§ Mr. FisherTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent in each of the past five years in supporting initiatives to build democracy in other countries. [95752]
§ Mr. Robin CookAll FCO programme spending is justified in terms of the FCO's objectives. This includes commitment to spreading the values of human rights, civil liberties and democracy, the rule of law and good governance.
Human Rights Project Fund (HRPF) is the FCO's dedicated fund for human rights projects around the world. Since the inception of HRPF in April 1998 the fund has allocated some £9.7 million to support over 300 projects (£5.05 million in financial year 1998–99 and 360W £4.69 million so far in 1999–2000). Before the HRPF was established there was no comparable funding arrangement for the support of human rights.
The FCO also provides support for democracy building in the form of grant in aid to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which exists to promote democratic development world-wide. In each of the past five years the department has contributed:
Year £ 1999–2000 4,000,000 1998–99 3,000,000 1997–98 2,713,650 1996–97 2,500,000 1995–96 2,500,000 Projects under a number of other FCO programmes and budgets contribute to a combination of objectives including, but not exclusively, the promotion of democracy.