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Angola

23. Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Angola. [46063]

Clare Short: The humanitarian situation in Angola has deteriorated further over the last 12 months. The humanitarian suffering as a result of the internal conflict has been huge and millions of people are living in life-threatening conditions. NGOs are providing some basic services, but their capacity is heavily over-stretched.

I hope that the recent peace agreement between the Government and UNITA will lead to an early improvement in the humanitarian situation in Angola. Some benefits are already apparent. Aid agencies have been able to use roads which have been unsafe for many years to get food to the needy. Easier access to the worst affected areas could dramatically ease the humanitarian crisis facing the country.

I recently visited Luanda and discussed the humanitarian situation with the Government and the need to follow up the peace agreement with urgent measures to assist all displaced people, and to help them return to their homes as rapidly as possible.

Somalia

26. Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department has recently given to Somalia. [46066]

Clare Short: My Department continues to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia in response to International Agency appeals and in support of NGO initiatives. We have provided over £3 million of assistance in the past year.

The pursuit of a lasting peace agreement in Somalia remains a priority. We, with the international community, continue to support regional and national efforts to promote dialogue and political reconciliation in Somalia.

Cameroon

27. Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what effect the Monterrey talks will have on reducing poverty in Cameroon. [46067]

Clare Short: The Monterrey meeting did not discuss the situation in specific. Whether Cameroon will benefit from the extra development assistance pledged at Monterrey will depend on the degree to which the Government of Cameroon implements a strong poverty reduction strategy.

Older People

29. Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department is taking to help older people living in developing countries. [46069]

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Clare Short: My Department's aim is the elimination of poverty in poorer countries. Older people are often among the poorest.

We adopt a rights-based approach. We seek to ensure that poor people are consulted on policies and decisions that affect them and use participatory methods to understand people's perception of their rights and the obstacles they face in accessing entitlements.

We are supporting the African Union's leadership in promoting and guiding national policies on aging in their membership, working to strengthen Government and civil society capacity for addressing aging issues, and assisted the policy development process in the preparations for the Second World Assembly on Aging earlier this month.

Palestine

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects in the West Bank and Gaza have received financial support from her Department during the last five years. [49912]

Clare Short: The following table lists the projects funded since 1997, the start date, and the total allocation.

Project	Allocation (£)
1997
Birzeit Food Quality Control Unit	425,872
Group Guaranteed Lending	1,820,000
Assistance to the Education Sector	3,225,700
Population Census	80,000
Newcastle University—Hydrology	715,000
Primary Health Care	950,000
Gender and Law	1,628,128
VAT Audit Training	102,000
1998
Economic Protocol	730,281
Southern Area Water Appraisal	45,000
Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy	775,000
Rural Water Schemes Appraisal	110,000
Legal Sector Assistance—Phase 2	70,252
Health Management Strengthening	3,600,000
1999
Bethlehem 2000 Doha Sewerage	1,400,000
Save the Children Fund Water and Sanitation Project—Dura	1,678,092
Save the Children Fund Water and Sanitation Project—Jabalia	908,905
Save the Children Fund Water and Sanitation Project—Anabta	1,610,859
Unification and Development of Legislation	775,000
Assistance to the Negotiations Affairs Department	4,200,000
Tele-Cardiology (Peres Centre)	850,000
Sustainable Management of West Bank and Gaza Aquifers	1,971,308
Gaza Midwifery	545,000
Hebron Water Access and Storage	513,572
Economy and Trade Policy Development	495,057
Save the Children Fund Water and Sanitation Project—Rafah	2,013,836
Census Reports	92,500
Legislative Council Library	353,700
2000
Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees Women's Health	987,000
Public Administration Institutional Development	1,900,000
Primary Health Care Management—Phase 2	1,550,000
2001
Participatory Poverty Assessment	500,000
Utilisation of Census Data	700,000
Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees Emergency Response	520,000
World Bank Employment Generation Programme	1,500,000
OXFAM Humanitarian Grant	34,000
Mental Health and Trauma Counselling	450,000
World Food Programme Appeal	500,000
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Grant	300,000
Supporting Literacy	290,000
Child Health Development	1,215,000
World Bank NGO Project—Phase 2	4,500,000
Reducing the Impact of Violence on Palestinian Children	517,000
Palestinian Hydrology Group—Water Sector Grant	250,000
Economic Policy Programme—Phase 3	1,015,000
Hebron Water Access and Storage—Phase 2	5,000,000
2002
World Bank Emergency Services Support Programme (March)	5,000,000
Centre for European Policy Studies' Middle East and Euro-Med Research Programme	135,500

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Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects in the west bank and Gaza have received financial support from the European Union during the last five years. [49911]

Clare Short: The European Commission (EC) has compiled a table of its assistance provided to the Palestinians since 1994. I will place a copy in the House of Commons Library. The UK contributes 19 per cent. of the EC budget.

Bushmeat

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about bushmeat. [48152]

Clare Short: DFID staff meet regularly with DEFRA staff for Inter-Departmental Conservation Co-Ordination meetings. They have not held formal discussions about bushmeat.

New Partnership for Africa's Development

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the Government of South Africa regarding the New Partnership for Africa's Development. [46059]

Clare Short: On 4 April, I held discussions in Johannesburg with Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, President Mbeki's Economic Adviser, who chairs the Steering Committee of the New Partnership for African Development. I also gave a speech titled "Can Africa Halve Poverty by 2015?—the challenge for NEPAD" to which Professor Nkuhlu replied.

Poverty Diseases

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what information she has received on how the European Union budget line B7–6211 on the fight against poverty diseases is to be spent. [48994]

Clare Short: The 2002 European Community budget includes euro 25.2 million for budget line B7–6211 (HIV/AIDS Policies and Programmes). Euro 20 million is intended to support specific projects with a focus on programmes targeting HIV prevention in youth. Euro 5.2 million will support a number of specific initiatives including the Barcelona HIV/AIDS conference,

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the Asia-Pacific Leadership Forum and the AIDS Vaccine Preparedness Project (with International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and the World bank).

The Commission have tabled a draft regulation to cover the diseases of poverty (HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis) which sets out how it is proposed to spend the funds in budget line B7–6211 in 2003–06. This draft regulation is currently under consideration and is being discussed by UK officials with other member states.

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much expenditure has been committed for this year of budget line B7–6211 (fight against poverty diseases) in the European Union; and what the projected spending under this budget is for this financial year. [48995]

Clare Short: Allocations for budget line B7–6211 (Aid for poverty-related diseases) for 2002 are:

Commitments—euro 26,123,000


Payments—euro 18,080,000.

In addition, euro 60 million allocated to this budget line in 2001 will be paid to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in 2002. There is no 2002 payment outturn projection available but by the end of February euro 0.8 million had been spent.

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