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23 Oct 2003 : Column 693W—continued
Liberia
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the projects planned by his Department that are to be run in Liberia; what the (a) structure, (b) aims and (c) methods of each project are, and the projected schedule for project (i) initiation and (ii) conclusion; and if he will make a statement. [133647]
Hilary Benn: We have committed a total of £7.6 million this year for humanitarian programmes in Liberia, these are managed by the UN and other international relief agencies. An inter-departmental mission will visit Liberia in November. It will assess the current needs of the country, and the measures being taken by the international community, particularly through the UN, to assist the Transitional National Government to address them. The mission will make recommendations for the future role of the UK.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the issue of (a) short-term emergency aid, (b) medium-term humanitarian aid and (c) long-term development assistance to Liberia; what programmes (i) were outlined to him and (ii) he outlined; when and where these discussions took place; and if he will make a statement. [133648]
Hilary Benn: DFID has been in regular contact with officials from USAID. In addition the FCO have regular discussions with the US Government concerning all aspects of the co-ordination of aid in Liberia. An inter-departmental mission will visit Liberia in November and will have further discussions with US officials on their plans. We understand that these may include support to security sector reform. There are provisional plans for a donor conference on Liberia, probably in December, at which donors will coordinate and exchange information on their intentions.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions (a) his Department and (b) representatives of the Government have had with representatives of the governments of (i) EU member states, (ii) Norway, (iii) EU accession candidate countries, (iv) the US, (v) ECOWAS member states, (vi) Commonwealth member states and (vii) Japan on the subject of post-conflict reconstruction in Liberia; when and where these discussions took place; what concerns were raised during each discussion and by whom; and if he will make a statement. [133649]
Hilary Benn: Discussions on Liberia, by DFID and the FCO, have taken place with a range of governments and agencies. These have included EU member states, particularly France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy concerning aid to Liberia. We have also discussed with Norway the possibility of Norwegian police officers being seconded to UNMIL. We have had regular contact with the U.S. on all aspects of the situation in Liberia. We have had close and continuing contact with
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ECOWAS concerning its role in Liberia, and have contributed £1 million. to its international force. There has been contact with other states. We have had close contact with the European Commission concerning their intentions in Liberia.
Discussions are taking place on arrangements for a possible donors conference on Liberia in mid December. This will be an opportunity for the international community to coordinate its proposals.
Malaria
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money his Department will give (a) for medicines to fight malaria and (b) to research into affordable anti-malarials in 2003–04. [133551]
Hilary Benn: DFID is strongly committed to meeting the Millennium Development Goal to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria by 2015, recognising the importance of malaria, not just in terms of disease burden, but also the potential it has to undermine economic growth and human development.
Since 1998, DFID has provided in excess of £110 million to support malaria control activities globally and at country-level. This includes support to Roll Back Malaria, an international partnership to reduce competition and duplication of effort, develop technical consensus, increase political commitment and raise the profile of malaria.
As DFID contributes to a broad based effort to tackle this complex disease, it is not possible to break down our spend to show amounts spent on medicines for malaria by year. Our support at international level is to initiatives which support general malaria control activities and at country level provides finance to governments, either as support to particular sectors or direct into governments' budgets. Our commitment to combating malaria was reaffirmed in May 2003 with our pledge to increase our commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to US$280 million. Successful implementation of existing Global Fund proposals will result in the number of treatments for resistant malaria in Africa increasing from 15,000 to four million annually and also result in the purchase of seven and a half million insecticide treated nets over the next two years. These nets offer substantial protection against malaria.
Despite the great complexity of malaria, it remains a disease that is preventable, treatable and curable. DFID is committed to supporting national governments and partners ensure that effective drugs and commodities are accessible to the poor. We have committed over £1.5 billion since 1997 to strengthen health systems to deliver vital drugs and health care treatment. In malaria endemic countries a significant part of drug spend will be for anti malarials.
DFID also provides support to the Medical Research Council and initiatives such as the Medicines for Malaria Venture (£1 million in 2003–04) to help to find new low cost malaria treatments.
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Cambodia
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the (a) de-mining and (b) mine awareness projects (i) directly run, (ii) primarily funded directly, (iii) financially assisted directly by his Department, (iv) primarily funded and (v) financially assisted through (A) local, (B) regional and (C) international non-governmental organisations using contributions from his Department in Cambodia since 1997, including the structure and methodology of each project, and the latest assessment his Department has made of the progress of (1) each project, (2) de-mining and (3) mine awareness in general in Cambodia; and if he will make a statement. [133323]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has provided funding for demining in Cambodia at the following disbursement levels since 1997.
| 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGO | 0.56 | 0.44 | 0.29 | 2.61 | 2.30 | 0.78 | 0.45 |
| UNDP | 0.50 | 0.50 | 0.48 |
DFID funding for Cambodia covers a number of different areas of activity and is part of DFID's global response to humanitarian mine action. In Cambodia specifically we have provided funds on a bilateral basis to the UK NGOs the HALO Trust and Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to carry out demining programmes in various parts of Cambodia. We have also provided funds for the in-country development and testing of mechanical demining equipment.
DFID has provided additional funds through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA) and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) which are indigenous organisations set up with the assistance of the UNDP.
In March 2001 DFID carried out a review of its support to mine action in Cambodia. We concluded that there had been considerable successes since 1991 with thousands of mines having been cleared and large areas of land restored to economic use. We thought there were institutional weaknesses especially in the area of co-ordination where there was limited interaction between the various organisations working on mine action and the central mine action authorities. Our support to the Cambodian Mine authorities that we provide via the UN aims to address this issue. The UN will be providing support under the UNDP Country Co-operation Framework for 2001–05. Key objectives of the programme include development of the management capacity of the CMAC and CMAA. Specific activities include:
- Strengthening partnerships among entities and stakeholders involved in the mine awareness sector;
Development of quality assurance and quality control processes;
Development and review of MRE guidelines and materials;
Promotion of national compliance with responsibilities detailed in the various national and international instruments pertaining to mine action;
Assistance in victim rehabilitation programmes.
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-
European Union
- 1998 £3.0 million (UK share = 19.1 per cent.)
1999 £0.56 million (UK share = 17.75 per cent.)
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