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Burma
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to Article 5 of the EU common position on Burma, what form decentralised co-operation with local civilian administrations takes on the ground; and which bodies, organisations and departments qualify as local civilian administrations. [52206]
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Mr. Thomas: The majority of DFID assistance in Burma is implemented through UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations. However, as part of our humanitarian support in response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Burma, a small amount of funding (less than 7 per cent. of our total expenditure on HIV and AIDS) is used for service delivery through Burmese Government technical teams. These carry out specific and crucial work, for example the blood safety testing, national and local surveillance of HIV prevalence, and the township STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) teams under the National AIDS Programme. Decisions on funding are taken after careful analysis of the team and its activities. Funds are managed by the UN, which is directly responsible for all procurement and are subject to audit. They do not pass through the Burmese Government budget.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the annual EU aid budget for Burma was in each of the last five years; how much of that budget was contributed by the UK in each year; and how much of that budget was unspent in each year. [52210]
Mr. Thomas: The European Commission has not had an annual aid budget for Burma over the last five years. Commitments have been made through the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO), for funding for work on HIV and AIDS, and through EC calls for proposals.
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commitments (£ million) | 6.93 | 3.98 | 14.44 | 9.61 | 17.24 |
| Disbursements (£ million) | 1.73 | 4.29 | 9.23 | 9.40 | 8.93 |
| UK percentage share | 19.66 | 18.69 | 19.42 | 18.12 | 17.52 |
Note:
Technical note: under the EC accounting system, commitments represent a firm obligation to provide specified assistance. Disbursements record the actual amount of funds spent in a specific year. In-year commitments and disbursements are very rarely the same, due to unpublished de-commitments, and delays or problems in project approval or implementation.
Source:
EC Annual Reports
Departmental Energy Costs
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent by his Department on (a) gas and (b) electricity in 2004–05. [51775]
Mr. Thomas: In 2004–05, DFID's domestic gas and electricity costs were:
We are unable to provide costs for all DFID's overseas offices as in some cases, utilities are paid through local service level agreements to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and cannot therefore be disaggregated. The costs for the remaining offices cannot be broken down between gas and electricity, but have a combined cost of £274,130.
Disaster Relief
John Barrett:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had
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with international partners and the United Nations regarding the UN's role in the co-ordination of disaster relief. [55323]
Mr. Thomas: In December 2004, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for International Development, proposed a package of reforms to the international humanitarian system to improve the quality, timeliness, and co-ordination of response to emergencies. These are now being led by the United Nations. Two of the reforms are strengthening the role, remit, and authority of the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator at country level, and development of pooled donor funds behind the Humanitarian Co-ordinator to disburse on the most urgent unmet needs.
A third key reform is the establishment of a new Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to enable UN humanitarian agencies to respond quickly to sudden crises without having to wait for donor funds to arrive first, and to ensure essential humanitarian activities take place in ongoing under-funded, or forgotten" crises.
During 2005, DFID Ministers and senior officials held a range of discussions about the role of the UN in co-ordination of disaster relief with international partners, including European Union member states, the G8 countries, and with the United Nations, (particularly the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, as Head of the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs), and heads of key agencies including UNICEF, the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), and the World Food Programme (WFP). In addition, the matter was discussed at the meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council in July 2005, and at the Millennium Review Summit in September 2005.
Fairtrade Products
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect of the sale of Fairtrade products on the economies of developing countries; and if he will make a statement. [57555]
Mr. Thomas: Fairtrade can make a real contribution towards helping poor people to trade their way out of poverty. There are now over 800 certified Fairtrade product lines and sales are growing. In 2004, the estimated UK retail sales of Fairtrade products was £140 million, about a 50 per cent. increase on 2003. This makes the UK the largest market for Fairtrade in Europe.
By building more equitable trading partnerships between North and South, by securing the rights for, and offering better prices to, disadvantaged southern producers, Fairtrade is helping poor producers capture more of the gains from trade, which is a key objective of the Department for International Development. There are over 400 producer groups involved in Fairtrade certified production across the developing world, detailed evaluation of the impacts of this would be difficult but it is estimated that the benefits of Fairtrade reach around five million people in developing countries.
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The UK Government are a strong supporter of Fairtrade products. Many Government Departments, including DFID, use Fairtrade tea and coffee. And DFID supports initiatives to help more producers benefit from Fairtrade certification and develop new products. DFID has given over £1 million to the Fairtrade Foundation to help spread awareness of Fairtrade and develop new products.
Global Fund
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in achieving the purpose for which it was set up. [53284]
Mr. Thomas: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TBand Malaria was set up in January 2002, to date, US$8.5 billion has been pledged to the Global Fund through to 2008. Of this, the Fund has approved US$4.9 billion to over 350 grants in 131 countries. As of 27 January 2006, US $2 billion has been disbursed to public and private recipients.
The Global Fund describes its results on its website www.theglobalfund.org In addition each month it publishes a monthly report. Expected outcomes after five years of grants include:
The January 2006 report specifically focuses on a few countries: in Bangladesh over 5,000 people have been trained to deliver youth education for the prevention of HIV and AIDS, and in Nicaragua 82,000 insecticide-treated bed nets have been distributed across 36 municipalities.
To ensure that grant funding continues to go where it is being managed and spent effectively, only grants with satisfactory performance measured against agreed targets continue to receive funding for the remaining years of the grant. To date, the Global Fund Board has approved 107 requests for phase 2 funding worth US $1.1 billion.
An effective fund means working with international and national development partners to combat AIDS, TB and malaria. There have been a number of initiatives in the last year to move this forward. Examples include the Global Task Team on Improving AIDS Co-ordination Among Multilateral Institutions and International Donors, the Replenishment Conferences and the Best Practise Principles for Global Health Partnerships presented at the High Level Forum for Health. As a result of these initiatives we are seeing the Global Fund further increase its effectiveness.
The UK uses its position on the Board to work with the Fund and others to ensure the Global Fund is operating effectively.
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