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HIV/AIDS

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent estimate is of the number of HIV/AIDS-related deaths in developing countries in a year, broken down by sex. [55048]

Mr. Thomas: DFID, along with the rest of the international community, relies on HIV and AIDS data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). In 2005, the UNAIDS estimated that globally there were 2.6 million adult deaths and 570,000 child (under 15 years) deaths due to AIDS.

The latest country level estimates of deaths due to AIDS are for the year 2003 and can be found in the UNAIDS 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. This is available on the UNAIDS website: www.unaids.org/bangkok2004/GAR2004_pdf/UNAIDS GlobalReport2004_en.pdf

At a regional level, adult and child deaths are not estimated separately, nor are the numbers disaggregated by gender. The following table shows estimates for 2005.

	Number of adult and child deaths due to AIDS in 2005
Region	Actual	Range(31)
Sub-Saharan Africa	2.4 million	2.1–2.7 million
North Africa and Middle East	58,000	25,000–145,000
South and South-East Asia	480,000	290,000–740,000
East Asia	41,000	20,000–68,000
Oceania	3,600	1,700–8,200
Latin America	66,000	52,000–86,000
Caribbean	24,000	16,000–40,000
Eastern Europe and Central Asia	62,000	39,000–91,000
Western and Central Europe	12,000	<15,000
North America	18,000	9,000–30,000
Total	3.1 million	2.8–3.6 million

⁽³¹⁾ The ranges around the estimates in this table define the boundaries within which the actual numbers lie, based on the best information available.

Internally Displaced Persons

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of (a) male and (b) female internally displaced persons in (i) Colombia, (ii) Algeria, (iii) Angola, (iv) the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (v) Cote d'Ivoire, (vi) Kenya, (vii) Somalia, (viii) Sudan, (ix) Uganda, (x) Zimbabwe, (xi) Iraq, (xii) Bangladesh, (xiii) India, (xiv) Indonesia, (xv) Myanmar and (xvi) Sri Lanka. [55049]

Hilary Benn: The estimated number of internally displaced persons in each of the countries are as follows:

	Number
Colombia	1,580,396–3,563,505
Algeria	1,000,000
Angola	91,240
DRC	1,664,000
Cote d'lvoire	500,000
Kenya	381,924
Somalia	370,000–400,000
Sudan	5,355,000
Uganda	1,740,498
Zimbabwe	569,685
Iraq	1,200,000
Bangladesh	500,000
India	600,000+
Indonesia	342,000–600,000
Myanmar	540,000
Sri Lanka	341,175

Source:
Internally Displaced Monitoring Centre (based on estimates from sources including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the ED and UN Office for the Co-ordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).




 
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It has not been possible to source data for internally displaced persons broken down on the basis of gender as the Internally Displaced Monitoring Centre, who provide the most reliable and comprehensive data on internal displacement, say that

such information is rarely available, as in most countries affected by internal displacement, no systematic surveys have been conducted".

Their Global Overview of Trends and Developments in Internal Displacement published in 2004 estimated that women and children account for between 70 and 80 per cent. of all internally displaced persons worldwide.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff in his Department are assigned to work on issues related to internally displaced persons. [55050]

Hilary Benn: DFID has a core team of three full-time and five part-time staff working on forced migration issues, which includes work relating to refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). In addition, throughout DFID there are many staff in country programmes who work on IDP issues concerning their countries as and when these occur. Due to the unpredictable nature of the situations that cause internal displacement, it is hard to quantify the number of staff that are engaged at any one time.
 
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Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on how many occasions he has raised the issue of internally displaced persons with his Government counterparts from (a) Colombia, (b) Algeria, (c) Angola, (d) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (e) Cote d'Ivoire, (f) Kenya, (g) Somalia, (h) Sudan, (i) Uganda, (j) Zimbabwe, (k) Iraq, (l) Bangladesh, (m) India, (n) Indonesia, (o) Myanmar and (p) Sri Lanka in each of the last five years. [55051]

Hilary Benn: I have consistently raised the issue of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with government counterparts in Uganda and Sudan. DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials regularly raise issues of IDPs in a number of other countries of concern, including Iraq. DFID joined other humanitarian donors in a joint statement to express concern and rally the international community to provide assistance to those displaced in Zimbabwe in November.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has (a) pledged, (b) committed and (c) spent on programmes aimed to benefit internally displaced persons in (i) Colombia, (ii) Algeria, (iii) Angola, (iv) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (v) Cote d'Ivoire, (vi) Kenya, (vii) Somalia, (viii) Sudan, (ix) Uganda, (x) Zimbabwe, (xi) Iraq, (xii) Bangladesh, (xiii) India, (xiv) Indonesia, (xv) Myanmar, (xvi) Sri Lanka and (xvii) in total in each year since 1997. [55052]

