§ Mr. TimmsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department is giving to the work of the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. [35203]
§ Clare ShortWe contributed £200,000 in November 1997 to support the work of the new UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict and intend to continue to work closely with him to ensure the protection, healing and rehabilitation of war affected children world-wide. We recognise that children who find themselves in the unique situation of caring for younger children, possibly because parents have died in conflict or from conditions such as AIDS, are particularly vulnerable. We are trying to address these issues in our development programmes and will highlight our concerns to Mr. Otunnu when his proposals for international action on children and armed conflict are discussed with our European partners at a ministerial meeting in London on 23 June 1998 which my Department will host.