§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance has been provided to Albania in the past five years; and what assessment she has made of its impact. [56918]
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§ Clare ShortUK Government assistance to Albania began in 1993 and has focused on the regulation of capital markets, rural development, health reform, good government and the development of civil society. We have also provided assistance to Albania through contributions to multilateral organisations such as the EU, and during last year's disturbances we provided significant emergency assistance.
Early in 1997 there was a hiatus in bilateral assistance to Albania due to civil disturbances. Since then the programme has been restarted and it is focusing on strengthening governance and civil society, rural development and health reform.
Figures for UK bilateral and multilateral assistance are as follows:
Bilateral: Year (£) 1998–99 1800,000 1997–98 749,104 1996–97 1,038,000 1995–96 1,093,000 1994–95 1,153,447 1993–94 861,113 1forecast
Multilateral: (UK share) Year Total (£) Of which EC 1997 1— 1— 1996 7,800,000 5,900,000 1995 6,100,000 3,900,000 1994 5,400,000 3,100,000 1993 14,560,000 13,100,000 1not yet available We shall be assessing the overall impact of past assistance as we develop future programmes of assistance in the region.