§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support the UK has provided to the Brazilian and other UN forces in Haiti. [184188]
§ Mr. RammellI have been asked to reply.
The UK supports the work of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and welcomes the work of the troops from Brazil, Canada and Chile, operating under Force Commander Lt. Gen. Heleno Ribeiro Pereira of Brazil. The UK is pleased that additional contingents from Argentina, Uruguay, Nepal and Sri Lank a and Peru should he deployed by the end of July.
The UK is not currently providing personnel contributions to Haitl as we have strong and emerging commitments elsewhere—particularly in Africa. We will be contributing an estimated £8.9 million in assessed contributions until October 2004. This contribution will support the UN troops in Haiti as well as other UN work set out in resolution 1542 (2004). Our financial support will continue beyond October, but the levels are dependent on operational needs which are not fully known as yet.
In addition to financial support for the forces in Haiti, the UK has contributed to related work. The Department for International Development (DfID) sent £1.9 million in bilateral support to Haiti to address civilian unrest. DfID) also responded to the flooding in 235W Haiti, sending £250,000 to the World Food Programme (UN Programme), £150,000 to Save the Children and £109,400 to Action Aid.
The UK also has a continued interest in raising the standard of peacekeeping. The L K funds world-wide 'train the trainer' programmes to support countries in developing their peacekeeping capacity. These focus on police training, but some of the personnel in Haiti may have benefited from this.