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Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to tackle mother to child HIV infection in Africa; and if he will make a statement. [23671]
Hilary Benn: The UK is committed to spending £1.5 billion on HIV and AIDS globally over the next three years. DFID's approach to tackling mother to child HIV infection (MTCT) in pregnancy, labour and delivery in Africa is primarily through strengthening comprehensive national HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care services. This includes improving national health services and specific action to reduce MTCT such as voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) targeted at women, replacement feeding where feasible and anti retroviral therapy (ART) including the use of Nevirapine.
The UK also provides funding to African countries via the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). This includes significant resources for HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care including interventions to prevent MTCT.
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DFID also provides core funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and recognises its role as a global technical agency which provides guidelines on treatment for HIV positive mothers.
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will assess the merits of using planar technology in house building for developing countries. [22686]
Hilary Benn: DFID's approach to shelter and housing is not to specify particular technologies, but to support demand driven programmes which focus on enabling communities to develop their own solutions to local challenges, as in the case of our support to the Community Led Infrastructure Financing Facility (CLIFF). DFID funds a major programme of social and scientific research that enables effective solutions involving the full range of appropriate technologies. Details of our research can be found on DFID's website http://www.dfid.gov.uk/research/.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance has been provided to (a) the Mexican Government and (b) the Caribbean islands to counter hurricane damage. [22670]
Mr. Thomas: Both Mexico and the Caribbean countries affected by recent tropical storms and hurricanes have shown sufficient national capacity to respond without international assistance. Therefore there have been no requests for international assistance.
Throughout the hurricane season, the DFID Caribbean office has been strengthened to enhance monitoring of tropical storm development, preparedness and the potential for assessment and response action. DFID also has relief supplies (1,800 collapsible five litres jerry cans and 1,500 tarpaulins) on one of the UK frigates based in the Caribbean.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the rebuilding of Iraq. [22970]
Hilary Benn: Progress has been made on reconstruction in Iraq in spite of all the challenges. After decades of damage by a repressive regime it will take time to build Iraqi institutions, improve infrastructure and services for the long term, and for the private sector to flourish. Continued violence and sabotage have also inevitably hampered the reconstruction effort. However, there has been continued economic growth; power generation is higher than before the conflict; more Iraqis now have access to drinking water and sewerage systems; thousands of health care and education facilities have been rehabilitated; transport and telecommunication systems are improving and civil society groups and the media are flourishing and finding ways of engaging in the political process.
The Iraqi Government is leading on the rebuilding and development of Iraq. New Iraqi led donor co-ordination mechanisms are up and running in Baghdad.
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Sector working groups in health, education, energy, and rule of law are meeting regularly, led by Iraqi Ministries with support from the UN, the World Bank, and a range of donors. There is now an increasing number of international donors and representatives of the multilateral agencies based in Iraq.
DFID has so far disbursed more than £290 million on humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Iraq since 2003. DFID's programme in 200506 focuses on:
building Iraqi Government institutions at the centre of government in Baghdad and in the four southern provinces;
improving power and water services in the south and helping the Iraqi government to develop a long-term power sector strategy;
DFID also provided £70 million to the international reconstruction fund facility for Iraq (IRFFI). The UN and the World Bank manage the IRFFI and continue to carry out a range of programmes in sectors such as health, education, and water and sanitation.
The following table outlines some of the major reconstruction achievements.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many IT projects have been developed for his Department since 2001; and whether he has agreed to make public Gateway reviews for these projects (a) in full and (b) in part. [23520]
Mr. Thomas: The exact number of IT projects of all sizes developed in DFID since 2001 cannot be determined without incurring a disproportionate cost. Three large current projects have been subject to the Gateway process, two assessed as medium risk and one as low risk. Gateway review reports have been produced for two of these projects and are confidential to the Senior Responsible Owners. Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000, each request for the release of information contained in a Gateway review is considered on a case-by-case basis. To date, DFID has received no FOI requests relating to Gateway reviews.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to promote uptake of the national tests in adult literacy and numeracy amongst employees of his Department. [23412]
Mr. Thomas: DFID is committed to the development and maintenance of literacy and numeracy skills. We have a comprehensive skills development plan which takes account of the potential need for basic skills training and qualifications.
An employer toolkit on Adult Basic Skills is available on our intranet and we hold an annual in-house event during Adult Learning Week, which focuses on the assessment and development of literacy and numeracy. On our intranet, we advertise emails for providers of learning basic skills.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many employees in his Department requested training to improve their (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills in each year since 2002. [23417]
Mr. Thomas: In the Department for International Development (DFID), requests for training are usually handled between an employee and their line manager.
There are no centralised systems or processes that require line managers to record or report on the types of learning support requested by individual staff members.
At present therefore, the data requested could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
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It is also worth noting that the perceived stigma involved in declaring skills deficit in literacy and numeracy may prevent employees from requesting this support from their line manager.
In recognition of this, DFID has appointed union learning representatives, and has developed internal web pages to enable staff to assess their skills and access support without going through their line manager.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on in-house training on (a) literacy and (b) numeracy (i) in total and (ii) per head, in each year since 2002. [23433]
Mr. Thomas: Within the Department for International Development, the responsibility for setting and allocating training budgets is devolved to the departmental level. There are currently no centralised learning management e-systems to record or report on the types of learning activities associated with their training spend. The implementation of an e-system is planned for 2006.
Therefore, at present, the data requested could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
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