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Wind Energy

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultation her Department carried out with (a) general aviation stakeholders and (b) national representative bodies for general aviation aerodrome operations and users in the preparation of the Interim Guidelines on Wind Energy, published by her Department; if she will consult stakeholders within

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general aviation in the preparation of the final version of the Guidelines on Wind Energy; and if she will make a statement. [122033]

Mr. Timms: In addition to the Department, a number of stakeholders were involved in the preparation of the interim guidelines. These included the Civil Aviation Authority, National Air Traffic Services, Ministry of Defence, Department for Transport and the Airport Operators' Association who reported on progress to various consultative groups. Apart from this, a stakeholder feedback pro forma has been included on page 55 of the guidelines for other interested parties to register an interest in the work on future updates which can be found at: http://www.dit.gov.uk/energy/renewables/publications/pdfs/wmdenergyaviation.pdf

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what health care checks are carried out on pre-school children in Afghanistan. [122160]

Hilary Benn: Immunisation of pre-school children has been the aim of the successful polio and measles vaccination campaigns carried out in Afghanistan over, the last year.

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what the infant mortality rates were in Afghanistan in the last three years. [122161]

Hilary Benn: A UNICEF report from 1997 gave infant mortality rates as 165 per 1,000 live births. This was the figure also quoted by the first joint donor mission to Afghanistan to study health. The World Bank also provides the same figure of infant mortality for 1995 and 2000. There is no more recent data currently available.

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development (1) what financial support is being given to hospitals in Afghanistan to increase the number of woman health care providers; [122162]

(2) what financial support is being given to hospitals in Afghanistan to train and recruit (a) nurses, (b) qualified birth attendants and (c) doctors. [122163]

Hilary Benn: The Afghan Transitional Administration requested US$173 million for the health sector as part of the Budget for the current year, of which at least US$22 million is specifically for training and capacity building. We estimate that donors will fund all or most of this. The Afghan Ministry of Health has devised an interim health strategy, which includes specific programmes for addressing institutional development and management and staff training. They are committed to addressing gender issues within these areas. DFID is helping the Ministry of Health to devise a long-term approach to policy and management, including recently by providing a consultant to assist with the assessment of human resource needs.

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Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what steps are being taken to increase the number of hospitals in operation in Afghanistan. [122164]

Hilary Benn: The Afghanistan Transitional Authority is trying to improve the basic health services and primary health care for all and wants to avoid a rapid expansion of the hospital sector which will skew current and future resources away from primary care. The International Community supports this approach and is unlikely to fund the opening of large numbers of hospitals in the near future, while the Afghan Government lacks the capacity to manage and staff such institutions. However, DFID and others are assisting the Afghan Ministry of Health to develop its long-term strategy for health care provision in Afghanistan and this will include assessments of the needs of hospitals.

Botswana

Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what reports the Department has received of the forced removal of groups from their tribal reserves in Botswana; and if he will make a statement. [122153]

Hilary Benn: In early 2002, the Government of Botswana ceased supplying water to San people living in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, estimated to number about 500 at that time. Most of these people have since left the Reserve, many of them in a government co-ordinated relocation in February 2002. Representatives of the San are bringing a court case about the decision to cease supplying water. Our High Commission in Botswana is continuing to monitor the situation.

The Secretary of State, Baroness Amos discussed the relocation of the San with the Government of Botswana during her visit there on 1–2 April as Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa. Her discussion was part of an on-going dialogue between the two Governments about the San, and about wider poverty issues in Botswana.

Deforestation

Sue Doughty: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development pursuant to his answer of 10 June 2003, Official Report, column 770W, to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on deforestation, if he will indicate the principal locations of forest cover lost between 1990 and 2000. [122778]

Hilary Benn: While "deforestation rate" is one official indicator for measuring success or failure of Millennium Development Goal 7 it is an imperfect one that hides differential impacts on poor people and does not capture the underlying causes of reducing forest cover—population growth, trade (including trade in illegal timber), macro-economic policies, weak governance, unclear access rights and conflict.

