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10 Oct 2006 : Column 708W—continued
Departmental Expenditure
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's total expenditure to (a) UNFPA, (b) WHO, (c) UNICEF, (d) UNAIDS, (e) the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (f) Marie Stopes International and (g) Interact Worldwide was in 2005-06. [91565]
Mr. Thomas: Expenditure figures for UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS, during 2005-06 are not available yet. They are being finalised and will be published in this year's “Statistics for International Development” report on 26 October. I will write to my hon. Friend then.
Final expenditure figures to non-governmental organisations will also be included in “Statistics for International Development”. Provisional figures are as follows:
Marie Stopes International—£716,696
Interact Worldwide—£580,972
No funds were provided to International Planned Parenthood Federation during the financial year 2005-06 though the 2005 core unrestricted contribution of £6 million was paid in March 2005 against the financial year 2004-05.
Departmental Staff
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many disabled people were hired by his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what percentage of the overall workforce these figures represented in each year; and how many disabled people left their employment in his Department over the same period. [92463]
Mr. Thomas: DFID records of disabled staff are solely based on voluntary declaration of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act and not connected in any way to a formal register of disability. The requested disability statistics for DFID are shown in the following table (these figures represent home civil servants only, not staff appointed in country).
DFID do not have a systematic record for the period 2001-02:
| Number of disabled people recruited in DFID | Recruited disabled people as percentage of total workforce | Number of disabled people left DFID | |
HIV/AIDS
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what publications his Department produced on sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV/AIDS in 2005-06. [91558]
Mr. Thomas: DFID produced the following publications on sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV/AIDS in 2005-06:
Increasing people’s access to essential medicines in developing countries: a framework for good practice in the pharmaceutical industry (published in March 2005)
Harm reduction—Tackling drug use and HIV in the developing world (published on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2005)
EU Statement on HIV Prevention for an AIDS free generation (released on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2005; DFID published this document to make available at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, 13-18 August 2006).
Human Reproduction Programme
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's contribution to the Human Reproduction Programme in the World Health Organisation was in 2005-06. [91559]
Mr. Thomas: The expenditure figures for DFID's funding to the Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) in the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2005-06 will be available once “Statistics on International Development” are published on 26 October 2006. I will write to my hon. Friend then.
DFID also provided core funding to WHO in 2005-06 and HRP received a proportion of this institutional funding.
Internally Displaced Persons
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the number of internally-displaced people in (a) Democratic Republic of Congo, (b) Uganda and (c) Colombia; what programmes his Department has (i) initiated and (ii) supported since 2001 to ameliorate the situation of these people; and if he will make a statement. [89572]
Hilary Benn: The information is as follows:
(a) The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which gathers data from a wide range of agencies working as part of the
humanitarian response as well as through their own field offices, estimate the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to be 1.44 million. It is extremely difficult to provide accurate figures as the country is so large, many IDPs are not living in camps and the situation is very unstable. People are returning home in increasing numbers but significant new displacements are occurring every month.
Since 2001, DFID has provided the following humanitarian assistance to DRC through the bilateral programme: £5 million (2001-02); £12 million (2002-03); £13 million (2003-04); £22 million (2004-05); £29.5 million (2005-06). In 2006-07 we have already disbursed £17.6 million, making a total of £99.1 million so far over the period in question and expect to spend at least another £20 million this financial year. A large part of this funding has been provided to assist IDPs in areas such as health, water and sanitation, emergency shelter, food aid and nutrition, working through United Nations Agencies, international NGOs and the International Committee of the Red Cross. From this year, the bulk of our humanitarian resources are being channelled through the joint donor DRC Humanitarian Pooled Fund.
In 2004, DFID supported the establishment of the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), managed jointly by OCHA and UNICEF. This is designed to undertake needs assessments and provide assistance to newly displaced people before other resources become available. In the first six months of 2006, 500,000 people were helped through the RRM. This is a particularly effective mechanism in the unstable DRC context.
(b) The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that the number of people internally displaced in Uganda is 1.7 million.
DFID has provided humanitarian assistance to displaced people in Uganda for programmes in health, water and sanitation, protection, food aid, and to purchase and supply non-food relief items. Our assistance has been channelled through a number of United Nations agencies, the Red Cross, Save the Children Fund and Oxfam. Since 2001 our support has totalled £49.9 million broken down by financial year as follows: £127,000 (2001-02); £2.5 million (2002-03); £6.8 million (2003-04); £10.9 million (2004-05); £19.9 million (2005-06). In 2006-07 we have disbursed £9 million so far and expect to spend at least a further £7.5 million before the end of March 2007 through the agencies mentioned above.
(c) According to Colombian government figures, the total number of IDPs in Colombia is 2.5-3.0 million. Non government organisations put the figure at around 3.3 million.
DFID provides assistance to displaced people in Colombia through its 18 per cent. contribution to the European Commission’s development assistance programme. The EC’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) committed €10 million in 2001, €9.2 million in 2002, €8.6 million in 2003, €8 million in 2004 and €12 million in 2005 to support internally displaced people and people affected by internal conflict in Colombia. A further €12 million has been allocated for 2006.
Secondments
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what departmental procedures are in place to encourage staff to apply for secondments to (a) the United Nations and (b) World Bank; and how many (i) applicants and (ii) successful applicants have been women in the last three years. [91348]
Mr. Thomas: DFID has seconded staff to the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank, both to their headquarters and their overseas offices, as part of our long standing collaboration with both organisations. Most secondment opportunities for DFID staff are advertised internally.
