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31 Mar 2004 : Column 1441W—continued
HIV/AIDS (Africa)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of (a) teachers, (b) nurses and (c) front-line health sector staff other than nurses that are likely to die from HIV/AIDS and related illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa in the next 10 years. [164423]
Hilary Benn : In sub-Saharan Africa HIV/AIDS is killing people in the prime of their working lives and weakening the ability of many countries to fill key public service posts needed to maintain essential service delivery. The problem is compounded by the increased demand for HIV/AIDS services (treatment, care and prevention) that must be met by a diminishing workforce.
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We are, however, still at an early stage of understanding the direct extent of the impact on front-line health and education personnel as a result of death and illness from HIV/AIDS. The data available has limitations in terms of consistency and comparability.
The Department for International Development is working with development partners to assist Ministries of Education in assessing the impact of HIV/AIDS on teachers and in developing educational and management plans to mitigate those impacts. We have supported the preparation of impact assessment studies on the education systems in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Rwanda. We are working as a member of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on Education and HIV/AIDS, to train education planners on HIV/AIDS through a programme of workshops under the leadership of the World Bank. We are further supporting the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning to carry out research on the impact of HIV/AIDS on education in sub-Saharan Africa. DFID also supports the work of the United Nations Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance (CHGA), which is currently undertaking research to map the implications of capacity losses from HIV/AIDS for the maintenance of state structures and economic development in Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research will specifically investigate the implications of HIV/AIDS on service provision in the public and private sector. It will report its findings to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan in 2005. One study by CHGA estimates that 10–15 per cent. of health service staff in Mozambique could die from HIV/AIDS between 2002 and 2010. This would have very damaging consequences for an already extremely weak and under-staffed health system.
The UK's new strategy on HIV/AIDS is being developed in consultation with stakeholders. The strategy, which will be published in July, will emphasise the importance of assisting countries to develop both short-term "emergency" solutions to address the current shortage of health and education personnel, and to take a longer-term view of human resource planning and management in the light of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Indoor Air Pollution
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (1) overseas aid the Government provides for projects to eliminate or reduce indoor air pollution; [164064]
- (2) if he will list the overseas aid projects supported by the Government which are aimed at eliminating or reducing indoor air pollution; [164065]
(3) what assessment he has made of the impact of indoor air pollution on health in the world's poorest countries. [164066]
Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development (DFID) recognises the hazards of indoor air pollution from cooking on poorly designed wood, dung and coal burning stoves—the main source of cooking and heating for half the global population. Women are disproportionately affected because the burden of cooking tends to fall on them. In addition,
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high levels of indoor smoke pollution can have a particularly bad effect on the health of small children, increasing mortality from pneumonia.
DFID is working to develop a multi-sector approach to this issue, that takes account of appropriate stove technologies and the behavioural changes required to reduce women and children's exposure to indoor smoke from biomass fuels.
As part of our China programme, DFID is supporting the environmentally sustainable and efficient use of locally available sources of fuel in poor rural areas, whilst working to reduce associated health hazards and improve livelihoods, by co-financing a substantial World Bank managed project on indoor air pollution. This project addresses both technology design and product marketing, and seeks to raise awareness of the effect on health. Earlier DFID-supported research work introduced stove improvements to countries in Africa.
DFID is also supporting the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), which is a key player in this area. ITDG's November 2003 report: "Smoke: the Killer in the Kitchen", which addressed the impact of indoor air pollution on health in developing
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countries, was, in part, the result of DFID-funded work under the Knowledge and Research (KaR) programme. DFID also supports two other ITDG research projects:
- Smoke, health and household energy; and,
- Finding ways of scaling up effective and sustainable means of reducing the problem of kitchen smoke.
DFID is looking forward to signing off a Partnership Programme Agreement with ITDG in April 2004.
Further details of DFID-supported research work can be found on DFID's Energy Website, which provides information on all research and development projects in the energy sector supported by DFID's Engineering KaR programme [www.dfid-kar-energy.org.uk]. Projects R8021, R8345 and R7368 are the most relevant, but others also touch on the subject.
