§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his plans are for his Department's involvement in the Beijing Platform for Action known as Beijing + 10. [187534]
§ Hilary BennThe review of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action will he an integral part of the UK Government's work on gender equ day in 2005. The 49th Session of the Commission for the Status for Women (CSW) at the United Nations in March 2005 will review and appraise the implementation of Beijing over the last 10 years. A cross-Whitehall UK Government delegation will actively participate at CSW, working to ensure that the gains achieved at Beijing in 1995 are upheld. DFID has already begun contributing to this process, completing a United Nations questionnaire on progress made in the UK since 1995, which will feed into the UN Secretary-General's report.
DFID is also working closely with the European Union Gender Group and other donors through the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee's (DAC) Gender Network, to develop a contribution to the review. We are attending regional preparatory meetings and working with civil society organisations. These include the UK Gender and Development Network, to whom DFID has provided support on a study examining the links between the Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Gender equality is relevant to the achievement of all the MDGs, not only that specifically aimed at gender equality and the empowerment of women. The review will be an opportunity to underline the continuing relevance of the Beijing Platform for Action to the achievement of gender equality.
1422W
Ref. Project title Contract issued value (£) Value plus any amendments/extensions (£) Contract let 19986930 Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF): Advice and Guidance on the Build-Operate Train Tran 426,749 491,520 28 April 1999 19997568 Construction Adviser 29,090 66,290 10 May 1999 19997201 Malawi Haulage Costs Study 102,590 110,840 13 May 1999 19999064 Kharkiv Solid Waste Management: Ukraine 49,947 49,947 3 November 1999 19999310 Drainage Engineer 89,495 89,495 20 December 1999 20000009 World Bank Urban Transport Strategy Review—Review of Experience in Competiton in Urban Public Trans 29,762 29,762 7 January 2000 20000012 World Bank Urban Transport Strategy Review—Review of Urban Mass Transit in Developing Countries 39,987 39,987 7 January 2000 19999349 Slope Stability/Geotechnical Engineer 22,780 22,780 19 January 2000 19999283 Construction of Bhairab Bridge: Phase 2 2,484,879 6,103,093 7 February 2000 20000182 Professional Advice and Specialist Human Resources: Transport (Halcrow) 0 0 9 February 2000 20000203 Professional Advice and Specialist Human Resources: Energy (Halcrow Gilbert) 0 0 17 February 2000 20000160 Provision of Professional Advice and Specialist Human Resources (Halcrow) 0 0 2 March 2000 20000373 Kharkiv Solid Waste Management—Ukraine 7,111 7,111 7 March 2000 19999353 Philippines National Road Bridges Project 562,525 562,525 16 August 2000 20001267 Municipal Utilities Development Programme (MUDP) 98,921 98,921 12 September 2000 20001218 Strengthening Capacity in Environmental Project Development 547,455 565,510 3 November 2000