§ Baroness Youngasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether further bilateral aid will be provided to meet the needs of people suffering from the drought in southern Africa.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey)I have today announced a further package of bilateral aid totalling £10 million comprising:
This will bring our total bilateral commitment in response to the drought in southern Africa to some £48 million.
- —£2.5 million in the form of balance of payments aid for Zimbabwe, to help ease its financial difficulties and enable the Government to import essential food;
- —£2.5 million for Malawi (for drought related assistance);
- —£2.5 million for Mozambique (for drought related assistance);
- —£1.5 million for UNICEF/World Food Programme operations in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia;
- —£1 million for further technical assistance and support for the activities of British nongovernmental organisations aimed at relieving the impact of the drought in the affected countries in the region.