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12 Oct 2009 : Column 83W—continued
Developing Countries: Females
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent promoting women's rights in developing countries in each of the last 12 months. [290422]
Mr. Michael Foster: Promoting gender equality and women's rights is a key component of the UK Government's international development policy. It is not therefore possible to disaggregate a precise figure for total expenditure on promoting women's rights.
Developing Countries: Taxation
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he last discussed the commitment made at the G20 London Summit to develop proposals by end 2009 to make it easier for developing countries to secure the benefits of a new co-operative tax environment with the Chancellor of the Exchequer; what progress has been made in producing such proposals; and if he will make a statement [291400]
Mr. Thomas: The Secretary of State met the Chancellor of the Exchequer in early September as part of ongoing preparations for the autumn G20 meetings to discuss progress on G20 commitments and priorities for the next leaders' meeting.
Since the London Summit positive progress has been made to deliver on the commitment to create a new co-operative tax environment for developing countries. The 1-2 September meeting of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes included developing country issues. Participants agreed that developing countries will have access to membership of the Global Forum, and participate on an equal footing with OECD members. They also noted progress on projects to develop a multilateral mechanism for tax information exchange and agreed to submit a report about how this would work to the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in November. The Communiqué from the September G20 Finance Ministers meeting reaffirmed support for this commitment. I also refer the hon. Member to the statement made on this matter by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Wednesday 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 135WS.
Fairtrade Initiative
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage the use of Fairtrade schemes (a) in the UK and (b) abroad. [292021]
Mr. Thomas: In the UK, we have provided funding to Fairtrade Foundation UK, for projects ranging from development and expansion of Fairtrade certification and markets, to awareness-raising campaigns.
Internationally, we are currently delivering on a £1.2 million commitment to Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO)-the apex organisation of global Fairtrade-for its work to broaden and deepen Fairtrade's impact.
On 10 October we announced an additional commitment to FLO of £12 million, over four years. This funding will support their work, together with the Fairtrade Foundation UK and other national labelling organisations, to double the number of producers selling on Fairtrade terms, and triple global retail sales to some £9 billion per annum by 2013.
India and China: Overseas Aid
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent in (a) India and (b) China in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [292506]
Mr. Michael Foster: Information on the Department for International Development's (DFID) aid to all developing countries in 2008-09 was published in its Annual Report and Accounts, a copy of which is available in the Library. In 2008-09 total DFID bilateral aid to India was £297 million; total DFID bilateral aid to China was £40 million.
International Women's Day
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department plans to spend on promoting International Women's Day 2010. [290377]
Mr. Michael Foster: We do not, at this stage, have firm plans on how we will mark International Women's Day in March 2010. Our approach is likely to be similar to that taken this year, which was outlined in the answer which I gave to the hon. Member on 30 June 2009, Official Report, column 222W.
Kenya: Food Supply
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment his Department has made of food shortages in Kenya; and if he will make a statement. [291656]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) accepts the United Nations (UN) agencies and the Government of Kenya's recent assessment of the current food shortages in Kenya. This shows that domestic production of the staple, maize, is 30 per cent. less than normal due to the drought this year. Even with additional imports of food by the private sector, 9.9 million people face food insecurity.
DFID has already provided £7.9 million this year to support general food relief through the World Food Programme, and targeted relief for acutely malnourished children through international non-governmental agencies. On 2 October we announced an additional £5 million allocation to help those most in need. We are also pressing the Government of Kenya to do all it can to respond to the needs of its people, and in the longer term to address the root causes of Kenya's chronic food insecurity.
Malawi: Education
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of each of his Department's documents relating to the information support to education infrastructure management unit project in Malawi. [292155]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) is currently providing funds to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Malawi for the running costs of their Educational Infrastructure Management Unit (EIMU). Details of all DFID's currently active projects, including this "Support to EIMU" in Malawi, are now made widely available through the Project Information database on the DFID website:
Maldives: Overseas Aid
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid his Department has provided to the Maldives for development in each year since 1997; how much it plans to provide in 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. [289613]
Mr. Michael Foster: Full details of the UK development expenditure in the Maldives are contained in the Department for International Development (DFID) publication 'Statistics on International Development'. This publication is available from the Library and online at
Relevant figures are reproduced in the following table.
