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17 Mar 2003 : Column 511W—continued
Global Health Fund (Malawi)
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of Malawi's proposal to the Global Health Fund, with particular reference to the issue of an upper limit on proposals; and if she will make a statement. [103106]
Clare Short: US$196 million was awarded to the Malawi Global Fund Coordinating Committee in August 2002 for HIV/AIDS. This is currently the largest GFATM award in Africa. A further USD 40 million was approved in February 2003 for scaling up prevention and treatment of Malaria.
A review of Global Fund proposals in five countries, including Malawi, was undertaken in August 2002. It highlights the challenge in Malawi to absorb the additional finance given the prevailing health service infrastructure. There are major shortages of
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appropriately trained staff. The public sector is experiencing high attrition both from dissatisfaction with terms and conditions of service and as a direct result of AIDS. The GFATM proposal also requires extensive laboratory facilities which are currently lacking and qualified technicians and are in short supply.
Accordingly the Global Fund is phased so that initial stages concentrate on building capacity for service delivery. The Global Fund proposal is complemented by several other initiatives in the health sector, including work supported by my Department in strengthening essential medical laboratory services, medical supplies management, and improved mechanisms for coordinating donor support. The DFID mainstreaming strategy will help strengthen the institutional framework for a multi-sectoral HIV response by supporting posts in government and key institutions including WHO, UNAIDS and the World bank.
Intellectual Property Rights
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is on the recommendations of the report of the Commission on Intellectual Property rights; and if she will make a statement. [103096]
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights in respect of patents. [103634]
Clare Short: The Government will publish its response to the report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights very shortly and will be available at www.dfid.gov.uk. A written statement will also be made to the House.
International Organisation for Migration
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial resources her Department has allocated to the International Organisation for Migration in each year since 1997. [101734]
Clare Short: DFID's funding for lOM's operational budget since 1997 is as follows (figures in US dollars):
| US $ | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 300,000 |
| 1998 | 1,203,482 |
| 1999 | 2,977,297 |
| 2000 | 3,120,757 |
| 2001 | 5,504,559 |
| 2002 | 8,147,087 |
The above figures exclude reimbursable services and projects jointly funded with the Home Office that can not be separately disaggregated from other UK Government funding.
In addition DFID has contributed 50 per cent. of the UK's membership fees to IOM since the UK rejoined IOM in June 2001. These amounted to £517,242 (DFID share £258,621) in 2001 and £952,470 (DFID share £476,235) in 2002.
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Iraq
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of people in Iraq she estimates had access to clean water in (a) 1980, (b) 1990, (c) 1996, (d) 1998 and (e) 2000. [101733]
Clare Short: It is difficult to find clear statistics on access to clean water in Iraq. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation Coverage, the official UN reference system for monitoring water coverage statistics, provides figures for most of the years in question. (Given the difficulties in routinely measuring safe water, their surveys measure the presence of water facilities of different technology types. Improved water supplies are defined as those inherently safer than other types of supplies. They include: household connection; public standpipe; bore hole; protected dug well; protected spring; or rainwater collection. Not improved water supplies include: unprotected well; unprotected spring; vendor-provided water; bottled water; tanker truck-provided water.) In their estimates for 1980–2000, the following figures for access to improved water supplies in Iraq are provided:
| Year | Urban | Rural |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 100 | 54 |
| 1988 | 100 | 72 |
| 1990 | 93 | 41 |
| 1996 | 96 | 48 |
| 2000 (estimate) | 96 | 48 |
DFID cannot confirm the reliability of these figures. It should be noted that, while water is supplied to most urban households (and therefore classified as 'improved'), a high proportion of this water is not treated. There are also understood to be significant regional disparities in supply coverage within Iraq.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of UN personnel in Iraq are Iraqi nationals. [102739]
Clare Short: Until recently, Iraqi nationals comprised around 80 per cent. of UN personnel in Iraq. However, over recent weeks the numbers of UN international staff have been reducing, resulting in an increase to the proportion of national staff.
South America (Development Aid)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the three largest development projects on the South American continent supported by her Department. [102234]
Clare Short: DFID has country programmes in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru in South America, reflecting the severity and depth of poverty in these countries. They form part of our regional strategy in Latin America that aims to reduce poverty by working with governments,
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civil society and the international community in the areas of pro-poor growth, social inclusion and pro-poor governance.
Details (DFID figures available by financial year, EC figures by calendar year):
| Country | UK bilateral assistance 2001–02 Includes DFID programmes, CDC investments and debt relief | DFID share of EC assistance 2001 |
|---|---|---|
| Bolivia | 31.5 | 3.5 |
| Brazil | 7.0 | 9.2 |
| Peru | 8.9 | 2.8 |
Further details are available in DFID's Country Strategy Paper for Bolivia which is available in the Libraries of the House. DFID's Country Strategy Paper for Brazil and Country Assistance Plan for Peru are currently being finalised. I will place copies in the House Libraries when they become available.
West Africa
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial resources her Department has allocated to the UN agencies and NGOs that are providing assistance to third country nationals, refugees and returnees in West Africa. [102265]
Clare Short: I have recently approved £5 million for several humanitarian interventions in response to the United Nations Consolidated Appeals for West Africa. This comprises contributions to UN organisations, the International Committee for the Red Cross programmes in Cote D'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone; to Medicins Sans Frontiere (B) for a health project in Liberia and to Merlin for a health intervention in Cote D'Ivoire. This is in addition to substantial contributions from DFID last year.
World Water Assessment Programme
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's response is to the World Water Assessment Programme's recent report. [102811]
Clare Short: Nearly two thirds of the world's population will be living in countries of significant water stress by the year 2025, with the increasing possibility of conflicts over water becoming more common. One in five people in the world lack access to safe drinking water and nearly half lack access to sanitation. Misuse of resources and poor management have resulted in depleted supplies, falling water tables, shrinking inland lakes and stream flows reduced to ecologically unsustainable levels. In addition water pollution, from mainly human activities, is decreasing the amount of water suitable for many uses. At the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development strong commitments were made for better management of water resources and improved access to drinking water and sanitation and these must now be implemented.
In this context, initiatives that support the assessment of water resources and build capacity for the sustainable management of available resources are increasingly important. The UNESCO led World Water Assessment
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Programme (WWAP), has been supported by DFID, from its outset in mid-2000. It is an effective long-term Programme providing assessment, monitoring and reporting of the people-centred status of the world's water. The UN World Water Development Report (WWDR)—'Water for People Water for Life' which has just been released, is the first major output from the programme and will be presented at the 3rd world water forum in Kyoto, Japan, this week. The report represents the combined efforts of 23 UN agencies and convention secretariats and is now the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on the state of the world's freshwater resources. The availability of rigorous and authoritative water information at appropriate scales in the public domain will influence actions by others and allow critical issues to be identified.
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