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Iraq

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Minister of State for International Development whether the Department for International Development has formed a medium-term economic plan for Iraq. [113395]

Hilary Benn: DFID does not produce medium-term economic plans for any country. These are drafted by national authorities, sometimes with advice from the International Financial Institutions.

World Bank and International Monetary Fund economic and social needs assessments for Iraq will begin in the coming weeks. Our engagement will reflect the needs highlighted in these assessments.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State for International Development (1) if he will make a statement on the delivery of EU aid to Iraq; [113540]

(2) what the cash value of the EU aid delivered to Iraq since the start of the conflict in the Gulf is. [113478]

Hilary Benn: To date EU member states and the European Commission have pledged a total of Euro730 million (Euro276 million of which is already committed) for humanitarian aid operations in Iraq. The European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has a team in Baghdad and expects to open an office by the end of May.

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DFID has committed £115 million to support work by humanitarian agencies in the current crisis and has set aside a further £95 million to support emerging humanitarian needs.

Polio

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what additional financial contributions have been made by G8 countries to the Polio Eradication Initiative since the G8 Kananaskis summit; and whether the initiative faces a funding gap. [113615]

Hilary Benn: The Polio Eradication Initiative has a financial resource gap of US$275 million (as of year end). The UK has committed $25 million to closing this funding gap. Canada has pledged US$32 million. Other G8 members including the European Commission have shown interest in providing additional funds, though exact figures have yet to be determined.

We have on a number of occasions pressed G8 countries to fulfil the commitments made in Kananaskis, to raise sufficient resources to eradicate polio in Africa by 2005 and will continue to do so.

We believe eradication is achievable, but will require resources and commitment from a broad partnership base. Discussions have been held with a variety of other stakeholders as well as the G8.

Sierra Leone

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made with (a) governance reform and (b) transparent economic management, including the transparent management of diamonds, in Sierra Leone. [113639]

Hilary Benn: The Government of Sierra Leone is taking forward a wide-ranging programme of governance reform. In particular it has established an Anti-Corruption Commission, addressed essential reforms in the security sector, and begun the important process of decentralisation. Progress is being made, but is affected by limitations on local capacity.

Support for governance reform is central to our assistance to Sierra Leone. We provide extensive support for reform in the security sector, including the armed forces, police and intelligence services. We are also supporting the Governance Reform Secretariat (GRS), which reports to the Office of the President and leads co-ordination of both central and local government reform. Through the GRS we have supported diagnostic studies of four key ministries to provide guidance on measures to improve their effectiveness. A second phase of this programme is being designed. We have assisted the re-establishment of the chieftaincy system. We are also assisting with the preparations for local elections and plans for decentralisation of government. We provide substantial support for the work of the Anti-Corruption Commission, strengthening of the judiciary and law reform, and media development. We are designing major projects to promote access to justice and to strengthen the role of civil society.

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The Government of Sierra Leone has made significant progress in economic management, which has been acknowledged by the international financial institutions. We are working to help improve public financial management. We are represented on a donor/government public financial management working group which has been established to oversee improvements in a number of key areas including internal and external audit, financial management information systems, and procurement procedures. We plan to provide assistance to the Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament to help ensure transparent economic management of government and donor funds. We have also supported Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys.

A UK adviser to the President has prepared a draft strategy for the diamond sector. We plan to work with the Government of Sierra Leone and other donors to gain broad commitment to implementation of the strategy.

Sudan

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the contribution made by her Department (a) bilaterally and (b) multilaterally with the UN, World Bank and EU on (i) post-war reconstruction in the Sudan, (ii) dealing with Sudan's debt and (iii) developing a poverty reduction strategy paper for Sudan. [113626]

{**con**}{**/con**}

Hilary Benn: (i) With others in the international community, we are now planning for the hard work of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction in Sudan when there is peace. In preparing for peace, we are co-ordinating closely with other donor countries, the UN, World Bank, IMF and INGOs. When there is a peace agreement, we intend to double our assistance to Sudan to a level of about £20 million. Key priorities for our bilateral programme will be:

to respond to expanding humanitarian needs;


to support for "quick start" projects that will demonstrate early benefits of the peace to the Sudanese—largely be through improved services at the community level;


to broaden the consensus for peace through work with civil society; and


to support ceasefire monitoring operations and demobilisation of the armed forces.

(ii) The UK has agreed to chair a Support Group of donors to Sudan, to be launched when there is peace, in order to assist the new Government of Sudan through the difficult process of arrears clearance and debt relief. As a first step, the UK will host a workshop for donors this month, to raise awareness of the debt problem.

(iii) The current Government of Sudan is working on a first draft of an interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. However, such a strategy will not be credible in the absence of a peace agreement. In addition, the strategy should be produced jointly with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and prepared in consultation with the wider Sudanese political spectrum and Sudanese civil society. We are encouraging the Government of Sudan to broaden its work on the strategy in this way.

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Water Supplies (Palestine)

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the destruction by Israeli military forces of Well No C67 in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, on 26 April, and the impact of the destruction of the well on the availability and quality of water supplies to the local Palestinian population; and what representations he is making to the Israeli Government on the matter. [113595]

Hilary Benn: I do not have details of the particular water source in question. It is nevertheless clear that destruction of infrastructure as a result of Israeli Military activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is adversely affecting public services, including water and wastewater. In addition, closures and curfews imposed by the Government of Israel mean that Palestinian maintenance crews are unable to conduct necessary routine maintenance, and water tankers are unable to service Palestinian communities without networks. This has left many Palestinians without access to reliable water supplies for extended periods of time and is leading to concerns about public health in affected areas.

We are working closely with the Palestinian Water Authority to support their activities to supply water to all sections of the population. We continue, both bilaterally and through the EU, to make representations at the highest level to the Government of Israel about damage to Palestinian infrastructure caused by Israeli military activity. We are also working closely with colleagues in the region, and across Whitehall, to encourage the Israeli Government to ease closures and curfews.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Air Quality

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days of (a) moderate, (b) high and (c) very high air pollution were recorded at Lullington Heath, East Sussex, in each year since 1997. [114264]

Alun Michael: Monitoring of ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide is undertaken at the Lullington Heath monitoring station. The surrounding area is open rural landscape and the nearest road is approximately 1 km distant from the site. The number of days of (a) moderate, (b) high and (c) very high air pollution recorded in each year since 1997 are given in the table below. The only incidents of moderate or higher air pollution were recorded for ozone at Lullington Heath. There were no incidents of very high pollution.

	Number of days
	Moderate	High	Very high
2002	41	0	0
2001	53	2	0
2000	43	0	0
1999	83	5	0
1998	47	1	0
1997	77	3	0

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