DFID does not have any plans to spend directly in the Maldives in 2009-10; however some of DFID's contributions to multilateral organisations may be spent there.
Overseas Aid
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effects on progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals of the global economic downturn. [289858]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has been following events closely but the full economic and social impacts will not be known for some time. Therefore making an assessment of the impact of the crisis on the millennium development goals (MDGs) is extremely difficult and indicative at best. Based on revised growth forecasts, we estimate that up to 90 million more people will be living in extreme poverty by 2010 as a result of the crisis than previously anticipated. This is expected to delay the achievement of MDG1-eradicate extreme poverty and hunger-by up to three years. Other goals, such as increased educational enrolment and reduced child mortality, are also likely to be affected due to falling household incomes, but the severity of such effects depend on government policy in the particular developing country.
The recent White Paper "Eliminating World Poverty: Building our Common Future" emphasises DFID's commitment to supporting poor people through the global economic crisis. It is available in the Library of the House and on the DFID website:
Overseas Aid: Climate Change
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to which countries his Department has provided aid for the purposes of (a) adapting to climate change and (b) mitigating the effects of climate change. [292451]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has programmes tackling climate change in many of the countries in which we work, but we do not categorise aid according to adaptation or mitigation activities.
DFID records whether a programme is contributing to the Departmental Strategic Objective 2 'to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation measures and ensure environmental sustainability' and also if the programme is targeting climate change. DFID currently has over 40 live programmes tackling climate change in many countries including India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal and Zambia.
Overseas Aid: Forests
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has provided for community-based forestry projects that support the land rights of forest communities in the last 12 months. [292494]
Mr. Michael Foster: In the last 12 months the Department for International Development (DFID) has provided funding for the following four initiatives that support the land rights of forest communities: two projects that support the land rights of forest communities in the Congo Basin; the Livelihoods and Forestry Programme (LFP) of Nepal; and a programme of work by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI). The total expenditure on these initiatives over the last 12 months is £4,462,000.
Overseas Aid: Human Rights
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what account his Department takes of a country's human rights record when granting international aid. [292309]
Mr. Michael Foster: Human rights principles underpin the UK Government's aid to developing countries. The policy of the Department for International Development (DFID) is to consider a country's human rights record when deciding whether to provide bi-lateral aid. DFID assesses a country's human rights record in its three yearly 'Country Governance Analysis'. This provides an analysis of the human rights situation in each country and is used in developing the Country Plan and the Development Partnership Agreement.
This approach is reinforced by the Conditionality Policy, which bases UK aid partnerships on shared commitments to respect human rights, to poverty reduction and to good financial management. Where a country government do not share these commitments, UK aid can still be provided to poor people through other routes such as multi-lateral agencies and civil society. Where a partner government have breached their commitment to human rights, UK aid to the government may be suspended, as it was in Kenya and Pakistan in 2007-08.
Somaliland: Overseas Aid
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on humanitarian projects in Somaliland in the last 12 months. [290489]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not funded any humanitarian projects in Somaliland in the last 12 months. During this period we have committed approximately £25 million to UN agencies, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for their humanitarian work in South-Central Somalia, reflecting the greater need there. DFID has an active development programme in Somaliland, on which almost £6 million was spent in 2008-09.
Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the humanitarian effects of the conflict in Sri Lanka. [291527]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) declared victory over the LITE in May 2009. Approximately 270,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) remain in camps in the north and east of the country. Conditions in the camps are basic but have improved as the needs for shelter, food, water and medicine are gradually being met. We remain concerned about high malnutrition levels among sections of the IDP population, the lack of freedom of movement and the restrictions put on activities such as registration of the population and the reunification of families. Recent flooding in the camps following heavy rain highlights the importance of safely returning as many people as possible to their homes before the monsoon season. The Department for International Development (DFID), together with the international community, is participating in contingency planning to mitigate against its effect on the camps.
DFID has allocated £3 million to help the returns process and has recently agreed a grant of £0.5 million to Mine Action Group (MAG) to contribute towards de-mining activities in the Vanni.
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