Mine Clearance
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to which organisations the Government gave money for mine clearance in 2003–04; and how much was given in each case. [164325]
Hilary Benn: I attach the following table showing the actual spend by DFID for Humanitarian Mine Action in 2003–2004. These programmes cover demining programmes, contributions to the various United Nations Organisations that cover mine action and programmes covering research and the provision of knowledge.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) core support | 2,000,000 |
| Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) core support | 1,048,455 |
| United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) core support | 600,000 |
| Demining Advice BARIC Consultants (commercial company) | 120,113 |
| United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) core support | 500,000 |
| Research AEA/SERCO (commercial company) | 24,823 |
| Research and Knowledge—QINETIQ 2002–2004 (commercial company) | 288,392 |
| Ottawa Sponsorship Programme (to assist participants from poorer countries attend international meetings on implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty). | 16,660 |
| Angola—Halo Trust mine clearance | 117,650 |
| Afghanistan—UNMAS demining | 2,000,000 |
| Iraq—Mines Advisory Group (MAG) demining | 1,000,000 |
| Iraq—UNMAS demining | 4,000,000 |
| N Caucasus—UNICEF mine risk education, victim support | 60,000 |
Additionally the UK share of EC funded mine action programmes for the calendar year 2003 is estimated at approximately 8.5 Million Euros. The final figure will be available in June 2004.
Poverty (Africa)
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) families and (b) children in each country in sub-Saharan Africa are living in poverty; and if he will make a statement. [164300]
Hilary Benn: Officially reported figures are unavailable for the number of families and children in sub-Saharan Africa living in poverty. The World Bank has however published figures for the number of people living below US $ 1 a day in Sub-Saharan Africa. They estimate that in 2000, 323 million people (adults and children) or 49 per cent. of people in sub-Saharan Africa survived on less than US $1 a day. This is an increase of 82 million on 1990 figures. The following table details figures available for poverty levels in individual countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
| Percentage of population below(7) | Year of survey | Number of People below (Millions)(8) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burundi | 58.4 | 1998 | 4.1 |
| Cameroon | 33.4 | 1996 | 5.1 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 12.3 | 1995 | 2.0 |
| Ethiopia | 81.9 | 1999–2000 | 53.9 |
| Gambia | 59.3 | 1998 | 0.8 |
| Ghana | 44.8 | 1999 | 8.8 |
| Kenya | 23.0 | 1997 | 7.1 |
| Malawi | 41.7 | 1997–1998 | 4.4 |
| Mozambique | 37.9 | 1996 | 6.8 |
| Nigeria | 70.2 | 1997 | 91.2 |
| Senegal | 26.3 | 1995 | 2.6 |
| South Africa | <2 | 1995 | — |
| Uganda | 82.2 | 1996 | 18.7 |
(7) The percentage of population living below the commonly used international $1 a day standard, measured in 1993 international prices and adjusted for local currency using purchasing power parities.
(8) The number of people living below the $1 a day standard, measured in 1993 international prices and adjusted for local currency using purchasing power parities.
Source:
The Department for International Development's Report on Statistics for International Development 1998–99 to 2002–03.
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Information on the number of children in sub-Saharan Africa living in poverty is not available from official international sources. However, a UNICEF sponsored research project produced data for children living in absolute poverty in 21 African countries. The results of the study are set out in the following table.
| Child (<18) population (000s) (2000) | Percentage in absolute poverty | |
|---|---|---|
| Benin | 3,360 | 74.7 |
| Burkina Faso | 6,457 | 84.0 |
| Cameroon | 7,453 | 54.3 |
| Central African Republic | 1,844 | 65.4 |
| Cote d'lvore | 7,943 | 47.3 |
| Ethiopia | 32,456 | 94.0 |
| Ghana | 9,303 | 47.0 |
| Guinea | 4,145 | 71.1 |
| Kenya | 15,705 | J35.8 |
| Malawi | 6,002 | 74.6 |
| Mozambique | 9,231 | 76.3 |
| Namibia | 884 | 69.8 |
| Nigeria | 59,108 | 52.6 |
| Rwanda | 3,941 | 86.9 |
| Senegal | 4,804 | 39.4 |
| South Africa | 17,589 | 24.3 |
| Tanzania | 18,258 | 78.1 |
| Togo | 2,310 | 61.9 |
| Uganda | 13,062 | 85.4 |
| Zambia | 5,571 | 56.8 |
| Zimbabwe | 6,645 | 45.3 |
(9) UNICEF have defined absolute poverty as: "a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only income but also access to social services".
Source:
UNICEF sponsored research paper "Child Poverty in the Developing World" by David Gordon et al, The Policy Press 2003
These figures show the unacceptable levels of poverty affecting millions of children and their families in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are committed to reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and to assisting countries to make progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, including halving the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day by 2015. The Department for International Development's bilateral programme in sub-Saharan Africa will increase to £1 billion by 2005–2006, (up from around £650 million a year in 2002).
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