In the case of secondments, DFID does not hold diversity information for those advertised internally, so cannot confirm how many men and women have applied in recent years.
However, since 2003, two out of seven secondees to the UN, and eight out of 14 secondees to the World Bank have been women. In other words, nearly 50 per cent. of successful applicants in the last three years have been women.
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department’s aid to sexual and reproductive health and rights research was in 2005-06. [91561]
Mr. Thomas: DFID funds two bilateral research programmes with an explicit focus on sexual and reproductive health, including rights: “Improving Sexual and Reproductive Health for Poor and Vulnerable Populations” and “Capacity Building in Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV in Developing Countries”. In 2005-06 the provisional expenditure for these two programmes amounted to over £500,000, of a five-year total commitment of £5 million (from 2005 to 2010). These figures are provisional subject to publication of “Statistics on International Development” on 26 October 2006.
DFID also supports a range of other bilateral research programmes that cover aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights, as part of research focused on HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted infections or health systems. It is difficult to disaggregate funding to these programmes for sexual and reproductive health and rights specifically; however overall provisional contributions to these programmes in 2005-06 were:
Knowledge Programme on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (biomedical research): £0.54 million
Knowledge for Action—the HIV/AIDS and STI Knowledge Programme (political and economic research): £0.38 million
Consortium on Research for Equitable Health Systems: £0.28 million
Future Health Systems: Making Health Systems Work for the Poor: £0.41 million
Strategic research to achieve MDGs for mothers and infants: £0.29 million
Effective Health Care Alliance Programme: £0.59 million
In addition, DFID supports four multilateral research programmes that broadly cover aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights in their research portfolios. These are listed and the contributions that DFID provided to these programmes in 2005-06 will be available once “Statistics on International Development” is published in October:
UNDP/World Bank/UNFPA/WHO Human Reproduction Programme
Microbicide Development Programme
International Partnership for Microbicides
Initiative on Maternal Mortality Programme Assessment
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department’s aid to overseas sexual and reproductive health and rights non-governmental organisations was in 2005-06. [91562]
Mr. Thomas: Many overseas non-governmental organisations (e.g. BRAG in Bangladesh and Banja la Mtsogolo in Malawi) working in sexual and reproductive health and rights are funded through DFID country programmes. However, this information is not held centrally in the form requested and to provide it would be at disproportionate costs to my department.
Sri Lanka
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK aid has been disbursed to Sri Lanka since the tsunami in 2004; how it has been spent; and if he will make a statement. [91357]
Mr. Thomas: Direct UK government funding to Sri Lanka post tsunami totals £55 million. In addition a proportion of the £76 million funding for general tsunami relief and recovery can be attributed to regional funding, a proportion of which will benefit Sri Lanka.
DFID spent £7 million on immediate relief for Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami. This included: £5.9 million funding for UN agencies and NGOs, £604,000 funding for seven humanitarian flights for the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC), £250,000 for the provision of shelters, £119,000 secondment of five staff from DFID to UN agencies.
The UK Government also agreed to meet 10 per cent. of Sri Lanka’s debt repayments to the World Bank over the next 10 years to assist tsunami reconstruction. This is estimated to be worth £45 million.
DFID has also committed £2.8 million to help build capacity within Sri Lanka to manage the recovery effort effectively.
The Treasury estimate that tax relief on gift aid for the regional tsunami public, including the DEC appeal, will have been worth approximately £50 million.
DFID made regional donations to a number of UN and NGO appeals worth £26 million.
St. Helena
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many shortlisted companies have shown considerable interest in the invitation to tender for the St. Helena Airport. [91653]
Mr. Thomas: Three South Africa/UK-based consortia were shortlisted for the design, construction and operation of the St. Helena Airport, and all three were well represented in a bidders’ information meeting held in late July 2006. One consortium subsequently withdrew from the bidding process and the remaining two have indicated that they would have difficulty in meeting the requirements of the tender as these stood in the invitation to tender. All three consortia, however, have indicated continued interest in the project under adjusted terms.
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what stage the St. Helena Airport construction project has reached. [91654]
Mr. Thomas: An invitation to tender was issued in July to three shortlisted consortia for the design, construction and operation of the airport on St. Helena. A site visit planned for August was postponed following the withdrawal of one of the consortia. We are currently reviewing the terms of the invitation of tender in the light of the responses made by the consortia in regard to their ability to meet its requirements. We expect to reach a decision shortly on revised terms and any necessary changes to the bidding process.
Any revision will preserve our commitment to ensuring that the contract achieves value for money, while addressing matters of concern that have been raised.
Sudan
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on recent discussions UK missions have had in relation to future funding of AMIS with France, Italy and Japan. [89737]
Hilary Benn: The UK has called on those states who made commitments to AMIS at the 18 July Donors’ Conference to honour those commitments, and for others who have not yet contributed to AMIS to look again at what financial and in kind assistance they can give. We have done this bilaterally, and in formal EU meetings. We have discussed support to AMIS with the Japanese, primarily through our embassy in Addis Ababa, where the headquarters of the African Union are based. We also have ongoing informal discussions with the Japanese and with other international partners to the AU, including France and Italy, through the Partners’ Technical Support Group. The UK has already contributed £20 million this financial year. We are also calling on the Arab League to honour the pledge it made in March and again in September to fund AMIS.
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