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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

AIDS Vaccine (Eastern Africa)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding her Department has allocated for research into HIV/AIDS subtype A vaccines in Eastern Africa; what progress is being made towards a vaccine for the HIV/AIDS subtype A virus; and if she will make a statement. [98992]

Clare Short: My Department has been funding the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) since 1998. Our current 5-year, £14 million, programme of support began in January 2000.

IAVI has eight vaccine constructs under development, all specifically aimed at the HIV strains most prevalent in developing countries. Trials in various phases are planned for each of these over the next 2–5 years. The candidate vaccines currently being developed by the Medical Research Council, and Oxford and Nairobi Universities are aimed at combating the subtype A strain of HIV most common in East Africa.

The Oxford-Nairobi trial is making significant progress. The vaccine candidate has progressed from the laboratory to approval for initial human testing in 18

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months and is the first vaccine designed specifically for Africa to be tested in humans. Phase I and II trials are now ongoing in Oxford and Kenya. IAVI hope to move into Phase III efficacy trials by 2005.

Burma (Humanitarian Assistance)

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of providing cross-border humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people in Burma. [98267]

Clare Short: We monitor the humanitarian situation in Burma and Thailand including the situation for the 140,000 refugees living in camps, an estimated 1 million irregular migrants living on or near the border and the vulnerable populations living in border areas in Burma itself. Getting relief to internally displaced people living on the Burmese side of the border is difficult and dangerous. We provide humanitarian assistance on both sides of the border through carefully selected agencies eg UNHCR and ICRC in Thailand and Burma. The ICRC is the only organisation with a permanent international presence on both sides of the border. We also support WHO's border health programme in Thailand. In addition, we support food relief assistance for refugee camps through the Burmese Border Consortium (BBC). In the current financial year 2002–03 DFID's assistance in these areas will amount to around £3 million.

Central African Republic (Medical Supplies)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to her answer of 4 December 2002, Official Report, column 854W, on the Central African Republic, what action is being taken to tackle the shortage of medical supplies. [98582]

Clare Short: The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Central African Republic (CAR) has now provided the health ministry with vaccines to enable it to continue routine immunisations in health facilities. The vaccines are to combat tuberculosis (TB), yellow fever, diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough (DTW) and measles.

The nationwide immunisation campaign, initially scheduled to start by mid-December 2002, has not yet begun due to the ongoing conflict between government forces and rebels.

Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what external audits have been commissioned for the World bank funded Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline; and whether these audits will be made public. [98272]

Clare Short: Project arrangements provide for regular audits, on the Chad-Cameroon pipeline projects' accounts, plus independent opinions from the International Advisory Group (IAG) and External Compliance and Monitoring Group (ECMG). All IAG and ECMG reports are in the public domain and are available from the project website: http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ccproj/ Financial audits are not made public.

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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the cost of the World Bank funded Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. [98273]

Clare Short: The cost of the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project is estimated at US$3.7 billion, which is being funded largely by private industry.

The World Bank Group will provide $93 million in loans—$53.4 million for Cameroon and $39.5 million for Chad— to finance the two governments' equity share in the project, and a $100 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to the joint-venture pipeline companies. In addition to investments in the main oilfield development/pipeline project, the World bank is funding two projects aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Chadian and Cameroonian governments in environmental management and effective monitoring of the petroleum sectors. A total of US$29.5 million is being provided by the International Development Association (IDA), the World bank's lending arm for the poorest countries, for this.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of allegations of fraud concerning the World bank funded Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. [98274]

Clare Short: We are aware of allegations made by a former employee of Exxon-Mobil, which appear to stem from concerns over specification of equipment being procured for the project. The World Bank Group looked into the concerns raised and we are content with the response given. My Department has confidence that the World Bank's systems for monitoring the implementation of this project, and for investigating any complaints, are appropriate. We are not aware of any other allegations of fraud.

Child Soldiers (Burma)

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the number of child soldiers in Burma; and what steps she is taking to tackle this. [98266]

Clare Short: An exact figure is not known. But a recent Human Rights Watch study estimated that there could be up to 70,000 child soldiers in Burma.

The UN Security Council has now passed a resolution on Children Affected by Armed Conflict, which was based on the UNSG's report on child soldiers. In our statement on this to the Security Council, UK representative Jeremy Greenstock highlighted our concerns about child soldiers in Burma.

The issue of child soldiers was also taken up in the UK Co-sponsored resolution at UNGA last November. We will be ensuring that the issue is addressed at the UN Commission on Human Rights where the EU will be tabling a resolution on the human rights situation in Burma. In addition the UK has in place a weapons embargo and a ban on all military links with the Burmese armed forces in view of their appalling human rights record.

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Child Trafficking (Togo)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps are being taken to tackle the trafficking of children in Togo. [98587]

Clare Short: Child trafficking is an international problem requiring co-ordinated action. The British Government are one of the strongest supporters of the International Labour Organisation's Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. This complements the work carried out in West Africa by Governments and other international organisations such as UNICEF. My Department is also funding Anti-Slavery International to develop the capacity and commitment of local NGOs to end trafficking and the abuse of child domestic workers in West Africa.

Command and Staff College (Nigeria)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the estimated cost is to the Government of funding for the Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre course at the Command and Staff College in Nigeria. [98585]

Clare Short: The total cost of the two week Disaster Management Course and a further one week "Training the Trainer" course is £51,173. Funding is provided under the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool from resources allocated to the Ministry of Defence.

Emergency Operation Appeal (Western Sahara)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will provide a breakdown of how the £1 million contribution to the Emergency Operation Appeal in the Western Sahara will be spent. [98583]

Clare Short: My Department is contributing £1 million to the World Food Program to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to populations affected by drought and crop failure within the Western Sahel. Assistance will be focussed mainly in Mauritania, but will also include Cape Verde, Senegal, The Gambia, and Mali. WFP has identified that 578,550 persons are affected by severe food insecurity or are in need of emergency intervention to prevent deterioration in their food and nutritional status. The operation is planned to last twelve months and will distribute 55,365 tons of food. 120,000 people in the Aftout region of Mauritania, the most severely affected area, will receive full ration enriched meals (2,100 Kcal); a further 384,550 beneficiaries in Mauritania, Cape Verde, Senegal and The Gambia will receive reduced ration meals (1,800 kcal); and 74,000 beneficiaries in the regions of Kayes and Koulikoro in Mali will receive cereal rations only (1,050 kcal).

My Department is making available a further £570,804 to Oxfam, who will act as an implementing partner for WFP. Oxfam are well established within the region and will distribute the food supplied by WFP. Oxfam will undertake targeted food distribution to 36,280 of the most vulnerable people in the Aftout region, along with the provision of seeds, tools, pesticides and fencing materials to support vegetable

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gardening. Further capacity building measures will include studies into safe drinking water, food security and nutritional surveillance.

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