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Export Control Act

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development pursuant to his answer of 18 June 2003, Official Report, column 241W, on the Export Control Act, whether the Department made an assessment of how the secondary legislation on export controls would (a) affect demands on departmentally-funded projects and (b) affect stability in developing countries. [129803]

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Mr. Gareth Thomas: A specific separate assessment was not undertaken but clearly a strengthening of controls on the trade in arms will reduce the availability of arms, which fuel conflicts, erode security and stability and undermine sustainable development, thereby making it easier for development goals to be reached.

Immunisation Programmes

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent discussions the Department has had with the World Health Organisation regarding the availability of vaccinations for immunisation programmes in developing countries. [129447]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Department of International Development (DFID) works closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) across a wide range of health issues. This includes working with WHO on the generic issues of improving access to health commodities and to supporting specific programme needs. DFID was also until recently a Board member of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI). GAVI is a public-private partnership focused on increasing children's access to vaccines in poor countries and discussions focus on issues around the availability of vaccinations in developing countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF also participate in that Board. The UK contribution to GAVI lasts till 2005 and amounts to £35 million.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment the Department has made of the conditions of the temporary prison outside Baghdad International Airport run by the coalition forces. [130345]

Hilary Benn: DFID has made no such assessment.

Adam Price: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how many Iraqi children the Department estimates have been detained at the temporary prison outside Baghdad International Airport run by coalition forces. [130346]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID does not hold such information.

Kosovo

Adam Price: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent humanitarian assessment the Department has made of the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict in 1999. [130349]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has aimed to assess the post-conflict situation in Kosovo in partnership with other international agencies, and with the Kosovo authorities. In December 2001, we worked with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Organisation for Migration, the Dutch Government and the Statistical Office of Kosovo to produce Kosovo's first comprehensive poverty assessment. This showed that approximately 50 per cent. of Kosovo's population was living in poverty, with

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12 per cent. in extreme poverty. The assessment has since been used to assist the design and monitoring of social services and benefits.

Since then, we have focused on building the capacity of the Kosovo institutions to monitor social service delivery and poverty outcomes. We remain in discussion with other agencies on possible implementation of a second poverty assessment, and on the support needed by the Kosovo authorities to enable them to monitor poverty and deliver services effectively.

Pakistan

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent initiatives have been taken to help fund and encourage the education of girls in Pakistan. [129060]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: All of DFID's education projects in Pakistan have a strong equity focus.

At the national level, DFID is supporting improvements to education management information systems so as to better monitor girl's education, through for example:

the Northern Areas Education Project (£6 million) supports increased female enrolment and participation in management and delivery through improved sector management and the development of community schools. Girls' enrolment in the Northern Areas at primary level has increased from 29,438 in 1996–97 to 52,538 in 2002–03 (an increase of 78 per cent.);


the North West Frontier Province Education Project (£6.5 million) includes support for public-private-community partnerships which are shown to increase the participation of girls; and


the planned Azad Jammu and Kashmir community education project (£650,000) aims to sustain improvements in access to and the quality of schooling, particularly for girls.

The EC is also supporting education sector reform with a programme of Euro59 million over the period 2002–06. The UK contributes approximately 19 per cent. of the EC programme resource.

Poverty (Middle East)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent assessment he has made of how many people are living in poverty in (a) the West Bank, (b) Gaza and (c) East Jerusalem. [129057]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Poverty in the Palestinian Occupied Territories has increased dramatically since the intifada started in September 2000. According to the most recent World Bank assessment, 60 per cent. of Palestinians, 1.9 million people, are living on less than $2 a day. In the Gaza Strip, the level is as high as 75 per cent.

Property Ownership Rights

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what support the Department gives to developing countries to improve the systems they operate to establish property ownership rights. [129302]

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Mr. Gareth Thomas: Over the last five years, DFID has supported developing countries to establish effective and equitable policies in relation to land and property, together with fair and efficient systems to establish and administer property rights, especially in Africa. Since this is invariably costly and long term, we seek to do this in partnership with others such as the international and regional development banks and the European Union. In Ghana and Malawi we are working alongside the World Bank and others to help establish practical, low-cost, and locally managed systems for land administration. In Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda we have supported inclusive processes of debate and consultation leading to new policies and laws on land and property and implementation plans. We are about to embark on a similar process in Kenya and are in the process of identifying how best to assist in South Africa. In India and Bangladesh we have sponsored the development of new alliances and partnerships to secure the tenure of vulnerable groups, the regularisation and improvement of informal low-income urban settlements, assistance to low-income households in accessing land, and the piloting of a community led finance facility for poor communities to manage upgrading, resettlement and infrastructure projects in partnership with local authorities and the banking sector. In Guyana we are about to complete a project for and the establishment of the regularisation of a new Lands and Surveys Commission and the associated regularisation of tenure rights.

Globally, DFID supports efforts by the World Bank to establish and implement coherent and inclusive policies to secure and administer property rights in the developing world, and the Department is supporting UN-Habitat in the development of its monitoring system for MDG Target 11 'Improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020', for which one indicator is secure tenure.

My Department is also funding research into the promotion of intermediate forms of tenure in urban areas, effective systems for the management of common property, and the improvement of administrative procedures so as to reduce the costs of legal and appropriate shelter for the urban poor.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment the Department has made of the ability of poor people in developing countries to realise the value of property which they own; and what assessment the Department has made of the impact that property ownership regulations and systems in their country have on the ability of poor people in developing countries to release the capital in their property. [129303]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: has found that in many developing countries poor people cannot realise the value of property they own. Their property rights are often informal and there are legal, administrative and financial barriers to poor people securing formal rights to land and property. However the department has also found that the promotion of property and private land titling and universal markets in land, as practised in developed countries, is not always appropriate. In many cases property ownership systems fail to recognise legitimate customary rights established over generations including those held by community groups. Standard

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models for titling land and property can sometimes marginalise the rights of the poor while favouring the better off.

The links between property rights and the ability to access credit and financial services are complex and context-specific. The department has found that the ability of the poor to accumulate assets, maintain their homes and make investments may not be greatly affected by their tenure status, depending primarily on their income earning and employment opportunities. As a result, whilst there may be good justification for extending formal property rights and simplifying property systems, financial service mechanisms need to be put in place that do not depend on the availability of titled property as collateral.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what assessment the Department has made of the time it takes to establish property ownership rights in developing countries and what impact this has on economic development in these countries. [129316]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: has found that property ownership rights in developed countries have been established as a result of economic and social change over long periods. The establishment of systems to administer and regulate property rights has also been a long-term process, although in many circumstances legitimate rights may exist on the ground. In practice, formal procedures established in law for registering and transacting in property rights can be lengthy, complex, costly and inaccessible to the poor. The result is that informal rights and transactions are not recognised, reducing economic opportunities and increasing disputes.

The department has assessed the strengths and limitations of intermediary forms of tenure and the opportunities to regulate land rights at local and community levels—both of which are procedurally and politically quicker, more practical and less costly than ambitious programmes to establish universal land titles. The department accepts that establishment of appropriate systems of property rights requires the pursuit of coherent objectives by governments over many years.

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