HC Deb 16 July 1992 vol 211 cc968-9W
Mr. Bowis

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution the United Kingdom is making to the International Decade of National Disaster Reduction and the discussions he has held with colleagues in the United Nations on this.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

In the last financial year the Government spent nearly £600,000 for disaster preparedness projects under the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction. Commitments since April this year total over £250,000 so far. This is in addition to our continuing support for the Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering IDNDR committee. We are working closely with that committee, with other interested groups in Britain and through our embassies and high commissions overseas to see what more we can do. We are also in close contact with the United Nations IDNDR Secretariat in Geneva and with the disaster mitigation branch of the United Nations department of humanitarian affairs.

Mr. Bowis

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from the Royal Society as a result of his request to it to consider scientic options and proposals for the International Decade of National Disaster Reduction.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

We continue to work very closely with the Royal Society on the British contribution to the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction, primarily through the joint Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering IDNDR committee. With that committee, we mounted a one-day IDNDR forum at the Royal Society on 27 March this year, bringing together key players from Britain and the United Nations to discuss disaster reduction. A report of the workshop is being produced and should be available soon.