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22 Jan 2003 : Column 308W—continued
Angola
Mr Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department will pledge to the Angolan Government at the forthcoming Donor's Conference in Angola. [91678]
Clare Short: We have not so far been advised of arrangements for a donor conference on Angola, although I understand that the Angolan Government would like one to take place in Brussels within the next few months. Rather than a pledging conference, we and other donor countries see this as a timely opportunity for discussion between the donor community and the Government on their plans for economic and social reform and development, building on the base of last year's peace agreement, and on the status of their discussions with the international financial institutions. We hope to continue to provide support to Angola in economic and social reform, effective governance, demobilisation and reconciliation, and the development and implementation of a national poverty reduction strategy. We will also continue to respond to Angola'surgent humanitarian needs for as long as this is required.
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Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance the Government is giving to Angola in the clearance of landmines. [91819]
Clare Short: My Department has allocated £300,000 to UNDP for a project aimed at improving the effectiveness of mine action through strengthened co-ordination at the provincial level. DFID has also contributed US$ 50,000 in support of a mine action database. The United Kingdom contributed 19.7 per cent. of the 6 million euros which the EC has made available for mine action in Angola. This included 5 million euros to a variety of mine clearance agencies.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently contributed US$460,000 from its Emergency Response Fund for Angola (ERF) to clear the mines from some of the main transport arteries used to deliver emergency supplies. The United Kingdom was one of the main donors to this fund in 2002, contributing £1.5 million.
Centre for International Briefing
Virginia Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has held with the Centre for International Briefing, Farnham; and what plans she has to visit the centre. [92041]
Clare Short: I have had no discussions with the Centre for International Briefing, Farnham and have no plans to visit the centre.
Chad/Cameroon
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions her Department has had with the Governments of (a) Chad and (b) Cameroon on World Bank funds for the Chad-Cameroon pipeline; and if she will make a statement on the social and environmental objectives of the pipeline. [91454]
Clare Short: My Department has not had any direct discussions with the Governments of Chad and Cameroon about World Bank support to the Chad-Cameroon petroleum development and pipeline project because our support is provided through multilateral channels.
We recognise that this project raises a number of potential social and environmental concerns. My original approval to the World Bank contributing towards the project was based on the view that it had the potential significantly to reduce poverty in Chad, one of the poorest countries in the world. I also believe the project will take much fuller account of social and environmental considerations with World Bank involvement than without. Project approval followed extensive improvements to the design to ensure that the project met the bank's environmental and social safeguards, and the introduction of mechanisms to monitor such impacts and ensure that oil revenues would serve to finance mainly poverty expenditures. Significant changes were made to the proposed route of the pipeline to reduce the impact on the natural and human environments. Since the project was approved, the bank, and International Finance Corporation, have allocated exceptional resources to monitor and support
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its implementation. Where problems have been identified, World bank management have drawn up proposals to address them which are discussed by the Board of Executive Directors, of which the UK is a member. We will continue to monitor progress on the project and take up issues as necessary with the bank so that the full benefits of this investment for the poor can be realised.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to tackle corruption in (a) Chad and (b) Cameroon. [91455]
Clare Short: Our assistance to Chad is channelled through multilateral channels. The World Bank and the European Commission are helping tackle corruption in particular through the monitoring of the revenues from the Chad-Cameroon petroleum development and pipeline project to ensure they are mainly used for poverty reduction. An international advisory committee has been established aimed at ensuring transparency and good governance in implementation of this project.
In Cameroon, we are actively engaged in the preparation of a Forest and Environment Sector programme, which will include measures aimed at combating corruption in the forestry sector. We also currently fund an independent monitor of illegal logging. More generally my Department has supported the inclusion of benchmarks on good governance, as part of the assessment of Cameroon's eligibility for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative, and will encourage full implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Civil Servants
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many civil servants have been employed by (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental bodies in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and if she will make a statement. [92403]
Claire Short: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. Since that date, the department has not sold any assets.
Debt Relief
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make it her policy to support the establishment of criteria for debt cancellation which are based on the resources needed by a country to meet the Millennium Development Goals. [92355]
Clare Short: Debt relief alone cannot deliver the resources needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and significant new resources will be required. Developing countries generally, not just heavily indebted poor countries face a financing gap in meeting the MDGs. Further debt relief to HIPCs would not be an effective way of generating additional resources. Most bilateral creditors, like the UK, have already written off all or nearly all of the debts from HIPCs, so further relief would have to come almost
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entirely from existing resources provided by the multilaterals, such as the World bank. This would mean skewing money away from other equally poor non-HIPC countries, which might have better policy environments than some HIPCs. This is why we have focused on debt relief as a means of ensuring debt sustainability, and why additional donor resources will inevitably be needed to meet the MDGs.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action she is taking to encourage multi-national companies to co-operate with heavily indebted poor countries. [92513]
Clare Short: The UK is concerned about the issue of creditor participation in the HIPC Initiative. Debt relief from commercial creditors accounts for only 4.4 per cent. of HIPC relief, but the potential costs to HIPC countries in terms of administrative and legal costs are much higher. We have raised this with the World Bank and the IMF, and at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis in June 2002. Bank and fund staffs are increasing the pressure on non-participating creditors. We welcome the decision last September to publish details of creditor participation—something we had pressed for—and we hope that it will increase international pressure on all creditors to deliver their share of relief. We have also asked the World Bank and the IMF to come forward with more proposals to promote creditor participation, such as a donor-funded technical assistance facility to provide legal advice to HIPC countries facing litigation. Staff are currently preparing a paper.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full-time equivalent staff are employed in (a) the Department and (b) each of the agencies it sponsors; and what the figures were for 1997. [90671]
Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 16 January 2003, Official Report, column 697W).
Development Aid (Palestine)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much development aid was paid to Palestinians in 2002; and which projects were funded. [91001]
Clare Short: DFID provided £68 million to the Palestinians in 2002. This figure comprises:
- Bilateral programme: £15 million
UNRWA: £22 million
UK Share of EC funding: £31 million
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