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Failed States
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is towards failed states; and which countries her Department classifies as failed states. [66807]
Clare Short: Our policy is to help resolve the underlying economic, social and political problems by promoting change in government and its policies and to work, where we can, inside and outside government, to achieve our objectives, especially support to poor people.
Problems of policy, commitment and governance are found in varying degrees in a number of states.
Human Rights Commissions
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in which countries she contributes assistance to the work of a human rights commission; how much has been contributed in the past three years for which figures are available; and what proportion of the total budget of that body this sum represents. [66699]
Clare Short: My Department has directly supported the human rights commissions of Rwanda and Zambia. In the former, we financed a review, and in the latter the production of a strategy. This work cost £10,800 in 2000–01 and £27,200 in 1998–99 respectively. I shall write to the hon. Member on the final part of his question, which could not be researched in the time available.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights takes primary responsibility for assisting governments to establish such institutions. Planned funding by my Department of OHCHR amounts to £6 million over three years, under the terms of an Institutional Strategy Paper
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sighed in 1999. This support is for broad improvement in capacity. Under this arrangement we have provided in the calendar years:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.247 |
| 2001 | 2.115 |
Information on its website, http:/www.unhchr.ch shows that total extra-budgetary expenditure in 2001 by OHCHR was US$48.8 million, of which 0.8 per cent. was allocated to national human rights institutions.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided £100,000 to OHCHR in 2001 for support to national institutions, and plan £150,000 in 2002.
G8 Digital Opportunities Task Force
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff from her Department are working with the G8 Digital Opportunities Task Force. [67002]
Clare Short: The G8 DOT Force was formally wound up in June 2002, but during its two years of existence, my Department was represented by its Director General Resources, who called on appropriate specialist support as necessary in carrying out this role. In practice, this specialist support drew in the additional expertise of at least five other key staff.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial support her Department is giving in 2002–03 to the G8 Digital Opportunities Task Force. [67001]
Clare Short: The G8 DOT Force was formally wound up in June 2002, but we intend to continue our support for some of its key deliverables, especially those focused on Africa. During the DOT Force's two years of existence, my Department spent over £300,000 in direct support to encourage a strong developing country and civil society voice in the DOT Force.
Malawi
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the results of the initiative to improve safety, security and access to justice in Malawi. [67005]
Clare Short: A formal assessment of progress is not due until April 2003. The MASSAJ programme is working closely with key institutions in the Malawi justice sector—including the Ministries of Justice and Home Affairs, Malawi Police Service, the judiciary and the magistracy; it is supporting the redrafting of the anti-corruption legislation and the roll of pilot juvenile justice initiatives. The programme includes co-operation with (i) the EU on strengthening the independence of the judiciary; (ii) NORAD in reducing the incidence of small arms; and (iii) USAID on strengthening paralegal support which enables poor people to access justice.
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Buildings Insurance
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost of buildings insurance to her Department was (a) before and (b) after 11 September 2001. [66935]
Clare Short: Only one of our buildings was previously insured, namely our London headquarters at 94 Victoria Street. Under the terms of the lease, we were required to reimburse the landlord at an annual cost of £40,000. Since vacating these premises in December last year, our buildings insurance costs are nil, since our buildings are self-insured, ie the Crown carries the risk. The specific events of 11 September had no direct consequence on our insurance costs.
Building Values
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the buildings owned by her Department and estimate the market value of each of them. [66953]
Clare Short: The only UK property owned by DFID is our office in East Kilbride. It was last valued at £3.5 million, of which the building itself is £2.9 million and the surrounding land £0.6 million. In addition, we own three freehold properties in Zimbabwe, last valued at £276,000, one property in the Solomon Islands (value: £65,000) and one in Kiribati (value: £17,000).
International Development Finance
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) if she will provide a breakdown of her Department's expenditure since 1998–99 on the African Development Bank; [67511]
- (2) if she will provide a breakdown of her Department's expenditure since 1998–99 on the European Development Fund VIII; [67512]
(3) if she will provide a breakdown of her Department's expenditure since 1998–99 on the Caribbean Development Bank; [67507]
(4) if she will provide a breakdown of her Department's expenditure since 1998–99 on the Asian Development Fund; [67508]
(5) if she will provide a breakdown of her Department's expenditure since 1998–99 on the Asian Development Bank; [67509]
(6) if she will provide a breakdown of her Department's expenditure since 1998–99 on the Inter-American Development Bank; [67505]
(7) if she will provide a breakdown of her Department's expenditure since 1998–99 on IMF funds. [67535]
Clare Short: The figures requested are available in "Statistics on International Development", (SID), Table 8 which shows a breakdown of gross public expenditure on multilateral contributions for the last five financial years. A copy of this publication is available in the Library of the House.
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Anti-corruption Issues
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost to her Department was of the establishment in January of a resource centre to advise on anti-corruption issues. [66999]
Clare Short: The cost of establishing and running the Utstein Anti-Corruption Resource Centre will be approximately £870,000 over three years. Support for the resource centre will be shared between the four Utstein partners of the Netherlands, Norway, Germany and the UK.
Anti-corruption Commission (Sierra Leone)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contribution has been made by her Department to the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Commission in Sierra Leone. [66998]
Clare Short: My Department has been involved since 1999 in establishing the Anti-Corruption Commission in Sierra Leone, from initial feasibility studies, detailed organisational design work, refurbishment of office accommodation, and the provision of equipment. We have allocated £1.45 million to the organisation since October 2000. Currently four British anti-corruption experts are attached to the commission providing technical support on prevention, and helping to investigate cases. Publicity and prevention campaigns have been launched in a number of key areas, helping to place corruption at the very top of the political agenda.
Cameroon
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what international election observers were present at the recent parliamentary and municipal elections in Cameroon; and if she will make a statement on the outcome of the elections. [66809]
Mr. Straw: I have been asked to reply.
The Commonwealth, Francophonie, UN and OAU all had election observer teams in Cameroon at the time of the municipal and legislative elections.
We are concerned at early indications of procedural irregularities in the elections, and now await both the official results of the elections and the reports of the observer missions.
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