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16 Mar 2009 : Column 839W—continued
Christmas
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether it is his Department’s policy to offer staff (a) additional leave entitlement for Christmas shopping and (b) Christmas bonus payments. [262813]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not offer staff additional leave for Christmas shopping, nor does it provide Christmas bonus payments.
Departmental Lost Property
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. [263113]
Mr. Michael Foster: Nine laptops and two mobile phones were lost/stolen from the Department for International Development (DFID) during the period 2007-08.
Replacement values are not recorded centrally and an exercise to obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.
All DFID laptops have secure encryption technology and no data have been put at risk.
Departmental Secondment
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many secondments of staff were made (a) to and (b) from his Department in each year since 1997; which organisations staff were
seconded (i) to and (ii) from; how many staff were seconded in each year; for how long each secondment lasted; and what the cost was of each secondment in each year. [263269]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not hold records of inward or outward secondments prior to 2005. The table shows the total number of staff seconded to or from DFID at 31 March in each of the following years:
| Inward secondments | Outward secondments | |
Staff are seconded to and from a wide range of organisations including international organisations (e.g. World Bank), bilateral aid donors, other UK Government Departments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Secondments are typically for periods of between one and three years.
We cannot provide details of the cost of each secondment since we do not maintain these records centrally. Individual DFID departments are directly responsible for meeting or reimbursing any costs to the secondee’s home organisation.
Developing Countries: Health Services
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he plans to take to ensure that his Department's provision for strengthening government health systems in developing countries meets the needs of women and girls in those countries. [263163]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development’s (DFID) approach to strengthening health systems seeks to diagnose critical problems and identify needs for strengthening in each country. This enables us to design the best response and set appropriate priorities, including assessing the needs of women and girls, their use of services and any barriers they face. There may be a need for targeted services or approaches to reach specific groups, such as reproductive health services for adolescent girls. DFID also recognises that monitoring the implementation and results of health systems strengthening needs a gender dimension to see if strategies are working.
Progress on strengthening health systems in poor countries is also vital if we are to accelerate progress towards achieving the maternal health millennium development goal. This is why, along with UN health agencies and a wide range of donors and country partners, DFID has championed the International Health Partnership designed to strengthen health systems and improve in-country donor coordination. To help ensure that investments in health systems reach women and children we are working with countries to help remove barriers that stop poor people using health services. This includes support to countries to remove health user fees so that services for children and pregnant women are free at the point of use.
Developing Countries: HIV Infection
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to assist in AIDS education in developing countries. [262441]
Mr. Thomas: The UK Government are providing £8.5 billion of support to education in developing countries over the 10-year period to 2015-16. A significant proportion of these funds will be used in African countries where HIV prevalence is high.
In most of our 22 priority countries, we are either supporting the development of strategies for educating young people about the threat of AIDS (e.g. in Mozambique) or encouraging countries to mainstream AIDS in their education sector plan (e.g. in Zambia). All of our 22 priority countries are addressing the impact of HIV in their education sector plans (i.e. on teacher attrition).
Education, including sexual and reproductive health education, is one of the most significant factors in preventing the spread of HIV in the next generation. The UK Government continue to work with partner governments to raise awareness about the importance of education as a means for preventing and mitigating the impact of the AIDS pandemic. The UK also provides substantial support for UNAIDS, UNICEF and UNFPA who are particularly active in AIDS education work.
Further information on DFID's HIV/AIDS strategy is available in ‘Achieving Universal Access: the UK's Strategy for Halting and Reversing the Spread of HIV in the Developing World’. This is available in the Library of the House and on the DFID website:
Developing Countries: Maternity Services
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage the establishment of political initiatives for the purpose of meeting the Millennium Development Goals on maternal health. [262905]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In September 2007, the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Stoltenberg of Norway and other world leaders launched the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs and the Network of Global Leaders on MDGs 4 and 5. The Network of Global Leaders includes several heads of state including President Kikwete of Tanzania, President Bachelet of Chile, and President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.
In September 2008, Prime Minister Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick launched the High Level Task Force on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems. The task force was established in response to the call for an additional US$ 30 billion to save the lives of 3 million mothers and 7 million babies. Other task force members include finance minister Giulio Tremonti of Italy, and Foreign Ministers Bernard Kouchner of France and Stephen Smith of Australia.
Further information on the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs and the High Level Task Force is available on the DFID website:
Development Aid: EC Grants and Loans
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the value in euros was of the UK share of costs of development activities financed from the EC budget and attributed to his Department in each of the last five financial years; what his estimate of the figure for 2008-09 is; and on what date the figure for 2009-10 will be decided. [263562]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Final EC attribution figures are not available until two years after the actual spending year. The Department for International Development (DFID) received the following actual attribution share for the last five years.
| € million | |
The estimate for financial year 2007-08 is €1040 million and the estimate for the current financial year 2008-09 is €1020 million. An actual figure for the next financial year, 2009-10, will not be decided until August 2011.