Hilary Benn: DFID provides Humanitarian Assistance, such as shelter and medical care in emergencies, to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugees and other vulnerable people, through its country programmes. We do not disaggregate the amount spent specifically on IDPs from the total Humanitarian Assistance. The following table provides figures for humanitarian spend since 1997 for the requested countries. We do not hold separate information on pledges or commitments. It is unlikely that pledges or commitments would differ from spend.
Bilateral Humanitarian Assistance (HA) to Designated Countries since

Destination	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05
Algeria	70,555	3,339	4,955	—	150,000	—	324,038	5,799
Angola	1,500,000	2,500,000	3,236,425	2,240,178	2,191,312	6,974,399	4,452,264	2,186,823
Co(r)te d'Ivoire	98,499	36,954	—	—	250,000	700,000	200,000	296,016
DRC	806,935	369,794	1,256,946	3,036,086	5,471,321	12,099,347	16,257,584	22,476,819
Kenya	1,337,996	4,621,733	2,542,298	12,463,111	3,413,358	1,473,521	228,551	5,517,057
Somalia	1,047,281	1,079,459	372,475	1,234,680	1,637,637	2,919,590	3,171,561	3,543,346
Sudan	4,337,079	23,496,775	2,773,863	4,491,075	5,164,105	16,337,941	21,872,096	77,965,269
Uganda	657,205	360,269	580,562	535,135	784,782	3,477,988	7,768,171	11,850,714
Zimbabwe	41,404	179,732	212,461	225,455	7,242,305	23,259,500	23,959,598	13,753,181
Colombia	166,398	857,100	265,737	223,859	17,141	3,300	—	—
Bangladesh	365,737	15,742,296	745,431	3,496,343	1,780,616	226,404	12,695	25,037,885
Burma	215,650	285,055	206,913	1,030,033	2,088,012	3,163,205	577,504	1,005,000
India	511,936	60,954	3,941,315	20,554,645	6,872,102	5,216,553	1,398,973	441,714
Indonesia	461,300	—	—	822,882	750,000	1,500,000	—	11,123,271
Iraq	3,350,504	5,749,116	6,584,659	9,545,325	7,759,652	18,853,455	110,051,848	21,382,898
Total	14,968,480	55,342,574	22,724,041	59,898,969	45,572,343	96,205,203	190,274,882	196,585,791

In addition DFID provides unearmarked core funding to UN agencies, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and International organisations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who provide assistance to IDPs in country. Since 1997, this has included £76.5 million to the UNHCR and £125 million to ICRC. DFID has provided £2.2 million targeted funding for non-governmental organisations (NGO)s since 1997 for IDP projects, such as the Brookings Institution-University of Berne Project on Internal Displacement.
 
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In Iraq, our humanitarian spending, as shown above, includes £1.7 million which we allocated to the UK NGO AMAR for their work on IDPs. The United Nations have also assisted IDPs in Iraq. DFID has contributed over £110 million to the UN for their work in Iraq since 2003.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with (a) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and (b) his European counterparts about the UNHCR's proposal for a central fund for internally displaced persons. [55053]

Hilary Benn: The central fund is the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which is being launched on 9 March in New York. The UN has agreed to reform the CERF, which will enable UN humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to provide a more predictable and timely response to emergencies, including to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)s, by ensuring that initial funding is available immediately to support rapid response to humanitarian crises and address critical humanitarian needs in under-funded emergencies.

During 2005, DFID Ministers and senior officials held a range of discussions about the role of the CERF with international partners, including European counterparts and UN agencies. Last year, I wrote to EC counterparts seeking their support for the CERF. In October, I raised the issue when I addressed the Informal Humanitarian Affairs Committee on UN reform, and at the informal meeting of EU Development Ministers and, in October, my hon. Friend discussed the CERF with the High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres.

The CERF will include, but is not exclusively for IDPs. The UK will be the largest contributor, and has pledged £40 million. Total pledges to date amount to around $187 million.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' proposal for a central fund for internally displaced persons. [55054]

Hilary Benn: The central fund is the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The UN has recently approved reform of the CERF, so as to enable UN humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to provide a more predictable and timely response to emergencies, including to internally displaced persons (IDPs). The fund aims to ensure that initial funding is available immediately to support rapid response to humanitarian crises and address critical humanitarian needs in under-funded emergencies. In December 2004, I put forward the proposal for a global humanitarian fund for improved response to emergencies; I will attend the launch of the CERF on 9 March in York.

DFID's assessment is that the CERF will be valuable in enabling the UN to respond faster when crisis strikes and to achieve more equitable levels of funding between crises. It will be important that the UN develops arrangements with major NGOs so as to be able to transfer funds quickly to non-governmental
 
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organisations (NGO) implementing partners, in cases where NGOs are best-placed to deliver the necessary response.

The CERF will include, but not be exclusively for IDPs. The UK will be the largest contributor to the fund. We have pledged £40 million. Total pledges so far amount to around $187 million.

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