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Democratic Republic of the Congo

Mr. Leigh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the purpose of the Interim Emergency Multinational Force to be deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with particular reference to disarming the militia groups in Ituri province. [118471]

Hilary Benn: The objectives of the Interim Emergency Multinational Force (IEMF) are to assist the UN by providing a short-term interim force to enable the reinforcement of the UN MONUC forces in Bunia in the Ituri province. The IEMF aims to contribute to the security of Bunia in order to allow the Ituri Interim Administration to function and improve the humanitarian situation. It also aims to protect the airport and the internally displaced persons in the camps in Bunia and, if the situation requires it, contribute to the safety of the population and of UN personnel in the town. The disarming of militia groups, most of which are outside Bunia, will not be part of the IEMF's mandate.

Fair Trade

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what initiatives he will bring forward at the September World Trade Organisation's ministerial meeting in Mexico in order to promote trade for poor countries; and if he will make a statement. [118303]

Hilary Benn: The EU is committed to giving developing countries better trading opportunities through greater access to both its agricultural and non-agricultural markets by reducing tariff barriers, tackling all forms of export subsidies and substantially reducing trade-distorting domestic support. The Government are working with its partners, both in the EU and internationally, to ensure that developing countries gain real benefits from the Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. Critical to this effort will be securing a successful outcome at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun in September. This will require real progress on the issues that matter most developing countries such as agriculture, TRIPS and public health, and special and differential treatment.

In addition, the Government are funding a variety of initiatives to help developing countries to set their own trade policies to reduce poverty. This includes improving developing countries' ability to negotiate favourable deals in trade negotiations, helping them interpret trade agreements, and supporting them in taking advantage of new international trading opportunities. To this end, the government have committed £45 million to trade-related capacity building since 1998.

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development whether he will meet a delegation from CAFOD to discuss Trade Justice during the week commencing 23 June 2003. [118304]

Hilary Benn: DFID is hosting an open day to discuss trade and development issues on 26 June 2003. All members of the UK Trade Network—a grouping of non-governmental organisations working on trade and development issues of which CAFOD is a member—

12 Jun 2003 : Column 995W

have been invited. I will be speaking to members of the UK Trade Network during the morning session and hope to meet the CAFOD delegation then.

G8 Summit

Mr. Best: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the debt relief and the Millennium Development Goals outcomes of the G8 Summit in Evian. [118429]

Hilary Benn: The G8 met in Evian on 1 to 3 June 2003 and discussed a number of issues relating to international development:

on Africa, significant progress was made on areas such as conflict resolution. It was agreed to expand the group of Africa Personal Representatives and meet at the Africa Partners Forum in November 2003;


the G8 supported the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, as part of wider work on corruption. We are now working towards a Conference on the Initiative in mid-June 2003;


there was support for the International Finance Facility, which would significantly increase volumes of aid, up to 2015. Finance Ministers were asked to report by September 2003 on financing instruments, including this facility;


there was a commitment to making the WTO Ministerial Cancun a success;


the outcome on Access to Medicines includes some specific actions for G8 countries, which we will push forward in coming months in our country programmes;


the UK announced a further $80 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, while calling for improvements in its management. Other EU countries will announce their commitments at the European Council in late June 2003; and


the G8 renewed their commitment to eradicating polio by 2005.

On the issue of debt relief, the G8 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation and financing of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. They agreed that the World bank and IMF should be asked to: identify, by their next annual meetings, the specific impediments to further progress in each country and the steps needed to tackle them; intensify their efforts to secure the full participation of all creditors by exploring further options to deal with litigation issues; and review by this coming September, the methodology for calculating the amount of 'topping up' debt relief available to countries at Completion Point based on updated cost estimates, including the impact on commodity price fluctuations, so that countries exit the HIPC process with sustainable levels of debt.

Landmines

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if she will place copies of the most recent reports and recommendations on (a) Kosovo, (b) Cambodia and (c) Sudan by the Department's consultant adviser on mine action in the Library. [117186]

Hilary Benn : I will arrange for copies of the required reports to be placed in the Libraries of the House. It should be noted that these reports and the opinions expressed in them should not be interpreted as necessarily reflecting the views or policy of DFID.