Official estimates of forest cover are contested by independent organisations like Global Forest Watch. In addition, estimates disguise the fact that increased areas under plantation are replacing natural forest cover in, for example, parts of Asia and Costa Rica. According to

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the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, State of the World's Forests, the principle locations of forest cover lost between 1990 and 2000 are:

Region	Annual Rate of Change (%)
Africa	-0.8
In particular:
Comoros	-4.3
Rwanda	-3.9
Niger	-3.7
South America	-0.4
In particular:
Ecuador	-1.2
Argentina	-0.8
Paraguay	-0.5
Oceania	-0.2
In particular:
Micronesia	-4.5
Samoa	-2.1
Papa New Guinea	-0.4
Asia	-0.1
In particular:
Yemen	1.9
Nepal	-1.8
Sri Lanka	-1.6
North and Central America	-0.1
In particular:
Haiti	-5.7
Saint Lucia	-4.9
El Salvador	-4.6

Montserrat

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what plans there are to increase aid to Montserrat. [122197]

Hilary Benn: Our financial provision for Montserrat, covering the 3-year UK Financial Year period 2003–04—2005–06, was increased in February of this year to a total of £45.6 million. This represented an increase of some 50 per cent. over the level that was previously set for the same period. It is estimated that, by March 2006, our assistance since the onset of the volcanic emergency in the mid-1990s will have totalled more than £225 million.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent discussions the Department has had with the Government of Montserrat. [122198]

Hilary Benn: We engage regularly in such discussions. For example, Montserrat's Chief Minister called on DFID Ministers during a UK visit in May; and several of our officials have visited the island already this year for talks on a range of issues, including construction of the new airport. Further missions are planned. We also enjoy frequent contact with the Montserrat Government Representative in London.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development when the Secretary of State next plans to visit Montserrat. [122199]

Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend has no such plans at present.

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Performance Targets

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will list the targets the Department for International Development set for the (a) Performance Assessment Network, (b) Performance Reporting Information System for Management and (c) Multilateral Organisations' Performance Assessment Initiative in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [122566]

Hilary Benn: The Performance Assessment Network was an informal network of officials from across DFID. It was created to ensure that lessons on performance assessment were shared widely across the Department. It had no formal targets and was disbanded in 2002. Lesson-learning is now undertaken throughout the organisation (rather than by a separate unit).

Targets for improving the performance of our projects in each risk category, as measured by DFID's Performance Reporting Information System for Management (PRISM), were set under the Value for Money' target in DFID's 2001–04 Public Service Agreement (PSA) and rolled forward into the 2003–06 PSA. PRISM was rolled out throughout DFID in 2002. Now that a critical mass of performance information has been entered into PRISM, we will report progress against the baseline figures.

The Multilateral Organisations Performance Assessment Network is an association of bilateral development agencies who assess multilateral performance at country level. It has no targets and it is not for us to set them. Its main activity is to pilot an assessment exercise, after which the members will assess how it has gone and whether and how to repeat it.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how the Department for International Development assesses whether general targets under the Joint Funding Scheme have been met. [122567]

Hilary Benn: The Joint Funding Scheme (JFS) closed for new project funding in May 2000 and has been replaced by the Civil Society Challenge Fund. Pre-existing Joint Funding Scheme Projects continue to be supported, but this funding will cease at the end of 2004–05.

All existing JFS projects have inbuilt Monitoring and Evaluation procedures. These produce annual progress reports and closing reports for each project. In 2000, DFID commissioned a review of the JFS which drew on this accumulated data to identify best practices and lessons learnt on the role of UK based civil society organisations in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. These findings contributed to the design and development of the new Civil Society Challenge Fund.

The Civil Society Challenge Fund also has its own built in assessment and review mechanisms and a regular programme of visits to projects in the field by DFID staff and consultants. The overall principles of the Fund are based on and complementary to the UK Government's commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

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