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Kyrgyzstan

John Barrett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact poor harvests in southern Kyrgyzstan will have on the nutrition of children in the country; and if he will make a statement. [126847]

Hilary Benn: DFID directly supports health reform, rural livelihoods, water and environment, social development and governance in Kyrgyzstan. Through our work with the European Commission we are providing support to the EU Food Security Programme in Kyrgyzstan. They have not made a specific assessment of the impact of poor harvests in southern Kyrgyzstan on children's nutrition. We have asked the EU Food Security Programme to make an assessment of the situation.

Liberia

John Barrett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the measures his Department is taking to improve facilities for the treatment of cholera patients in Liberia. [126846]

Hilary Benn: We have allocated £1.5 million for humanitarian relief since the increase in violence several weeks ago in and around Monrovia. To date just under £1.2 million of this has been committed, to ICRC, Merlin and Save the Children (UK). All three agencies are using our funding in whole or in part for health services. We do not know precisely what proportion of these funds is assisting cholera victims.

Although the security situation makes it difficult to be precise about case numbers and morbidity rates, estimates from sources on the ground suggest that there have been about 1,630 cases in the current cholera "season", including 15 deaths. Reports from Merlin say that in their areas of operation the situation has improved slightly. It is essential that access is given to national and international agencies to improve water supplies and sanitation.

Millennium Development Goals

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development whether the Government support the linking of levels of debt servicing by developing countries to the achievement of the millennium development goals. [126261]

Hilary Benn: The UK Government agree that heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) must receive the resources they need to finance their Poverty Reduction Strategies. In calculating their levels of debt sustainability, account should be taken of this. But debt

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relief alone cannot deliver the resources needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Deeper debt relief to HIPC countries would not significantly increase the net amount of development finance available, as this would have to come mainly from the multilateral development institutions since most bilateral debt has already been written off. We therefore support debt relief which is deep enough to ensure debt sustainability, while recognising that additional donor resources are needed to enable HIPC countries to meet the MDGs.

Ministerial Visits

David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will list the (a) foreign and (b) UK visits made by the Secretary of State since 1 April; what the cost was to public funds of each trip; who she met; and what gifts were received. [126885]

Hilary Benn: The Government publish the overall costs of all ministerial overseas travel and a list of all visits overseas by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 on an annual basis. The list for the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 was published by the Prime Minister on 16 July 2003, Official Report, column 482W. The next list for the period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 will be published at the end of the financial year.

In respect of gifts received, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 14 March 2003, Official Report, column 482W.

In the UK, the Secretary of State, Baroness Amos visited DFID's Headquarters in East Kilbride, Scotland in May. The cost of flights and taxis totalled £394.90.

Montserrat

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what support the Department is providing to the inhabitants of Montserrat following the recent volcanic eruption; and what plans the Department has for future support. [126744]

Hilary Benn: We have set aside up to £1.5 million for immediate emergency relief purposes. This includes work to clear up the ashfall and to repair damaged infrastructure. We will continue to assist and, in consultation with the Montserratian authorities, to keep the situation under close review. Support totalling £45.6 million is already available for Montserrat over the three-year financial year period 2003–04 to 2005–06.

Mozambique Summit

John Barrett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the outcomes of the second African Summit in Mozambique. [126845]

Hilary Benn: The second summit of the African Union (AU) in Maputo in July focused on the internal mechanisms of the organisation. Mozambique took over the Presidency from South Africa and Joaquim Chissano, President of Mozambique, will Chair the AU

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for the next year. Alpha Oumar Konare, ex-President of Mali, was voted Chair of the AU Commission and Patrick Mazimhaka of Rwanda was elected Vice-Chair.

The following Commissioners of the AU were elected: Peace and Security, Said Djinnit (Algeria); Political Affairs, Dolly Joiner (The Gambia); Infrastructure and Energy, Bernard Zoba (Congo Brazzaville); Social Affairs, Gawanas Bience Philomina (Namibia); Human Resources, Science and Technology, Saida Agrebi (Tunisia); Trade and Industry, Elisabeth Tankeu, (Cameroon); and Rural Economy and Agriculture, Rosebud Kurwijila, (Tanzania). The position of Commissioner for Economic Affairs is yet to be filled.

The budget of the AU will increase from $31 million to $43 million in the next year and staffing is set to double to approximately 761 in the long term. The contributions of the richer countries of the AU will rise to 8.5 per cent., while the contributions from poorer countries will be 0.75 per cent. and those from the poorest will fall to 0.25 per cent.

The Pan African Parliament and the Peace and Security Council each require 27 ratifications to be established. This was not achieved at the AU Summit. However, more countries did ratify: the Pan African Parliament now has 17 signatures and the Peace and Security Council 15 (although this number may have increased since the Summit). In the event of the Peace and Security Council receiving 27 ratifications before the next AU Summit, the Assembly mandated the Executive Council to elect the membership of the Peace and Security Council. No decision was taken on the location of the Pan African Parliament. The Assembly also adopted the Draft Protocol on the Court of Justice of the AU, which is now open to ratification by member states.

The Assembly decided that the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) will be integrated into the AU in three years, or when the relevant institutions of the AU are in place, whichever comes first. The integration will be overseen by Alpha Oumar Konare, Chair of the AU Commission, and President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chair of the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee of NEPAD.

For more information on the outcomes of the Summit see www.au2003.qov.mz

Poverty Reduction Strategies

Mr. Caton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what plans the Department has to encourage the participation of civil society in poverty reduction strategies for heavily indebted poor countries. [126703]

Hilary Benn: DFID country teams encourage wide participation in PRSP consultation processes, including funding stakeholder workshops when appropriate. Support can be provided directly from country programmes, or indirectly by means of Partnership Programme Agreements where local civil society organisations (CSOs) are provided with support to enable them to help the consultation process.

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Examples of such activity include:

funding academics to train journalists (Ethiopia)

support to Actionaid to facilitate CSOs participating in the policy process (Kenya)

support to an umbrella group of CSOs devoted to poverty reduction (Zambia)

funding a think tank and associated civil society task forces working on policy implications of the government's reform programme (Bangladesh)

project on the development of CSOs (Kyrgyz republic)

co-funding with UNDP the national PRS civil society consultative process (Guyana)

Rwandan National Electoral Commission

John Barrett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment he has made of the report of the Rwandan National Electoral Commission, with particular reference to the shortfall in funding for conducting the August presidential and September parliamentary elections. [126844]

Hilary Benn: We support the Government of Rwanda and the National Election Commission's plans for the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. They are important landmarks in the reconstruction of Rwanda.

For some time DFID has been working with both the NEC and a group of donors, chaired by United Nations Development Programme, exploring ways to best support the NEC's ambitious strategic plan. A multi-donor basket fund is to be set up, and early indications are that the resources can be found to implement the plan. We will support this and hope to decide the nature of our contribution shortly.

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