Economic Situation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) summits, (b) conferences and (c) seminars his Department has hosted since January 2008 at which a primary subject for discussion was the impact of the economic situation on matters within his Department's responsibility. [260147]
Mr. Thomas: Responding to the economic downturn is a top priority for the Department for International Development (DFID). Conference and seminars are some of the methods used to engage stakeholders in this work and ensure action is coordinated and effective.
DFID has held many meetings regarding the financial crisis and its effects upon vulnerable and developing countries in the last year, most notably the recent 9 to 10 March DFID Annual Conference.
In addition, Ministers and officials have regular engagements with other organisations including relevant Government Departments on a range of issues relating to the economy.
Palestinians: International Assistance
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2009, Official Report, column 1743W, on Palestinians: international assistance, what the monthly (a) salary and (b) other employment costs for the information officer employed by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Gaza with support from his Department are; under which categories his Department’s contribution towards the information officer will be spent; and what plans his Department has to support the role beyond April 2009. [263626]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Information Officer is a key post drawing together good quality reporting and analysis on humanitarian needs to enable donors to provide an effective response. The Department for International Development (DFID), at OCHA’s request, provided funding for a short term three month post to cover a gap at OCHA while a long term secondee for this role was found. The secondee from another OCHA partner has now been engaged. The short-term post started on 23 February and will end on 22 May; DFID will not be providing further support after this date.
DFID provides funding for the staff costs associated with the short-term post. The daily rate for the Information Officer is £415. DFID also funds the costs of travel and expenses related to the short-term post, and up to £212 per day for accommodation and subsistence (as per standard UN rates) for 90 days in Jerusalem.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what agreement has been reached with the Palestinian Authority about mechanisms for the delivery and distribution of UK aid to Gaza; and if he will make a statement. [261826]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: At the Sharm El-Sheikh conference, the international donor community agreed that aid to Gaza should be delivered through existing international and regional mechanisms. Established mechanisms for aid delivery in Gaza include the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and the European Commission’s PEGASE. The UK will continue to use these and also continue to fund non-governmental organisations with staff on the ground in Gaza.
The UK also supports people in Gaza through our financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority’s budget of which 50 per cent. is spent in Gaza. Since January last year, we have provided £59 million to the Palestinian Authority through the World Bank Trust Fund and the European Commission’s PEGASE mechanism. We will continue to stay in close dialogue with the Palestinian Authority on the most appropriate aid delivery mechanisms in Gaza.
Sri Lanka: Overseas Aid
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid has been provided by (a) the UK and (b) the EU to each region of Sri Lanka in the last (i) six months and (ii) two years; and what proportion of UK aid to Sri Lanka has been spent on (A) medical supplies, (B) food supplies, (C) housing and (D) education in the last 12 months. [262437]
Mr. Michael Foster: In the last six months, since September 2008, the Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated £5,000,000 of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka.
Over the last two years (excluding the last six months) DFID has provided £1,781,740 of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka. The vast majority of this humanitarian aid supported activities of vulnerable and internally displaced populations in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
The latest data on EU aid are from 2007, as official data for 2008 are not yet available. In 2007, EC aid payments to Sri Lanka were €39.34 million (£26.91 million at exchange rate £1 = €1.4615). The EU aid data are not available by region.
All DFID humanitarian contributions are provided non-earmarked to Agency appeals and therefore cannot be broken down into region or supplies; with the exception of the £250,000 committed to IOM and £250,000 committed to the WFP. These funds are specifically for the transportation of inter agency relief items to the internally displaced populations in the north of Sri Lanka.
Sudan: Overseas Aid
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect on the humanitarian situation in Sudan of the recent revocation of the operating licences of international non-governmental organisations; and if he will make a statement. [262841]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 9 March 2009, Official Report, column 20W, to my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr. Clarke).
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Bahrain: Politics and Government
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on the territorial sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bahrain; what assessment he has made of these representations; and if he will make a statement. [263401]
Bill Rammell: The Government received no representations regarding the territorial sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a sovereign and independent state and a member of the UN. We refute any suggestion to the contrary.
Departmental Lost Property
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. [263107]
Gillian Merron: The information required is held separately in various Foreign and Commonwealth Office Departments, all of which hold records relating to various losses and thefts of both personal property and official furnishings, including IT equipment losses.
As this information is not held centrally, providing an accurate answer would incur disproportionate cost.
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