§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) if he will outline his Department's strategy with regard to the Montagnard people of Vietnam since 1997; and if he will make a statement; [187268]
(2) how much (a) monetary aid and (b) aid in kind his Department has (i) pledged and (ii) delivered to projects directly impacting on the Montagnard people of Vietnam since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [187269]
Mr. Gareth ThomasThe Department for International Development's (DFID) engagement in Vietnam since 1997 has focused on supporting the Vietnamese Government in implementing its own strategies for poverty reduction. In their five-year plans, the Government of Vietnam has highlighted the severe poverty issues facing the Central Highlands where the majority of the Montagnard people live.
From 1997 to 2003 DFID's strategy focused on working with other donors. During this period DFID has developed two projects with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which aim to improve the quality of services provided by the Vietnamese Government to poor people in four provinces of the Central Highlands region. The projects focus on greater participation by poor people in planning and monitoring services, which should ensure that the services provided are more appropriate and of better quality. In addition, DFID has funded UNICEF to improve water supplies to rural areas in three Central Highlands provinces.
In DFID's Vietnam Country Assistance Plan, 2004–06, a key strategic objective is to strengthen the Government's efforts to achieve development which is socially inclusive In addition to the co-financed ADB projects mentioned above, DFID is currently addressing the development needs of the Montagnard people through co-financing a number of national programmes, which include Central Highlands provinces, districts and communes along with those in other poor areas of Vietnam. In education, our two national programmes with the World Bank, Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children and Primary Teachers Development Project# are strengthening the capacity of local government to improve the quality of primary education for all children. In transport, DFID is working with the World Bank to improve access to rural roads for poor people and building Government capacity to monitor and forecast associated recurrent budget costs. DFID also co-finance two United Nation# Development Programme projects aimed at strengthening the capacities of the National Assembly and a number of provincial People's Councils, including several in the Central Highlands region.
The only programmes where DFID can explicitly disaggregate it's monetary aid, and aid in kind, for the Montagnard people are for our Rural Transport Programmes, and our Central Region Livelihoods Improvement Programme (CRLIP). Since 1997 our 949W Rural Transport Programmes haw disbursed £512,427 in the two Central Highland provinces of Dak Lak and Gia Lai. The CRLIP has pledged £2,766,667 to the Central Highland Province of Kon Turn.
Project title Allocation (£) Project duration Project location Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children 26,500,000 2003–09 38 provinces including four central highland (PEDC) provinces—Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Turn, Lam Dong Primary Teacher Development Project (PTDP) 8,256,000 2002–05 10 provinces including one central highland province— Kon Turn Capacity Building for Central Region Poverty 1,800,000 2002–04 Four provinces including one central highland Reduction (CBCRPR) province—Kon Turn Support to the Office of the National Assembly 330,000 2004–08 15 provinces including two central highland and People's Councils (ONA project) provinces—Dak Lak, Kon Turn Support to the Committee for Economic and 672,000 2003–08 11 provinces including one central highland province— Budgetary Affairs (CEBA) Lam Dong Vietnam: Rural Water Supply and Environmental 2,880,000 1999–2002 14 provinces including three central highland Sanitation Programme—UNICEF Core Funding provinces—Kon Turn, Gia Lai, Dak Lak Project