§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development when her Department stopped providing funds directly to the Government of Zimbabwe. [30399]
§ Clare ShortOur direct co-operation with the Government of Zimbabwe reduced substantially in 2000. In April 2001 I halted our remaining Government to Government programmes. One programme of capacity building for rural district councils was allowed to run until its planned end date of September 2001. We continue to support a Government initiative to promote the inheritance rights of poor women, but money for this does not go through the Government. We support activities where the principal partner is not central Government, but which operate within Government systems where they are the only means of providing direct services to the poor, and where we are satisfied that they remain effective and impartial. These include the national HIV/AIDS prevention programme where our support is partially channelled through the public health system, and funding to complete long-standing commitments to rural water and sanitation projects through local government.
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