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Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether it is the policy of his Department to use fair trade products, as a matter of course, in (a) sales on departmental premises and (b) receptions and meetings involving staff and visitors. [142811]
Hilary Benn: The Government are committed to supporting the Fairtrade Foundation's efforts in promoting the supply and marketing of Fairtrade products. The contract for DFID refreshment facilities requires that a range of fair trade products is available for sales on departmental premises and for meetings.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what security considerations led his predecessors to refuse to reveal the salaries of the gender advisers he assigned to Iraq. [141826]
Hilary Benn : Salary details are confidential to the employer and the individual under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. They were not withheld for security reasons.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what guidance his Department sought in the appointment of two gender experts in Iraq from (a) recognised Muslim experts and (b) those with detailed understanding of Iraq. [141829]
Hilary Benn: DFID has extensive experience of working in Muslim countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.
In developing our understanding of Iraq, DFID draws on a wide range of expertise, inside and outside government, including our own staff, consultants and others working in Iraq.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what salaries are paid to the two gender experts who have been assigned by his Department to Iraq. [141830]
Hilary Benn: As the Lord President of the Council, Baroness Amos, answered on 17 November to a question in another place, salary details are confidential under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what experience of Muslim attitudes the two gender experts who have been assigned from his Department to Iraq have. [141831]
Hilary Benn: Both DFID-funded gender advisers in Iraq are Muslim and have extensive experience of working in Islamic cultures.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what arrangements he has made to ensure the co-ordination of gender advice to the Government of Iraq between (a) secondees he has assigned and (b) those of other countries. [141832]
Hilary Benn: Both DFID-funded gender advisers in Iraq have clear and specific terms of reference setting out their roles with respect to the Iraqi authorities and
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the Coalition Provisional Authority, They are expected to co-ordinate their own work with that of other professionals in the field, in particular through the development of women's networks in Iraq.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on International Monetary Fund opposition to the increase in rice and poultry tariffs in Ghana. [143635]
Hilary Benn: In his February 2003 Budget the Minister of Finance of Ghana proposed increases in duties on rice and poultry respectively. These increases were the subject of discussions with the International Monetary Fund, which was about to grant Ghana an arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. The discussions centred on the effects of the proposals on food prices and public revenues and not on the principles of trade liberalisation. The proposals were later withdrawn by the Government of Ghana.
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans his Department has to help secure the long-term future of the Global Fund. [141499]
Hilary Benn: The UK is intensifying its efforts to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as set out in the recently published Call for Action. The UK was a prime mover in setting up the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) and we very much want it to be successful as one of a number of instruments in the fight to tackle these three terrible diseases. The long-term future of the fund will be decided by its ability to achieve good results. We and other partners are therefore working closely with the fund to help to increase its effectiveness.
The UK recognises that in order to be secure and to be able to plan well, the fund needs to have long-term stability of funding. We therefore extended our current commitment through to 2008 bringing our total contribution to the GFATM to US$280 million. Funding will be subject to the GFATM reflecting a clear poverty focus, achieving a better financing system, integrating the fund's activities more effectively with national programmes and meeting agreed benchmarks to monitor its effectiveness. We have been working closely with the fund on all of these issues and made some good progress at the recent Board meeting held in Octoberparticularly on improving the financing system by moving to a more reliable system of replenishment based on commonly agreed performance measures. Good results will encourage increased contributions to the Global Fundboth from the UK and, importantly, from the wider international community and this will help to ensure its future.
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to contribute to the reform of the Global Fund's administrative structure. [141500]
Hilary Benn: The Global Fund was created as a new partnership between Governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities in January 2002
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and the UK was a prime mover in its establishment. It was set up with an innovative organisational structurewith Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs), Local Fund Agents (LFAs) and Principal Recipients (PRs) at country level. The Fund recognises that there is a need at this early stage to assess the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the new structures in order to suggest and introduce improvements. Evaluation priorities for 200405 have been set these will include the Fund's governance structure and an assessment of the performance based funding system.
