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11 May 2004 : Column 239W—continued

India

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the value of the work of young filmmakers in    India in drawing attention to (a) industrial pollution, (b) early marriage, (c) child labour and (d) prostitution. [171702]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Effective communication is an essential development tool. In India, we have not specifically assessed the role of young filmmakers in drawing attention to environmental and social issues. DFID supports awareness-raising and advocacy on social issues through a variety of media, in line with the   objectives in our recently published Country Assistance Plan.

Infant Mortality

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the under five mortality rates for each of the 16 African countries covered by the Millennium Development Goal. [171679]

Hilary Benn: DFID's Public Service Agreement (PSA) sets objectives and interim targets to 2006 to help monitor progress in meeting the MDGs. The PSA focuses on key countries and the 16 key Sub-Saharan Africa countries are listed as follows with their associated under five child mortality rates (per 1000 live births) for 2001.
Under 5 Mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)

PSA Key Countries (Sub-Saharan Africa)
Year 2001
Congo, Democratic Republic	205
Ethiopia	172
Ghana	100
Kenya	122
Lesotho	132
Malawi	183
Mozambique	197
Nigeria	183
Rwanda	183
Sierra Leone	316
South Africa	71
Sudan	107
Tanzania	165
Uganda	124
Zambia	202
Zimbabwe	123

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the change in the under five mortality rate has been since 1997 in countries receiving his Department's health care assistance in (a) Asia and (b) sub-Saharan Africa. [171686]

Hilary Benn: The following table gives the change in under-five mortality rates between 1995 and 2001 in our main partner countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These are the countries listed in our Public Service Agreement. Data for 1997 is not available from standard international sources so the nearest available date, 1995, is provided instead.

Although progress has been mixed, many countries have seen improvements in under-five mortality rates. In Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal these improvements
 
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have been dramatic with reductions of a quarter or more over the six-year period. On average there has been more progress in Asia than Africa.

DFID provides assistance to the health sector through various different mechanisms. These include direct funding to the health sector and health projects, funding to the general government budget, and indirect funding to health related sectors and multi-lateral and Non-Government organisations. This makes it difficult to accurately identify all countries receiving our health care assistance, and our main partner countries are considered the most useful set for this purpose.

	Under-5 mortality rate
	Per 1,000 live births
Country	1995	2001	Percentage difference
Asia
Bangladesh	(11)116	77	-34
Indonesia	66	45	-32
Nepal	120	91	-24
China	46	39	-15
Pakistan	125	109	-13
Vietnam	43	38	-12
India	104	93	-11
Afghanistan	257	257	0
Cambodia	120	138	15
Average	111	99	-11
Sub-Saharan Africa
Malawi	216	183	-15
Uganda	145	124	-14
Rwanda	210	183	-13
Ghana	112	100	-11
Mozambique	215	197	-8
Sudan	115	107	-7
Ethiopia	183	172	-6
Lesotho	140	132	-6
Nigeria	187	183	-2
Sierra Leone	317	316	0
Congo, Democratic. Republic.	205	205	0
Zambia	202	202	0
Tanzania	164	165	1
South Africa	65	71	9
Kenya	111	122	10
Zimbabwe	90	123	37
Average	167	162	-3

⁽¹¹⁾ 1993
Source:
World Development Indicators 2003

International Finance Corporation

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the Department's stake is as a shareholder in the International Finance Corporation. [172507]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The United Kingdom's capital stock in the International Finance Corporation is valued at US$121,015,000 that is equal to 5.3 per cent. of the total capital stock; this confers a voting power of 121,265 votes equal to 5.04 per cent. of total voting power.

Iraq

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what the total value of (a) exports from and (b) imports to Iraq was in the 12 months immediately before the start of the recent conflict; [171205]
 
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(2) what his estimate is of the total value of (a) imports to Iraq and (b) exports from Iraq in 2003–04. [171209]

Hilary Benn: Iraq oil exports through the Oil For Food programme (OFF) before the 2003 conflict were in   the region of $10 billion per year. Imports, again through OFF, were approximately equal to exports less the administration costs of OFF and 5 per cent. of oil revenues which were set aside as reparations resulting from the 1991 Gulf War. Any trade outside OFF would have been illegal and unrecorded.

Iraq's current oil exports are around 1.7 million barrels per day, which at present oil prices are expected to earn around $16 billion over a year. Reliable data on other exports and imports since the opening of Iraq's borders to trade after the 2003 conflict are not available.

Microbicides

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has for further funding to ensure the Microbicide Development Programme Phase III effectiveness trials of candidate microbicides are completed and facilitate future product development. [171260]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is strongly committed to research and development and is proud to be the first government donor on microbicides. Women friendly technologies including microbicides will be an essential component of an effective HIV response enabling women to take control of their lives.

Even an only partially effective microbicide to prevent sexual transmission of HIV could prevent 2.5 million deaths from AIDS every three years. DFID welcomes the fact that five clinical field trials of different microbicide candidates will be launched in 2004. It will be important to complete these trials in order to identify the most effective product.

DFID is providing a grant of £16 million over five years (2001–2006) for the Microbicide Development Programme (MDP), co-ordinated by the Clinical Trials Unit of the Medical Research Council (MRC), and Imperial College. The programme is investigating the effectiveness of promising microbicide products, involving research centres in five African countries. DFID support accounts for over half of the projected costs.

DFID has been in discussion with other donors concerning support to the current generation of phase III trials, including the MDP. At a meeting on microbicides in Washington last month, strategies were discussed for ensuring the completion of trials, how best to utilise the data collected and how to ensure new candidates were being brought into early clinical studies. DFID's forthcoming strategy on HIV/AIDS will set out how the department will work, including with other donors, to further the development of technologies to combat HIV/AIDS, including microbicides.

Poverty Environment Partnership

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the members of the Poverty Environment Partnership. [171688]

 
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Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Poverty Environment Partnership is an organised donor network, with an open membership which includes bilateral and multilateral agencies, research institutes, and development banks with an interest in the issues. At the most recent meeting, which was held in February 2004, the membership was as follows:

Bilateral donor countries/agencies:

Belgium, Canada (CIDA), Denmark (DANIDA), Finland, Germany (GTZ), Ireland, Netherlands (DGIS), Norway, Sweden (SIDA), Switzerland (SDC), USAID, UK (DFID)

Multilateral agencies:

World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Comission (DG ENV and DG DEV), United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Health Organisation.

Non-governmental Organisations/research organisations:

Netherlands Institute for International Relations, Stockholm Environment Institute, World Resources Institute, World Wide Fund for Nature, IUCN—the World Conservation Union.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when the analytical methods referred to on page 179 of the 2004 Departmental Report for the integration of poverty-environment issues into Poverty Reduction Strategy processes will be (a) finalised and (b) published. [171689]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Relevant analytical methods for   the integration of poverty-environment issues into   Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) and other development planning processes are being produced by DFID unilaterally and in conjunction with other members of the multi-donor Poverty Environment Partnership. Much of this work is formally published, although some comprises "working documents" which will be refined and tested in the field prior to more formal dissemination.

Examples of formal publications, which comprise analytical methodology and innovative developments within the issue, include "Linking Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management" (published July 2002), DFID Environment Guide (published June 2003), Environmental Fiscal Reform (to be published June 2004), OECD-DAC Guidance on Strategic Environmental Assessment (to be published late 2004).

Examples of work that is on-going but which will not   be formally published in the near future include DFID's work on the contribution of environmental resources to economic growth, and the extent to which environmental issues are a good entry point for tackling wider issues of pro-poor governance and democratic change.

However, all work that is not formally published is still publicly available on DFID's website.

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