HC Deb 06 May 2003 vol 404 cc579-80W
Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the projects undertaken by the Conflict and Recovery Unit of the United Nations Development programme in each year since its inception and the contribution of her Department for this programme in each year. [110354]

Clare Short

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) created the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) in November 2001, in order to address the increasing demand for well-co-ordinated assistance on crisis prevention and recovery and the need for a strengthened capacity within the UN system to help bridge the gap between humanitarian response and longer-term development assistance. The main purpose of BCPR is to provide technical support to UNDP Country Offices and their programmes, rather than carrying out directly executed projects. Since its establishment, the Bureau's capacity to provide support in conflict prevention, security sector reform, recovery, small arms reduction, mine action and natural disaster reduction has increased considerably.

At present, approximately 65 out of UNDP's 135 Country Offices implementing crisis prevention or recovery programmes draw on BCPR support. However, to ensure a strategic use of its resources, BCPR focuses the provision of its technical support on Afghanistan, Angola, Central Asia, Colombia, Georgia, Great Lakes, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Iraq, Nepal, Somalia, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and West Africa.

DFID has worked closely with the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery since its establishment and has made an overall contribution of £13.4 million to date: £6.6 million in 2001–02 and £6.8 million in 2002–03. Our contribution has been utilised across the full range of BCPR's activities.

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