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Births (Medical Attendants)

Ms Christine Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what efforts his Department is making towards increasing the number of births attended by skilled attendants in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, excluding India and China. [123552]

Hilary Benn: DFID's public service agreement includes specific targets to increase the proportion ofbirths attended by skilled attendants in Africa and Asia. We have provided 1.5 billion to strengthen health systems in developing countries since 1997 and have invested in large safe motherhood projects in a number of countries including Nepal and Malawi. We are currently finalising an action plan to increase DFID engagement in international efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goal to improve maternal health. Such work is complemented by broader efforts to strengthen public service management and to improve the training and retention of key public sector staff including midwives and doctors.

Capacity Building

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development, how much (a) the EU and (b) the UK spent on capacity building in (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03; and how much is budgeted for 2003–04. [124377]

Hilary Benn: Capacity building continues to form a major part of our Technical Co-operation programme in the form of personnel, training, research and associated costs. Our Technical Co-operation expenditure for 2001–02 was £616 million and for 2002–03 was £741 million. We expect expenditure levels in 2003–04 to remain similar to those of last year.

DFID does not have data on EU capacity building; this could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Debt Relief Programmes

Mr. Challen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what steps the Department has taken to assess the efficacy of privatisation conditionalities attached to debt relief programmes. [124151]

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Hilary Benn: Privatisation is not a pre-condition for countries to start receiving debt relief under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. In 1999, the UK pressed successfully for debt relief to be frontloaded, so that countries begin receiving relief at the start of the process, when they have developed an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy—a blueprint for a national strategy to tackle the causes of poverty and developed a satisfactory track record in economic management.

However, in order to receive an irrevocable reduction in their stock of debt, there are three types of conditions that countries have to,meet in order to complete the HIPC process. Firstly, they must demonstrate commitment to poverty reduction by developing and implementing a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for one year. This is a nationally owned and led strategy, which analyses the causes of poverty, sets out how these will be tackled and specifies how government resources, including savings from debt relief, will be used. Secondly, countries must demonstrate sound economic management by remaining on-track with an IMF programme. Thirdly, countries must implement a set of reforms, known as Completion Point triggers, which are agreed between the government and the IMF at the start of the HIPC process. These reforms cover a range of measures. Among the 26 countries that have so far qualified for relief, there are a total of 317 Completion Point triggers. Of these, only 41 relate to privatisation and regulatory measures. The Government monitors progress towards meeting these triggers, including taking a view on whether the triggers are still relevant, through both the six-monthly progress reports from the IMF and World Bank, and through discussions at country level. Where overall progress is satisfactory but certain conditions are seen as no longer relevant, or delays have occurred that are beyond a country's control, countries can still complete the HIPC process. For example, Mauritania recently completed the process despite delays in the privatisation of their utility companies.

EU Committees

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how many officials in the Department for International Development serve on EU committees or working parties. [116081]

Hilary Benn : The number of officials from DFID who attend meetings of EU management committees, working parties and working groups is not fixed. Depending on the subject matter under consideration, the most appropriate policy officials will attend meetings of EU committees. Most meetings are normally attended by a single official from DFID; occasionally more than one official will attend.

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Officials from DFID attend the following committees:

Asia and Latin America management committee (ALA)


Financial and technical co-operation for Mediterranean non-member countries management committee (MED)


European Development Fund management committee (EDF)


Food security and food aid management committee (FS & FAC)


Food aid working group (FAWG)


Technical assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States management committee (TACIS)


Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation management committee (CARDS)


Committee on pre-accession assistance to central and eastern European countries (PHARE)


Humanitarian aid management committee (HAC)


Committee for development co-operation with South Africa


NGO co-financing committee


Committee on special assistance to traditional ACP suppliers of bananas

Millennium Development Goals

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what estimate he has made of the contribution which can be expected from the (a) international private sector and (b) domestic private sectors towards the costs of delivering the millennium development goals on water and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. [123648]

Hilary Benn: DFID is currently engaged in the EU Water Initiative and leads on the Finance Component that focuses on improving the sustainable financing of water supply and sanitation services that will benefit the poor. Extensive research is being undertaken as part of this work to estimate the financial challenge facing the water sector at a global and regional level. The issues are also being addressed as part of the UN Millennium Project by the Task Force on Water and Sanitation.

The water sector is funded by a variety of sources, including:

User charges and household and community investments;


Domestic public financing;


Private sector investment from either international or local operators;


Official development assistance (ODA) loans and grants; and


Donations from the local and international non-profit sector.

A study undertaken by WaterAid in 2002 estimated current global spending on water and sanitation in the region of USD 30 billion, with the majority (approximately 70 per cent.) being provided by the domestic public sector. Private sector flows accounted for some 10 per cent. of global spending of which 7 per cent. came from the international private sector and 3 per cent. from the domestic private sector. External aid flows accounted for the remainder (approximately 20 per cent.) of spending.

Meeting the water supply and sanitation targets within the Millennium Development Goals is estimated to require an additional US$9 billion to US$30 billion per year.

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The World Bank Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) database maintained by the World Bank includes information on infrastructure projects that include private sector investment and is the most comprehensive single source of data on private sector flows available. The PPI records initial investments rather than ongoing operational expenses.

Around 3 per cent. of Investment in infrastructure projects with private sector participation between 1990 and 2001 was in Sub-Saharan Africa. Around 28 per cent. was in East Asia and the Pacific region. Globally in the period 1990 to 2001, water and sanitation has accounted for only around 5 per cent. of investment in infrastructure projects with private sector participation. Figures from the PPI database indicate that global investment in water and sewerage projects with private sector participation has fallen from some US$6.9 billion in 1999 to around US$2.2 billion in 2001.

Private capital flows to the water sector have been mostly directed to Latin America and South-East Asia, as they are considered more stable in macro-economic terms than other regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Private sector participation in the water and sanitation sector has remained at very low levels and is showing no sign of increase because of the perception of high risks and limited revenue potential affecting the sector.

DFID is supporting a range of initiatives to encourage private sector involvement for improving access to water and sanitation, while seeking to ensure that services are provided at an affordable price to the poor.

Post-conflict Reconstruction

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how many senior appointments have been made since 1997 of international secondments to post-conflict reconstruction work; and, of this number, how many appointments were women. [123645]

Hilary Benn: Based on information held centrally, there has been one male Senior Civil Service (SCS) appointment to post conflict construction work via an international secondment since 1997.

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