HC Deb 09 April 2003 vol 403 cc302-3W
Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list(a) UK and (b) non-UK NGOs with which her Department has had meetings regarding the humanitarian situation in Iraq. [107547]

Clare Short

DFID officials have been meeting with NGOs in London since 13 February on a weekly basis. The Save The Children Fund UK (SCF-UK) coordinates this informal group on Iraq, which is a forum for discussing latest developments. Attendance at these meetings includes Christian Aid, SCF-UK, Mines Awareness Group (MAG), Oxfam, CAFOD and Tearfund. We are also meeting with non-UK NGOs in Amman and Kuwait. Attendance at these meetings includes GOAL, Premiere, Enfant du Monde, Architects of People in Need (APN), Danish Church Aid, Norwegian Church Aid, SCF-US and Mercy Corps.

Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the cost(a) of humanitarian aid distributed from (i) HMS Sir Galahad and (ii) other sources associated with the UK and (b) assumed to have been incurred by the use of UK troops in distributing the aid will be charged to the UN Oil for Food Programme; and if she will make a statement. [107748]

Clare Short

Humanitarian supplies being provided and distributed by UK forces will not be paid for by the Oil for Food Programme (OFF). The Ministry of Defence has been allocated £30 million by HM Treasury to help it carry out its humanitarian obligations under the Geneva Convention and The Hague Regulations.

The UK does not otherwise provide significant bilateral humanitarian assistance; our assistance is channelled mainly through UN and international aid agencies.