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Developing Countries: Famine
Dr Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the Save the Children Charter to End Extreme Hunger. [90594]
Mr Duncan: The Government support the aim of the Charter to End Extreme Hunger, which is to reduce the likelihood of crises such as that currently affecting the Horn of Africa taking place in the future. An assessment conducted by the Department for International Development concluded that of the charter's 13 recommendations, the Government are already carrying out seven and considering another two. The four remaining recommendations we deem to be unworkable. The International Development Secretary wrote in November to the non-governmental organisations behind the charter to let them know that therefore the Government would not formally endorse the charter.
In at-risk areas such as the Horn, the Government are already supporting the strengthened warning systems, resilience to disasters and stability that the charter calls for. In Ethiopia, for example, we are helping 7.8 million people to break their need for emergency aid by providing support before food insecurity reaches famine levels. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), has also mobilised a group of high level political champions to make sure that much greater attention is given to disaster resilience in order to reduce the likelihood of similar crises taking place in the future—both in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere.
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what his policy is on the Save the Children Charter to End Extreme Hunger; [90610]
(2) if he plans to hold discussions with representatives of Save the Children on its Charter to End Extreme Hunger; [90611]
(3) what representations he has received on the Save the Children Charter to End Extreme Hunger. [90612]
Mr Duncan: The Government support the aim of the Charter to End Extreme Hunger, which is to reduce the likelihood of crises such as that currently affecting the horn of Africa taking place in the future. This aim was reflected in the commitments made in the Government’s Humanitarian Policy, published in September 2011. Analysis conducted by the Department for International Development concluded that the Government are carrying out the substantive points of the charter already but that some of the recommendations are unworkable. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), wrote in November to the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) behind the charter, including Save the Children, to let them know that the Government support their aims but would not formally endorse the charter.
This letter was in response to an invitation from the NGOs behind the charter inviting the Government to study their recommendations. As well as this, the Secretary of State for International Development has received correspondence about the charter from Members of
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Parliament and members of the public. The issue was also discussed at the Department for International Development’s quarterly meeting with the British Overseas Aid Group, of which, Save the Children is a member.
East Africa: Droughts
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the famine in Somalia; and if he will make a statement. [90583]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: There has been a fragile improvement in the situation over the last few months. The number of people affected by the famine and at risk of imminent death has reduced from 750,000 to 250,000—in part thanks to the dramatic scale-up of relief assistance led by the UK and others. However, tens of thousands of people have died, four million people remain in need of emergency assistance, and the current challenges to humanitarian access mean that a further deterioration is possible.
The Department for International Development is finalising planned early UK contributions towards the United Nations' led 2012 Somalia humanitarian Consolidated Appeal, to support further assistance efforts where possible.
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions his Department has had on the UK's contribution to the 2012 Consolidated Appeals for Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti. [90603]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development's support to the consolidated appeals this year will build on that provided in 2011. Since July, British aid in Somalia has contributed to lifting 500,000 people out of famine and has directly reached 130,000 people with food, treated 15,000 starving children, vaccinated over a million children against measles and provided seeds, fertiliser and vaccinations for livestock benefiting over 75,000 farmers and herders. In Kenya, since July British aid has supported the distribution of food to prevent malnutrition to 260,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers in drought affected areas; and in the Dadaab refugee camps provided access to clean water for 90,000 people and sanitation for 66,000.
My Department is currently finalising planned early contributions towards the 2012 Somalia Consolidated Appeal, which I expect to announce shortly. We are also designing new multi-year nutrition and refugee programmes in Kenya, which are in line with the Kenya Consolidated Appeal.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the effects of the recent famine in the Horn of Africa; and if he will make a statement. [90615]
Mr Andrew Mitchell:
Based on data collected by the UN, latest UK estimates show that, from April to August 2011, between 50,000 and 100,000 people may
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have died due to drought-related causes, over half of whom were children under five. The full extent of death caused by the drought may never be known.
British support has already helped triple the number of people receiving food each month and had a major role in reducing cases of measles by almost half. So far, British aid has:
fed 2.4 million people, including nearly 500,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers who are receiving supplementary nutritional packages;
vaccinated 1.3 million people against measles and 680,000 against polio;
provided 400,000 doses of anti-malarial medication in Somalia;
provided 1.2 million people with clean water and sanitation equipment such as latrines; and
given 200,000 people seeds and fertilizer to enable them to plant crops now conditions are improving.
In addition over the past month, a further 9,000 tonnes of British-funded food supplies and lifesaving medicines have arrived, enough to feed 800,000 people and provide medical treatment for 75,000.
EU Law
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of the regulations his Department brought into force through (a) primary legislation, (b) secondary legislation and (c) other means originated from proposals by the European Commission in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011. [88973]
Mr O'Brien: The Department for International Development has not brought into force any legislation that has originated from proposals by the European Commission in 2010 or 2011.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which EU (a) directives, (b) regulations and (c) other legislation affecting his Department require transposition into UK law; and what estimate he has made of the cost to (i) the public purse and (ii) the private sector of such measures. [89699]
Mr O'Brien: The Department for International Development does not have any EU directives, regulations or other legislation that require transposition into UK law.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department holds information on the EU regulations in its policy areas of responsibility which have not been implemented in (a) France and (b) Germany; on which dates those regulations became EU law; and if he will make a statement. [90699]
Mr O'Brien: My Department does not hold information about the implementation of regulations in other member states. In the area of International Development policy there are no EU regulations which national authorities in EU member states have responsibility for applying directly in their country.