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Sustainable Development

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development when the departmental strategy for sustainable development will be published; and what steps are being taken or are planned to take forward the actions outlined. [118419]

Hilary Benn: DFID's strategy to implement the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate was published, in accordance with the DEFRA guidelines, on our internet site at www.dfid.gov.uk in October 2002. This sets out timetables and planned activities to meet the relevant targets which have been set so far. The website information will also be updated to reflect the progress to date.

UK Overseas Territories

Mr. Brady: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how much was paid in aid to each UK overseas territory since 1993. [118520]

Hilary Benn: DFID bilateral disbursements in respect of the Overseas Territories for each of the UK financial years from 1993/94 to 2002/03 are set out in the table below. All 2002/03 figures are provisional at this stage.

£000Country/YearTotal DFID Programme

Anguilla
1993–94	3,271
1994–95	2,142
1995–96	1,226
1996–97	1,362
1997–98	2,520
1998–99	1,977
1999–2000	2,058
2000–01	2,234
2001–02	1,847
2002–03 (provisional)	1,040
Bermuda
1993–94	24
1994–95	37
1995–96	30
1996–97	57
1997–98	30
1998–99	0
1999–2000	13
2000–01	4
2001–02	0
2002–03 (provisional)	0
British Virgin Islands
1993–94	1,515
1994–95	308
1995–96	592
1996–97	1,085
1997–98	604
1998–99	622
1999–2000	517
2000–01	186
2001–02	89
2002–03 (provisional)	90
Cayman Islands
1993–94	3
1994–95	86
1995–96	21
1996–97	0
1997–98	0
1998–99	23
1999–00	18
2000–01	20
2001–02	3
2002–03 (provisional)	0
Falkland Islands
1993–94	12
1994–95	88
1995–96	19
1996–97	4
1997–98	0
1998–99	0
1999–2000	0
2000–01	0
2001–02	0
2002–03 (provisional)	0
Gibraltar
1993–94	142
1994–95	179
1995–96	77
1996–97	118
1997–98	54
1998–99	28
1999–2000	23
2000–01	27
2001–02	23
2002–03 (provisional)	6
Montserrat
1993–94	5,689
1994–95	5,766
1995–96	6,554
1996–97	14,441
1997–98	37,866
1998–99	31,096
1999–2000	22,640
2000–2001	20,811
2001–2002	24,417
2002–2003 (provisional)	23,797
Pitcairn Island
1993–94	108
1994–95	180
1995–96	203
1996–97	160
1997–98	76
1998–99	148
1999–2000	99
2000–01	18
2001–02	26
2002–03 (provisional)	34
St Helena (and Tristan DaCunha)
1993–94	9,057
1994–95	8,161
1995–96	9,267
1996–97	7,990
1997–98	8,765
1998–99	8,805
1999–2000	9,363
2000–01	10,116
2001–02	10,106
2002–03 (provisional)	8,533
Turks and Caicos Islands
1993–94	10,049
1994–95	4,387
1995–96	2,674
1996–97	3,031
1997–98	2,569
1998–99	3,808
1999–2000	4,044
2000–01	2,848
2001–02	2,754
2002–03 (provisional)	1,528

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In addition, European Development Fund cumulative allocations to the UK Overseas territories since 1993 total some è86.33 million (about £57.55 million). This sum, some of which is still being committed to or spent on approved development activities, has been shared amongst eligible UK Overseas Territories as follows:

	Euros	£ Sterling(approx thousands)
Anguilla	14,450	9,633
British Virgin Islands	4,900	3,266
Cayman Islands	1, 600	1,067
Montserrat	24,900	16,600
St Helena (and Tristan Da Cunha)	18,150	12,100
Turks & Caicos Islands	16,280	10,853
Falkland Islands	3,700	2,467
Pitcairn Island	2,350	1,566

The UK share of the above EOF allocations over the period is estimated at some è10.79 million (approximately £7.2 million).

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