| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
26 Feb 2003 : Column 550W—continued
Southern Africa
8. Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on humanitarian aid to southern Africa. [98734]
Clare Short: Southern Africa continues to suffer from a major humanitarian crisis. 14.4 million people in six countries receive help from the international community. More than half of these are in Zimbabwe, where UK programmes alone are feeding almost 2 million people.
The international response to this crisis has prevented large-scale deaths and we are now confident that adequate supplies are available until the April harvests and that the position in many of these countries will improve. However, the disastrous economic policies in Zimbabwe mean that massive food aid will still be needed there.
10. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she next expects to meet Commonwealth colleagues to discuss international aid efforts to Zimbabwe. [98736]
26 Feb 2003 : Column 551W
Clare Short: I have no current plans to discuss international aid efforts with commonwealth colleagues. The international community is responding to the humanitarian crisis within the context of a UN coordinated effort. I have recently discussed the crisis with the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy, Mr James Morris. I have also written to OECD colleagues to urge further support.
Afghanistan
12. Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the level of aid pledged by the international community for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. [98738]
Clare Short: The needs assessment done quickly in late 2001 has now been refined in the National Development Framework (NDF). A sustained international effort is required.
At the donor conference held in Tokyo in January 2002, the international community pledged $4.5 billion for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Pledges covered periods of between 1 and 5 years. Since Tokyo, almost $2 billion has been disbursed. The Development Forum scheduled for mid-March will present the NDF for the coming 2–3 years and provide an opportunity for renewal of international support and multi-year pledges.
At Tokyo the UK pledged £200 million over five years for both humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. We have already disbursed £65 million in the current financial year, and remain committed to Afghanistan in the long term.
Water Supplies (Developing Countries)
13. Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action she is taking to improve the availability of clean and affordable water in developing countries. [98739]
26 Feb 2003 : Column 552W
Clare Short: My Department recognises the key role that water plays in poverty reduction and is committed to assisting those in the developing world to assess and manage their water resources in a more equitable and sustainable way. Currently, 1.2 billion people globally have inadequate access to safe water and the situation is likely to worsen by 2025 when nearly two-thirds of the world's population will be living in countries of significant water stress. My Department along with other members of the international community have strongly committed to improving access to drinking water and sanitation while working to strengthen the management of water resources for effective and equitable service delivery and these must now be implemented.
Education Projects
14. Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding her Department is giving to education projects in overseas countries in 2002–03. [98740]
Clare Short: Figures for expenditure for this financial year—2002/03—are not yet available. However, it is expected that they will be comparable to expenditure for 2001/02.
Of DFID's bilateral aid programme allocable by sector, the amount spent on education projects in 2001/02 was £112 million. This figure represents expenditure on projects specific to the education sector but does not capture the full extent of our efforts as it excludes multi-sector projects and programmes, strategic funding to civil society organisations and budget support and balance of payments. Also excluded are activities funded through multilateral channels.
Contingency Reserve
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's Contingency Reserve was (a) in pounds sterling and (b) as a percentage of the annual DFID budget for each year from May 1997. [99315]
Clare Short: The size of DFIDs Contingency Reserve for each year since 1997 was:
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 47 | 45 | 70 | 100 | 50 |
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 1.5 |
Fair Trade Fortnight
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department is taking to support Fairtrade Fortnight. [99360]
Clare Short: My department is providing £120,000 to the Fairtrade Foundation over three years (2001—2003) in support of its efforts to target new groups through its annual Fairtrade Fortnight campaigns. These help to raise consumer awareness of development issues in international trade as well as highlighting ways in which consumers can act to make a difference.
In addition, DFID has provided £168,930 over three years (from 1999 to 2002) in support of Fairtrade Foundation's year round media work, helping it to raise awareness of the "FT mark" and what it stands for.
26 Feb 2003 : Column 553W
Last year DFID also approved a project (at a total cost of £300,000) designed to address a recognised bottleneck within Fair Trade—namely the limited number of products for which international Fair Trade standards exist. The project aims to develop new Fair Trade product standards, secure the registration of new producer groups and help bring additional Fair Trade products to supermarket shelves over the next 2 years. The target is to increase the retail value of Fair Trade sales in the UK to over 100m per annum by 2004 and by so doing extend the benefits of Fair Trade to a greater number of producers in developing countries. By expanding the scale of Fair Trade activities, the project also aims to secure a sustainable future for the Fairtrade Foundation, so that its core operational costs (including the cost of subsequent promotional activities) can be fully funded from the income it receives from licensees.
Owing to travel commitments, I am unable to attend the launch of the Fairtrade Fortnight this year. However, the Fairtrade Foundation has invited the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many times since 2001 she has taken flights on departmental duties in the UK; how many of these were (a) charter flights, (b) first or club class and (c) by helicopter; and who accompanied her on each trip. [95387]
Clare Short: Since January 2001 I have taken three flights on departmental duties in the UK. They were business class. I have not taken any flights by charter or helicopter.
I was accompanied by my departmental Private Secretary in each case.
All travel was undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
DEFENCE
Aircraft Carriers
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with the French government regarding the sale to France of UK aircraft carrier designs; and if he will make a statement. [93348]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 27 January 2003]: We have made clear to the French Government our view that the best way forward for United Kingdom/French co-operation on a range of carrier issues is at the industry-to-industry level. To facilitate the transition to such industry-to-industry co-operation, three official groups have been established and their work has been carried forward since the France/United Kingdom summit on 4 February 2003 and the UK CVF down-selection decision. This work includes potential future co-operation on procurement issues and information interchange. The last such meeting took place on 13 February 2003. During the course of discussions, we
26 Feb 2003 : Column 554W
have provided France with some basic design information, to help them decide the best way forward for their own programme.
The carrier is also regularly mentioned in more general discussions between Ministers and other members of our two Ministries of Defence.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |