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Conflict Resolution

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funds his Department has committed to conflict resolution in 2003–04; and what percentage of the Department's budget this represents. [155565]

Hilary Benn: In 2003–04, it was forecast that £22 million would be allocated to DFID for conflict prevention work through the Africa Conflict Prevention

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Pool (ACPP) and £16 million through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP). £4.4 million was committed to Conflict Policy and Projects within DFID's Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department.

DFID's total programme budget for financial year 2003–04 is £3,611 million. Therefore, committed and specific conflict related spending is equivalent to 1.2 per cent. of DFID's total programme budget. However, this does not incorporate the full extent of DFID's spending on conflict issues in this financial year.

DFID's total budget for its bilateral country and regional programmes is £1,429 million. A significant proportion of this budget is committed to countries affected by conflict and many of DFID's poverty reduction programmes in these countries will have a positive impact on conflict. However, further breakdown by sector is not possible until all actual programmes spending for 2003–04 has been recorded.

These spending commitment figures are available in the 2003 DFID Departmental Report, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

Department Branding

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on branding the Department between 1997–98 and 2003–04, broken down by (a) consultancy fees, (b) design and orders for new stationery, (c) website design and (d) other material featuring new logos. [154078]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Since its establishment in 1997 as the successor to the Overseas Development Administration, this Department has spent the following amounts on creating a new logo and departmental identity:

(a) Consultancy fees—£6,000 plus licensing typeface—£5,000 and producing guidelines for contractors on logo/identity—£5,600.

(b) All major items of stationery requiring the new logo were held in electronic form so costs for design and new stock were negligible.

(c) There were no significant Website re-design costs.

(d) Publications featuring the old logo continued in use until stocks were exhausted or until the publication became obsolete. Write off costs were therefore negligible.

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of his Department's funding was paid to (a) governments and (b) non-governmental organisations in each year since 1997. [154250]

Hilary Benn: In recent years, around 7 per cent. of DFID's programme has been channelled through non-governmental organisations and some 23 per cent. directly through governments. The remainder also supports governments and NGOs indirectly, but the initial cash payment is made to multilateral organisations (45 per cent.) or companies and research institutes for development programmes that they manage or goods and services provided by them (25 per cent.).

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Direct Budget Support

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what indicators he intends to use to assess whether direct budget support is effective. [152085]

Hilary Benn: DFID continuously monitors the effectiveness in reducing poverty, and the value for money, of its direct budget support. Assessing effectiveness means both monitoring the fiduciary risks we take as we use budget support, and also evaluating budget support in terms of its actual effects on poor people.

DFID monitors fiduciary risk in order to have a basic indication of whether our budget support is being used effectively. Indicators for monitoring fiduciary risk include:

whether the objectives for which funds were allocated have been achieved;

whether reporting is accurate and timely;

whether actual expenditure matches the agreed budget allocations;

whether value for money and transparency have been demonstrated in procurement;

what progress has been made towards improving financial management.

In addition to this, a joint donor evaluation of general budget support is under way, which will provide a comprehensive assessment of the effects of budget support on developing countries and their people. DFID has the lead in this process which is co-funded by 15 other donors, through the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The evaluation's indicators of effectiveness will include:

whether there are macroeconomic benefits from budget support (for example: recession avoided, inflation controlled);

whether the recipient Government has greater control over externally-funded activities and resources;

whether public expenditure is made more efficient;

whether public administration is made more effective (due to focus on national budget rather than off-budget financing);

whether democratic accountability is enhanced.

Ultimately the evaluation will assess whether budget support reduces poverty and reduces social exclusion. This assessment will be made using developing countries' own monitoring systems.

Full details of the indicators used by the evaluation will be published in April in the document "Joint Evaluation of GBS: Evaluation Framework". A copy of this document will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Ethiopia

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has made to the Government of Ethiopia about human rights in the country. [153344]

Hilary Benn: During my recent visit to Ethiopia I raised the issue of human rights with Prime Minister Meles and Members of his Government about how

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respect for human rights—as enshrined in Ethiopia's own Constitution—can be improved. The Prime Minister told me of his commitment to improving human rights as enshrined in the constitution and it will be important for the people to see this happen. He nevertheless accepted that there are problems with human rights in Ethiopia. He gave an undertaking to build the capacity of the judiciary and security sectors to help in the securing and protection of constitutional rights for all. Our office in Ethiopia also frequently discusses such issues with the Government.

Representations concerning human rights form part of a wider ongoing dialogue with the Government of Ethiopia. This dialogue centres on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)—signed between DFID and the Government of Ethiopia in 2003—that sets out undertakings by each side. The improvement of human rights is one such undertaking given by the Government of Ethiopia.

We have also ensured that indicators and targets relating to human rights will be linked to our direct budget support in Ethiopia. This will allow us to track the direction of change and inform decisions on future support.

Iraq

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to his answer of Thursday 4 December 2003, Official Report, column 115W, on Iraq, whether the Treasury provided an additional £60 million to his Department to help meet the Madrid pledge. [153321]

Hilary Benn: The £60 million set aside by the Chancellor from the Treasury Reserve to meet additional needs in Iraq was included in the United Kingdom's Madrid pledge of £544 million for the three years from April 2003, which covers actual and planned expenditure on reconstruction by DFID, the MOD and the FCO.

To date, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been allocated £35.7 million of the £60 million to meet the costs of civilian staff seconded to the Coalition Provisional Authority and to the office of the UK's Special Representative to Iraq, including the costs of providing suitably secure accommodation and transport. These staff are engaged in rebuilding Iraqi government capacity and facilitating progress towards a stable, effective and representative Iraqi government. DFID has been allocated £6.5 million for reconstruction work in southern Iraq and funding for NGOs. The remainder has yet to be allocated.

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what payments have been made by his Department into the Development Fund for Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [155334]

Hilary Benn: DFID has made no payments into the Development Fund for Iraq. The Fund was established to hold Iraq's own revenues, principally from oil sales.

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list direct payments from his Department to the Coalition Provisional Authority; what the payments were for in each case; and if he will make a statement. [155336]

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Hilary Benn: DFID has made no direct payments to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Payments for DFID support to the CPA are made to individuals undertaking secondments and to companies providing consultancy, recruitment, security, equipment supply and other services.

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