Members of the Board of the Global Fund have a collective responsibility to ensure its effectiveness. As a Board member and through our membership on committees of the Fundsuch as the Monitoring and Effectiveness, Finance and Audit Committee, the UK will play its part in any reform resulting from these evaluations. We will be particularly keen to ensure that Global Fund processes do not add to the administrative burden of countries but align and harmonise with existing systems.
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans his Department has to adopt a system of annual contributions to the Global Fund based on the Equitable Contribution Framework. [141502]
Hilary Benn: My Department has no plans to adopt a system of contributions based on an equitable contribution framework. At the sixth Board meeting of the Global Fund held in October, members of the Board of the Global Fund voted to move to a periodic replenishment model on a voluntary basis for all public donors, complemented by additional ad hoc donations. This is now the agreed system for contributions to the Global Fund and should put the Fund on a firmer financial footing.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money was originally allocated to the Indigenous Peoples' Demonstration Project for the conservation of Brazilian rain forest; what proportion of this sum will be reallocated for middle income countries; and when support for the IPDP will end. [142647]
Hilary Benn: The Indigenous Peoples' Demonstration Project (IPDP) has a budget of £2.1 million for five years. It started in May 2002, with an estimated completion date of April 2007. As DFID is still in the process of reviewing its programme to Brazil, no decisions have been taken yet on the extent to which the project may be affected.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what expert advisers, other than on gender, he intends to send to Iraq for strategic advice; and on which subjects. [141824]
Hilary Benn: Within the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, DFID currently provides strategic advisers in the following areas: Urban Development and Infrastructure, and Food Security. We
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are planning to deploy additional experts in the following areas: Water and Sanitation, Local Government and Institutional Development, and Economic Policy.
DFID currently funds strategic advisers within the Coalitional Provisional Authority South (CPAS) in the following areas: Education, Economic Policy and Financial Management and Governance.
DFID has also agreed to fund strategic advisory posts within the Department of Economic Planning and Development within CPAS. Recruitment is on-going and advisers will work in the following areas: Economic Policy and Financial Management, Agriculture and Irrigation, Justice, Housing and Construction, Transport, Health, Power, Fuel, Water and Sanitation, Telecommunications and Internally Displaced Persons/Refugees.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what immunisation programme is in place for infants in Iraq; what percentage of babies born since the end of the conflict have been immunised; and if he will make a statement. [142614]
Hilary Benn: A national immunisation campaign is under way in Iraq which aims to vaccinate Iraq's 4.2 million children under five against preventable diseases such as polio, measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria and tetanus. The Ministry of Health, supported by UNICEF, has run a series of national immunisation days since June encouraging routine immunisation. DFID has provided £13.8 million to UNICEF to help fund this and other work.
Until the national immunisation days commenced in June, it is thought that no babies born since the end of conflict had been immunised. Since then, an estimated 3 million children under five (including babies) have been vaccinated. This implies that around 80 per cent. of under-fives have been vaccinated so far, though no comprehensive data are available.
There is also a continuing immunisation campaign which takes place twice a week, and aims to reach those children who have missed out on the routine programme of immunisation. In October, the estimated number of children under five reached through this programme was nearly 250,000.
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the humanitarian requirements of Iraqi refugees along the Jordanian border. [142783]
Hilary Benn: The office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report that there are 1,150 refugees, mostly Iranian Kurds from AI-Tash camp (inside Iraq) and a further 822 in AI-Ruwayshid camp (350 km east of Amman), most of whom are Palestinians. These camps have been prepared for the winter by renewing and strengthening some of the tents and by providing additional blankets and mattresses.
An NGO partner, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO), say that they have changed summer tents for thicker winter ones which have a heater inside. Plastic covering is also provided for the outside of the tents and the ground. The number of blankets has doubled and each refugee will have four
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blankets. Provision has also been made for specific storm shelters and extra clothing. In the area where the camps are established, the temperatures can be warm in the daytime but drop below zero at night.
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