| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
8 Jan 2007 : Column 400W—continued
Public Opinion Research
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on commissioning public opinion research in each of the last five years. [105446]
Mr. Thomas:
DFID carries out two annual surveys into public attitudes to development. One is run through Ipsos MORI into school children’s attitudes to development and another is run through the Office for National Statistics and looks at general public attitudes to development. DFID also occasionally commissions
smaller pieces of research to look into attitudes to particular aspects of development. From 2004-07 DFID funded Comic Relief, through the Development Awareness Fund to carry out research into public perceptions, especially the impact of the Make Poverty History Campaign.
Records previous to 2003 are not readily available and to obtain accurate figures would incur disproportionate cost. The following table sets out figures for 2003-06:
| £ | |||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
Red Cross
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department contributed to the International Committee of the Red Cross in each year since 2001; and how those contributions were classified. [112767]
Hilary Benn: Since 2001 DFID has made the following contributions to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
| £ million | |
Final figures are not yet available for 2006. These contributions are classified as humanitarian aid.
DFID has an institutional partnership with the ICRC to provide predictable multi-year funding. This was £17 million in 2001; between 2002 and 2006 it was £18.5 million per annum, and we have just agreed an increase to £20 million per annum. The balance of funding is provided in response to specific emergency appeals.
Russian Federation
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial aid his Department gave to the Russian Federation in 2005-06. [104992]
Mr. Thomas: DFID bilateral aid to the Russian Federation in the fiscal year 2005-06 was £5.68 million. This is split into £4.49 million of technical co-operation, £898,000 of grants and aid in kind and £299,000 of humanitarian assistance. No financial aid was given to the Russian Federation.
For statistical reporting purposes, bilateral aid is split into the following categories:
Financial Aid
Technical co-operation
Grants and Aid in Kind
Humanitarian Assistance
Debt Relief
Financial aid covers poverty reduction budget support and other projects and programmes not included elsewhere. A full breakdown of bilateral aid for the Russian Federation is published in Table 12.1 of “Statistics on International Development 2001/02-2005/06”, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Security
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff days overseas were lost due to movement restrictions for security purposes in 2005-06. [109454]
Mr. Thomas: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Special Advisers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what guidance he has issued to his special advisers concerning alterations to their duties during the campaign for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party; [108498]
(2) what plans he has to alter the (a) salaries of, (b) number of support staff available to and (c) office space provided to his special advisers in the next 12 months. [108499]
Hilary Benn: Special advisers act in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers. This makes clear that special advisers may assist with a leadership or deputy leadership campaign, but it must be in their own time. In addition, the Cabinet Secretary has issued guidance to Departments on conduct in the run-up to such elections. A copy has been placed in the Library for the reference of Members.
I have no plans to alter the (a) salaries of, (b) number of support staff available to and (c) office space provided to my special advisers in the next 12 months.
St. Helena
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress of the building of the new airport in St. Helena. [113524]
Mr. Thomas: An invitation to tender (ITT) issued on 11 July 2006. In light of reactions from the market, relating principally to the cost of tendering and the proposed allocation of risk, this notice was withdrawn. The notice for a new competition was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 28 October 2006.
While the scope of work remains largely unchanged, the new invitation is based on a revised allocation of risk under which the Government of St. Helena would assume greater responsibility for certain project risks. The revised invitation also contains reference designs
for the major project elements to help tenderers minimise the cost and time of tendering. We expect to issue the revised invitation to tender towards the end of the second quarter of 2007.
Inevitably, this means a delay in the likely completion date for the airport. We now estimate that air access will be introduced by 2011-12.
Strategic Conflict Assessments
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which countries have been subject to a strategic conflict assessment by his Department; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such tests. [110365]
Hilary Benn: Strategic conflict assessments (SCAs) have been used in 18 countries by my Department to date. These are (with dates):
Burma, 2006
Nepal, 2000 and 2002
Solomon Islands, 2000
Sri Lanka, 2001 and 2005
Angola, 2006
Mozambique, 2006
Nigeria, 2003
Uganda, 1999, 2003 and 2006
Zimbabwe, 2006
Iraq, 2005
Yemen, 2005
Armenia/Azerbaijan, 2002
Balkans, 2005
Georgia, 2003
Kyrgyzstan, 2001
Moldova, 2002 and 2006
North Caucasus, 2005
Tajikistan, 2003
DFID has also undertaken regional conflict analyses and in 2006 completed the following:
an analysis of conflict trends in Africa, 1946-2004;
the Horn of Africa regional conflict analysis; and
a regional strategic peacebuilding assessment for Central Asia.
