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New Partnership for Africa's Development

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment he has made of progress on the New Partnership for Africa's Development plan in southern African countries. [128192]

Hilary Benn: The New Partnership of for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a continent-wide plan with ambitious aims of tackling poverty in the whole of Africa through increased investment, better governance and a partnership with donors based on mutual accountability. The UK fully supports the aims of NEPAD and recognises that it is a long-term plan.

NEPAD has made substantial progress since it was founded in 2001. 16 countries have signed up to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a voluntary initiative to improve political, economic and corporate governance in Africa. The first reviews are due to take place later this year. NEPAD has also made progress in drawing up plans for an African Peace Keeping Capacity, and plans on priority areas including infrastructure, agriculture and environment. This progress will lead to long-term improvements in governance, peace keeping and investment in southern Africa as well as other African regions.

Of the southern African countries, both Mozambique and South Africa have signed up to the APRM. Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique are particularly keen supporters of NEPAD and both Presidents are on the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee of NEPAD. NEPAD is reflected in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Indicative Strategic Paper. The Government of South Africa has a NEPAD outreach programme and a NEPAD coordinating point in its Department of Foreign Affairs- it is also seeking to establish NEPAD focal points in all Ministries. NEPAD is a long-term programme, it will take time to deliver, but it is gaining increasing support across the continent.

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New Technology Provision

John Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what action he is taking to ensure that new technology provided to communities in developing countries is appropriate for need, sensibly deployed and that local people are consulted about their requirements. [128142]

Hilary Benn: DFID funds several projects helping to provide new technology to developing country communities. Each of these has emerged from extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including representatives of the communities themselves, to ensure that the provision is fit for purpose and appropriate to their needs.

In addition, DFID is widely engaged in research and advocacy through, for example, the UN Information Communication Technologies Task Force and the World Summit on the Information Society aimed at focusing new technology policy on the needs and interests of poor people in developing countries.

Nigeria

John Barrett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what progress is being made towards the immunisation of people in Nigeria against polio. [127942]

Hilary Benn: Routine immunization coverage in Nigeria reaches about 27 per cent. of children with Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). Due to the poor state of routine immunization services, the Federal Government of Nigeria established in 1997 the National Programme on Immunization (NPI). The NPI has focussed on providing supplementary, door-to-door coverage with OPV using National and Sub-national Immunization Days (NIDs and SNIDs). Around 40 million doses are administered through NIDs and SNIDs every year.

Interruption of the transmission of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) had been achieved in 29 out of 37 states by 2001, but unfortunately the situation has again worsened, with confirmed cases in 15 states in the first half of 2003. All these states are in the north, and the south remains polio-free. Adverse propaganda by religious leaders is alienating some sections of the population from the immunization workers.

My Department is working with the Nigerian Government and with other international partners to meet the challenge of polio eradication in Nigeria. This includes a grant of £50 million to the World Health Organization for polio work in the ten global priority countries.

Palestinian Refugees

Mr. Love: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what support the Department provides to Palestinian refugees in (a) Jordan, (b) Lebanon and (c) Syria for (i) health programmes and (ii) relief of poverty; and if he will make a statement. [127813]

Hilary Benn: The great majority of DFID's support to Palestinian refugees is through contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) General Fund. This

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provides education, health, relief and social services to Palestinian refugees in all five fields of operations: Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UNRWA determines the allocations between fields, and between sectors. In 2002, DFID contributed £13 million to UNRWA's General Fund. A similar contribution is planned for 2003. In addition, we fund various technical cooperation projects, including health programmes in Lebanon.

Sao Tome and Principe

Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development (1) what analysis the Department has made of the effect of the military coup on (a) aid spending and (b) international development projects in Sao Tome and Principe; and if he will make a statement; [127259]

(2) how much aid is spent directly by the Department in Sao Tome and Principe; and if he will make a statement. [127260]

Hilary Benn: The UK does not have a development programme in Sao Tome and Principe. The main bilateral donors are Portugal, France, Spain and Taiwan and the principal multilateral donors are the World Bank, European Community and the African Development Bank. Most development projects focus on infrastructure, agriculture, health and education. The recent coup brought the country to a standstill for a few days. But apart from temporarily slowing down the efforts of the donor community, recent events seem to have had no other negative impact on development programmes.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what projects in Sao Tome and Principe are funded through aid from the Department; and if he will make a statement. [127262]

Hilary Benn: DFID does not have a country programme for Sao Tome and Principe and therefore does not provide funding for particular projects in the country, apart from a small grants scheme for Angola and Sao Tome and Principe managed by the British Embassy in Luanda.

Secondments

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what the Department's policy is on employing secondees from the private sector; how many secondees from the (a) private and (b) public sectors the Department employed in each year since 1997; from which companies and organisations they were seconded; at what level they were employed; and if he will make a statement. [127060]

Hilary Benn: DFID encourages secondments from a wide range of organisations in both the private and public sectors.

Information on inward secondments for the period 1997–98 to 1999–2000 is not readily available. The following statistics relate to secondments into DFID in each financial year from 2000–01.

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Seconded to DFID	Private Sector	NGO	Public Sector	Organisations	Grade(9)	Total
2000–01	3		1	1 Marconi 1 Virgin One 1 Cisco Systems 1 Other Government Dept	1 SCS 3 Band A	4
2001–02		1	6	1 International Alert 2 Other Government Dept 1 Met Police 1 Crown Agents 2 European Commission	4 Band A 3 Band B	7
2002–03			15	14 Other Government Dept 1 European Commission	2 SCS 1 Band A 12 Band B	15
2003–04	1	1	8	1 Rio Tinto 1 Christian Aid 8 Other Government Dept	7 Band A 3 Band B	10

⁽⁹⁾ SCS: Senior Civil Service

⁽¹⁰⁾ Band A: Senior Executive Officer to Senior Principal [Grade 6]

⁽¹¹⁾ Band 8: Executive Officer, Higher Executive Officer, Civil Service Fast Stream

Sierra Leone

Mr. Love: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what aid has been provided to Sierra Leone in each of the last five years; what private investment has taken place as a result; and if he will make a statement. [127807]

Hilary Benn: The total value of UK official aid to Sierra Leone in each of the last five financial years is as follows:

	£ thousand
1998–99	9,153
1999–2000	30,044
2000–01	35,148
2001–02	37,177
2002–03	32,756

Our programme does not include direct measures to promote investment. We have focussed on reconstruction and recovery programmes, security sector and governance reforms and budgetary support. The programme is intended to assist the development of safety and security and accountable and effective governance. These are essential conditions for investors. Key areas of our support for the promotion of investor confidence are public financial management, audit and public procurement reform, law reform, support to the Anti Corruption Commission and effective regulation of the diamond industry.

We have recently carried out a review of programmes by the Government of Sierra Leone and other donors to support employment and investment, and are considering the possibility of supporting such programmes. We have also agreed a request by the Government to support a post of adviser on privatisation and investment in the Office of the President.

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