§ Sir Alastair GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what was the level of United Kingdom bilateral aid for basic social services in Sierra Leone(a) in the year before and (b) in the period since the 1997 coup d'état; and what efforts her Department made to ensure that these services were maintained for particularly vulnerable groups following the coup. [44172]
§ Clare Short(a) In financial year 1996–97 the level of UK bilateral aid for basic social services (water and sanitation, education, health and welfare, and humanitarian aid) in Sierra Leone was £2.87 million.
(b) Since the military coup on 25 May 1997, we provided £3.24m to support the humanitarian work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), NGO programmes in neighbouring countries for Sierra Leonean refugees, and NGO relief and development work restarted since the return of President Kabbah's Government.
Following the coup, DFID provided funds to ICRC and contributed to EU humanitarian programmes. We contributed funds for the UN Humanitarian Aid Co-ordination Unit (HACU) which co-ordinated humanitarian activities of the UN agencies and NGOs working in Sierra Leone and neighbouring countries. HACU produced a code of conduct to ensure that humanitarian aid reached targeted groups. DFID officials also joined the EU humanitarian assessment mission to Conakry, Guinea, in September 1997.
§ Sir Alastair GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what British Government co-funded NGO projects were cancelled or postponed as a result of the decision to suspend aid to Sierra Leone following the 1997 coup d'état. [44173]
§ Clare ShortThe following projects were suspended when aid to Sierra Leone was discontinued following the 1997 Coup:
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- Action Aid—Water and Sanitation project
- Cause Canada—Water and Sanitation project
- Primary Health Care—Medical Research Centre, Bo
- Christian Children's Fund—Children affected by war/ Community based support
- Concern Universal—Assistance to Children Affected by War Programme.
§ Sir Alastair GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources her Department provided to the Kabbah Government in exile; and for what purposes. [44199]
§ Clare ShortThe Department for International Development (DFID) provided £240,000 to President Kabbah's government in exile. £50,000 of this was to enable them to pursue activities to promote the return of the democratically elected government, and £190,000 for a workshop and seminar in the United Kingdom in October 1997 to plan for the restoration of government after their return.