In 2007 DFID plans to carry out SCAs in Southern Africa, Zambia and Pakistan. DFID will also be assessing the causes of conflict and insecurity as part of our new country governance assessment, outlined in our 2006 White Paper.
In November 2005 DFID carried out a review of our use of the SCA methodology over the past five years which concluded that
“all the SCAs reviewed had produced at least some positive impact on the relevant country programmes and some had led to significant shifts in thinking”.
Specifically the review found:
SCAs directly inform DFID policies and programmes. In Nepal, the SCA led to DFID’s policies and programmes fundamentally changing. New staff were recruited, new offices opened and new programmes developed to focus on the issues
of social exclusion, an underlying cause of the Maoist insurgency. In Yemen the SCA helped identify and prioritise the need to strengthen access to justice, and led to the development of a new security and judicial reform programme. In the Balkans, the SCA process helped refocus the UK assistance programme, for example increasing support to final status talks in Kosovo.
The SCA process ‘joins up’ thinking across UK Government Departments. The majority of SCAs have been conducted in partnership with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This has helped develop a shared understanding of the factors underpinning violent conflict. For example, in Sri Lanka the SCA process brought together the UK’s diplomatic, defence and development work and led to a unified policy framework focused on conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
The SCA process strengthens coordination between different donor agencies. For example, the SCA for the North Caucasus was widely disseminated and used by other international actors to inform the strategy of moving incrementally from humanitarian assistance to reconstruction and development aid.
Sudan
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of how the escalating tension between Sudan and Chad and the Central African Republic is affecting attempts to mediate the deployment of the proposed UN-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force. [113392]
Hilary Benn: I remain concerned about the ongoing violence in eastern Chad and in the Central African, both by armed groups spilling over the border from Darfur and by internal rebel groups in each country. We continue to call on the Governments of Sudan and Chad in particular to stop supporting each others’ rebels and to fulfil their obligations under the Tripoli Agreement.
President Bashir wrote to the UN Secretary General on 23 December to accept UN reinforcement of AMIS, as set out in the Conclusions of the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting of 30 November. We are pushing the UN to deliver its support as soon as possible. We will also continue to monitor the Sudanese Government’s actions closely to ensure they support AMIS’ actions and UN reinforcement.
United Nations
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what documents his Department has published on UN reform since 2003. [113195]
Mr. Thomas: In July 2006, DFID published its White Paper “Making governance work for the poor” in which UK’s commitment to reform of the international development system, including the UN, was set out. Achievements in working towards a reformed UN are detailed in our departmental reports.
In 2005, we published an overview of the Multilateral Effectiveness Framework (MEFF) designed to help us monitor the organisational effectiveness of international bodies including UN agencies.
DFID’s Institutional Strategies with UN agencies include our reform commitments with the respective
agency. Some examples include: “Working in Partnership with UNDP” published in November 2005 and the “UNICEF Joint Institutional Approach” published in September 2006.
New country assistance plans will include UN reform objectives to ensure that our commitments are fully integrated into our work at the country level.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff from his Department are on the staff of the UK’s delegation to the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission’s Organisational Committee; and if he will make a statement. [113197]
Mr. Thomas: The UK is a strong supporter of the newly established Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). Policy lead on the PBC is shared by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and DFID. DFID funds the First Secretary post in the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York which covers the PBC and attends the PBC’s Organisational Committee as part of the UK delegation. In addition, DFID, as well as the FCO, has staff in London, Sierra Leone and Burundi working on the issues covered by the PBC.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in his Department are attached to the United Kingdom's delegation to the United Nations; and if he will make a statement. [113201]
Mr. Thomas: There are currently six officials funded by DFID attached to the United Kingdom’s delegations to the United Nations. Of these, two are based in Rome, two in Geneva, one in Paris and one in New York.
Vietnam
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department is planning to provide assistance following recent tropical storms (a) in Ba Ria Vung Tau province and (b) elsewhere in Vietnam. [108094]
Mr. Thomas: DFID has been in touch with the Government of Vietnam and with international relief agencies. We do not plan to provide such assistance because the Government of Vietnam has been able to prepare and respond to the impact of recent typhoons and has not requested international assistance.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |