§ John RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on his Department's aid policies for(a) Belize and (b) Central America. [164031]
Mr. Gareth ThomasThe information requested is as follows.
(a) In Belize our focus is on supporting the Government of Belize to meet the benchmarks for qualifying for debt relief under the Commonwealth Debt Initiative. We granted debt relief of £1.548 million for the year July 2002 to 30 June 2003 and reached agreement in principle to the granting of additional debt relief for a further two years from July 2003 to June 2005. Further debt relief is subject to progress on agreed benchmarks in line with the three Commonwealth Debt Initiative criteria of sound economic management, pro-poor policies and accountable and transparent governance. These are the key areas in which we operate a £600,000 strategic fund over the three year period from June 2003 to June 2006.
The UK supports the OAS-sponsored Confidence Building Measures in Belize and Guatemala through the FCO/DFID/MOD Global Conflict Prevention Pool. £1.5 million has been allocated for financial year 1559W 2004–05. Our projects are aimed at reducing tensions, encouraging co-operation between security agencies, Government Ministries and Non Governmental Organisations, and addressing the underlying causes of conflict.
In addition Belize benefits from DFID's regional programme for the wider Caribbean which focuses on trade, security sector reform, HIV/AIDS, public sector reform and economic and fiscal management.
(b) We are reviewing our aid policy in relation to Central America. In 2004–05 DFID's Central American programme will be about £5 million of which £3 million will be to support our programme in Nicaragua. The DFID office in Honduras closes in 12 months time and we will withdraw from specific in-country activities in support of the Honduran Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Our policy in Central America is to work with other bilateral donors in order to enhance the impact on poverty of major multilateral agencies, such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Current priorities include enabling poor people to shape, participate in and benefit from access to markets and regional trade, and from more accountable and responsive public sector management, and political systems. In addition we engage regionally on issues of global concern—HIV/AIDS prevention and security. We have a larger programme in Nicaragua, where we are actively involved in the Poverty Reduction Strategy process.