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Coffee Farmers

7. Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department is giving to coffee farmers who face poverty as a result of the collapse of coffee prices. [111522]

Clare Short: We have development programmes in several coffee producing countries. These include Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nicaragua, Uganda and Guatemala. The problem for coffee growers is oversupply of coffee which has lead to a large fall in prices. Poor countries and people who are dependent on coffee production need short-term support and also longer-term support for economic diversification which would be helped by improved trade access for processed goods.

Sudan

9. Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what role her Department is playing in the de-mining operations in Sudan. [111524]

Clare Short: DFID has provided £1.4 million for mine action in Sudan over the last year. This support was given through the UN Mine Action Service for mine clearance in the Nuba Mountains region, where there is a ceasefire, and to prepare for further mine action throughout Sudan.

Environmental Impacts

10. Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she takes to ensure that aid monies allocated have a positive or neutral environmental consequence. [111525]

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Clare Short: All DFID programmes promote sustainable development through poverty reduction. We have mandatory procedures to ensure that environmental opportunities and risks are taken account of—and these have recently been strengthened by new guidance for DFID staff to emphasise environmental opportunities.

We have a growing team of environment staff who work with our country partners to integrate environmental issues into Poverty Reduction Strategies, which form the basis for DFID support in low-income countries.

Afghanistan

11. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. [111526]

Clare Short: The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has improved compared to the situation last year, and is no longer an emergency. This is due both to an increased crop yield (up 80 per cent. on the previous year) and to much better snow and rainfall over the winter in both the north and south of the country, which has eased the effects of the persistent drought. Refugees are continuing to return to the country, aided by UNHCR and the Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation, although at a slower rate than last year. Vulnerable households, such as women-headed households, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and disabled people continue to require assistance.

Insecurity in the provinces outside Kabul continues to be a concern, and is hampering the operations of NGOs and UN agencies in the southern and eastern provinces. As part of a co-ordinated response with the Afghan Transitional Administration and other international partners the UK Government are considering the deployment of a Provincial Reconstruction Team to one of the provinces outside Kabul. The Ministry of Defence will make a full parliamentary statement on any deployment in due course.

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the money for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, promised at the Tokyo conference, has found its way to Afghanistan. [111781]

Clare Short: US$4.5 billion was pledged by donors at the Tokyo conference in January 2002 over a period of between one and five years, depending on the donor. US$1.8 billion was disbursed last year to Afghanistan. A similar amount has been pledged for the current financial year.

Donors such as the US, who had only made one year pledges at the Tokyo conference, used the Afghan Development Forum held in March 2003 to make new pledges. The total pledged now stands at US$5.2 billion.

Tanzania

12. Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she next expects to visit Tanzania to discuss international aid. [111527]

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Clare Short: Following my meetings with President Mkapa last July and subsequent progress, I have no current plans to visit Tanzania over the next few months. Our officials maintain close dialogue on a wide range of development issues underpinning our bilateral relationship.

Zimbabwe

15. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the activities of her Department relating to Zimbabwe. [111530]

Clare Short: My Department has provided over £51 million in humanitarian assistance since the crisis began in September 2001. We are helping the World Food Programme, which is currently feeding 4.5 million people, and our NGO programmes provide supplementary food to 1.5 million more—largely children. DFID has also built technical capacity in local NGOs and the UN agencies, and funded vulnerability assessments. We have also distributed seed and fertilizers to 188,000 households in communal areas, affecting the food prospects of one million people in 2003.

We have helped prevent avoidable deaths and disease through essential drug supply and therapeutic feeding inputs through the WHO and UNICEF. We are also tackling HIV/AIDS through a £26 million programme of prevention and mitigation activities over five years to 2005.

Document Classification

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many documents are held by her Department that are subject to security classification, broken down by category of classification. [107349]

Clare Short: DFID holds many thousands of classified documents, and we do not hold figures broken down by category of classification. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. My Department follows the Cabinet Office guidance on document marking and control.

Information Technology

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's (a) total managed expenditure, (b) total spending on Information Technology and (c) spending on Information Technology as a proportion of its total managed expenditure was in each financial year since 1997–98. [107184]

Clare Short: The contribution by DFID to total managed expenditure can be measured by the total spending under resource and capital budgets, less non cash items in AME (Annually Managed Expenditure). Data for 1998–99 to 2001–02 were published in our Departmental Reports. New estimates will be published in the same table in the 2003 Departmental Report in May 2003.

The approximate figures are detailed in the following table.

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Financial year	Managed expenditure (£)	IT spend(£)	IT percentage of total
1997–98	2,529,815	5,020	0.198
1998–99	2,657,741	5,303	0.199
1999–2000	2,985,577	6,622	0.22
2000–01	3,226,336	10,925	0.338
2001–02	3,441,569	15,473	0.449
2002–03	3,454,000	15,000	0.427

Note:

Figures should be multiplied by thousand.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the estimated cost is in 2003–04 to her Department, agencies and the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible of the increase in the national minimum wage from £4.20 per hour to £4.50 per hour. [110434]

Clare Short: I estimate that there will be no financial impact. The Department's minimum wage under our current pay agreement is £5.25 per hour based on a 37-hour week. We have no reason to believe that DFID's contractor costs will rise due to the increase in the minimum wage.

Palestine

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid her Department has pledged for immediate relief in the Occupied Territories and for the rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure, originally funded by the Department and the European Union. [111322]

Clare Short: Last year, out of a total bilateral expenditure of £15 million, about £8 million was used for relief related activity. In addition we contributed £7 million to UNRWA's emergency appeal for 2002. We expect to spend a similar amount this year.

Infrastructure damage to DFID funded projects has been limited. Where this has occurred we have discussed with our project partners the necessary steps, including additional funding, to ensure projects still meet their objectives. We understand that the European Commission and other member states have taken similar action. The European Union reserves the right to seek compensation from the Israeli authorities.

Sri Lanka

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what role humanitarian mine action will play in supporting the peace process in Sri Lanka; and if she will make a statement. [111069]

Clare Short: Humanitarian Mine Action is critical for the Sri Lankan peace process. The civil war has displaced nearly one million people in the North and East of the Island. Helping these people and their families return to their former homes, and restart their livelihoods, will build confidence in the peace process and will help foster an environment in which peace can be sustained. However, many of these families are

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unable to benefit from the peace process. They are living in camps, prevented from returning home because of mines.

DFID is a major supporter of mine action in Sri Lanka. We have provided over £1 million through the United Nations for demining and public awareness. Further support will be provided within a £6 million contribution recently approved to support UNICEF's Children Affected By Armed Conflict programme. In addition Britain also contributes to the support for mine action which the European Union finances through international and local NGOs in Sri Lanka.

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