing St. Helena's dedicated passenger and supply ship. Island representatives have recently visited the UK to discuss air access and will be reporting their discussions to the St. Helena Government at the beginning of April.
Territorial Forces
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many members of staff of her Department are members of the Territorial forces; and if she has a strategy to encourage members of staff to become members of the Territorial forces. [44070]
Hilary Benn: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. We have no particular plans to encourage members of staff to become members of the Territorial forces.
21 Mar 2002 : Column 471W
Justices of the Peace
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many members of staff at her Department are Justices of the Peace; and if she has a strategy for her Department to encourage members of staff to become Justices of the Peace. [44553]
Hilary Benn: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. We have no particular plans to encourage members of staff to become Justices of the Peace.
Staff (Locally Elected Representatives)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many members of staff at her Department are locally elected democratic representatives; and if she has a strategy for her Department to encourage members of staff to become locally elected democratic representatives. [44542]
Hilary Benn: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. We have no particular plans to encourage members of staff to become locally elected democratic representatives.
Tanzania
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she was informed of the application for an export licence for the sale of an air defence system to Tanzania. [39830]
Clare Short [pursuant to her reply, 8 March 2002, c.684W]: I apologise for the error contained in my reply. The answer should have read:
- The applications were first drawn to my attention in October 2000, not October 2001.
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