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15 Nov 2004 : Column 947W—continued
Commission for Africa
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the Commission for Africa. [197191]
Hilary Benn [pursuant to my reply, 9 November 2004, Official Report, c. 557W]: There was a slight delay in putting the Commission for Africa consultation document on the commission website. I can now confirm that it was placed on the website on 11 November 2004.
EU Development Aid
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the untying of EU development aid. [197583]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID welcomes the agreement of the Council to untie all the development programmes managed by the European Commission. This is consistent with our White Paper commitment to work for multilateral untying. DFID wants the agreement to be put into practice as soon as possible. A draft implementing Regulation, which must be agreed by both the Council and the European Parliament, is under discussion.
EU aid contracts will be open to non-EU donors on a reciprocal basis as well as to suppliers from developing countries. By untying aid in this way, Europe is giving an international lead and a practical example for other donors to consider as the basis for further untying by members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment has been made of the response of (a) recipients and (b) other donors to the EU decision to untie its development aid. [197584]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: The draft Regulation requires the consent of a recipient to the untying of its aid from the EU. I am confident recipients will welcome the benefits offered by this further untying of the Community's development assistance. Other donors are continuing to discuss further untying in the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
Goats
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of aid programmes involving providing goats to women and families in the developing world; what support the Department is giving to such programmes; and if he will make a statement. [197556]
Mr. Gareth Thomas:
DFID has made no formal assessment, but has funded a range of non-governmental organisations such as ActionAid and Farm Africa in programmes whose primary goal has been the provision
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of goats directly to women and families in the developing world. Since 1990, DFID has spent or committed in excess of £3 million on such programmes. DFID has also supported many broader rural development programmes within which the provision of goats has played an important role.
Sierra Leone
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on UK development aid in Sierra Leone. [197801]
Hilary Benn: The UK Government programme to Sierra Leone is managed through a 10 year Agreement that commits the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) to reforms in exchange for DFID support. The main areas of our programme are security sector reform, governance reform including public administration reform, decentralisation, public financial management, diamond sector reform, anti corruption measures and budgetary support. DFID has committed £120 million to the first three years of the Agreement, which was signed in November 2002.
A particular feature of the Agreement is the inclusion of performance benchmarks agreed between the UK Government and the GoSL. Quarterly reviews of progress against the performance benchmarks are held with Sierra Leone authorities. DFID is arranging a joint review of the Agreement with the GoSL.
Sri Lanka
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much development aid to Sri Lanka has been channelled through (a) the Sri Lanka Government and (b) non-governmental organisations in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [197594]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: Figures for DFID bilateral aid to Sri Lanka, in each of the last three financial years, are as follows:
In addition DFID contributes to programmes financed from the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP). This is a pooled fund to which DFID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence contribute. GCPP expenditure is £153,000 in 2003–04 and an estimated £178,000 in 2004–05. Most of this is channelled through NGOs.
The United Kingdom also contributes a proportion of the cost of European Community development expenditure in Sri Lanka and core programmes by
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multilateral organisations. Expenditure details for these are available only up to 2002, and are set out in the following table:
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Community | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| United Nations | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| World Bank | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| Other | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Total | 4.7 | 2.8 | 1.6 |
The withdrawal of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from the peace talks in 2003, and the subsequent stalling of the peace process, has prevented implementation of a number of initiatives. This has resulted in an underspend of the agreed allocations of development aid to Sri Lanka.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps are taken to ensure that development aid in Sri Lanka is not diverted to illegal or corrupt purposes. [197595]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID takes careful precautions to prevent development aid funds being misused. We demand annual audited reports from all programmes we finance and reserve the right to commission independent audits should we deem necessary.
The bulk of our funds are channelled through international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. Financial management systems and audit in these organisations are thorough and regularly reviewed.
Where we provide support through non-government organisations, such as OXFAM and Save the Children, DFID has reviewed their financial control and audit systems and confirmed that they are of high standard.
Our programmes with the Sri Lankan Government are managed by reputable UK based consultants. Again DFID has reviewed their financial control and audit processes to confirm that they meet required standards.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK bilateral aid has been allocated to Sri Lanka in each of the last three years; how much is projected for the next two years; how much has been spent in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement. [197596]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: UK aid allocations to Sri Lanka from 2002–03 to 2004–05 are:
| Amount | Approximate amount spent in the North East of Sri Lanka: | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 5.5 | 1.6 |
| 2003–04 | 15 | 0.3 |
| 2004–05 | 14 | (1)0.749 |
(1) Estimate.
The planned allocation for 2005–06 is £4 million, which will be reviewed as part of DFID's annual resource allocation exercise that will conclude in the new year. Figures for 2006–07 and beyond have not yet been agreed.
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Most DFID programmes support initiatives that cover the whole of Sri Lanka. A breakdown of expenditure in the North East under these programmes is not readily available. The figures provided for expenditure in the North East relate to programmes, such as de-mining, that focus solely upon the needs of communities directly affected by the conflict.
Uganda
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian impact of the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda; and if he will make a statement. [196666]
Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member for Moray to the statement I made in the House on 10 November 2004, Official Report, column 832.
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