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Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which EU regulations his Department has not implemented; on what date the regulations became EU law; and if he will make a statement. [90714]
Mr O'Brien: In the area of International Development policy there are no EU regulations that require implementation in the UK.
Food Aid: East Africa
Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much Government aid was given to East African countries to alleviate the food shortages in the last financial year for which figures are available. [90007]
Mr O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided a total of £48.35 million in aid to East African countries to alleviate food shortages in the financial year 2010-11.
A copy of a table showing the breakdown of aid given to East African countries will be submitted to the House Library.
Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he is taking steps to avert a food crisis in West Africa. [90008]
Mr O'Brien: The EC Humanitarian Office (ECHO) estimates that 6.8 million people are currently food insecure across the Sahel. This is due to a decline in the 2011 harvest, combined with unseasonably high cereal prices across West Africa.
In response to early warning signals, the UN released the sum of £7.8 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to address needs in Niger and Chad. The UK is the largest donor to the CERF, and the UK's share of this is £1.9 million.
The Department for International Development (DFID) has been monitoring the food security situation in a number of countries in West Africa over the past few months. DFID officials have also been closely liaising with their opposite numbers in other governments, and with officials from the Red Cross, the United Nations and leading non-governmental organisations.
DFID officials will be visiting the region later this month to assess the current situation.
Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the UK will make a contribution to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme. [90606]
Mr O'Brien: Ministers are considering whether providing funds for the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme would represent value for money and make a significant, additional contribution to our support for agriculture and food and nutrition security in developing countries.
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Migration: Climate Change
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department has any plans to respond to the Government Office for Science’s Foresight report entitled Migration and Global Environmental Change. [89091]
Mr O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) welcomes the publication of the Foresight report on Migration and Global Environmental Change. The report has important implications for DFID’s work in three areas. First, internal migration is a normal part of the livelihoods strategies of poor people in developing countries to enable them to adapt to environmental change. Second, much of this movement will be to low-lying coastal cities which increases the strain on resources and the vulnerability of poor people to catastrophic events. Third, many poor people will remain trapped in areas subject to the effects of environmental changes and unable to adapt through internal migration, and they will require additional support to enable them to become resilient to these changes.
Nigeria: Police
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support the Government have provided for the training of police in Nigeria. [90557]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: Through the Justice for All programme, the Department for International Development provides training to the Nigerian police force. The programme assists the Nigerian police on community policing, better management and improved oversight.
The Justice for All programme started in November 2010 and runs to 2015. The programme has a strong focus on security aspects affecting women and girls.
Sahel: Agriculture
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment his Department has made of the risk of a food crisis developing in the Sahel; and what steps his Department is taking to counter any such risk. [90604]
Mr O'Brien: The EC Humanitarian Office (ECHO) estimates that 6.8 million men, women and children across the Sahel region of west Africa are at risk of severe food shortages in the coming months. This is due to a decline in the 2011 harvest, combined with unseasonably high cereal prices across west Africa.
In direct response to these early warning signals, my Department has announced an urgent package of support to help mitigate the crisis. British aid will help treat 68,000 severely malnourished children in Niger, Chad and Mali and provide animal feed and vaccinations to 30,000 families to keep their livestock alive.
In addition, British aid is already reaching those in need through the release of £7.8 million from the United Nation's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)—to which Britain is a major contributor.
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DFID officials will continue to monitor the situation closely and will liaise closely with their opposite numbers in other governments, and with officials from the Red Cross, the United Nations and leading non-governmental organisations.
DFID officials will be visiting the region later this month to further assess the current situation.
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to increase the livelihood resilience of (a) rural populations and (b) smallholders in the Sahel. [90605]
Mr O'Brien: My Department is currently preparing a Sahel Resilience Strategy. This was part of a commitment made in response to the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review (HERR) last year to champion the development of regional resilience plans where appropriate and with those best placed to do so (particularly in the multilateral system), starting with the Sahel and the Caribbean. The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have bilateral development programmes in the Sahel, but works through a regional and multilateral mechanism.
In terms of support for livelihoods resilience in the Sahel, the UK is already funding the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which is promoting agricultural-led economic growth to reduce poverty. A number of Sahelian countries have prepared investment plans for CAADP and the programme has an important role to play building the resilience of smallholders. DFID is also a major funder of the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which includes
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Niger as one the priority countries. PPCR is supporting a $63 million programme in Niger to improve the resilience of the populations and production systems to climate change and variability, in order to increase national food security.
In addition to the aforementioned work on resilience, and in direct response to early warning signals of a looming food crisis in the region, my Department has announced an urgent package of support to help mitigate the crisis.
British aid will help treat 68,000 severely malnourished children in Niger, Chad and Mali and provide animal feed and vaccinations to 30,000 families to keep their livestock alive.
DFID officials will continue to monitor the situation closely and will be visiting the region later this month to further assess the situation.
Trade Promotion
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with representatives of foreign governments including the promotion of the business interests of particular companies since May 2010. [90393]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: Details of all Ministers’ external meetings are available on the Department for International Development website:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-DFID/Our-organisation1/Ministers/
and are published every quarter in the normal way.