§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she expects the famine relief funded by her Department to be distributed in Ethiopia. [118816]
§ Mr. FoulkesSince January, we have committed over 24,000 metro tonnes (MT) of food aid to be provided through the ICRC and international non-governmental organisations. Most of this has been distributed or is in the process of being distributed. The distribution of the remaining 5,400MT is expected to start at the beginning of June.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with her EU and UN counterparts concerning the use of the Lokichokio World Food Programme airfield in Northern Kenya for providing assistance to Ethiopia. [120767]
§ Mr. Foulkes[holding answer 4 May 2000]The World Food Programme have no plans at present to use Lokichokio airfield. If a large scale air operation is needed WFP would consider Lokichokio among a number of options. Its use would depend on its cost effectiveness.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the long-term development aid projects her Department supports in Ethiopia; and if she will make a statement. [120768]
§ Mr. Foulkes[holding answer 4 May 2000]Our bilateral development programme is currently running at about £4 million to £5 million a year. We are supporting the following activities:
- Police Training
- Public Expenditure Review/Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
- Governance Fund
- Technical Co-operation Training Programme
- Ethiopian Roads Authority Contract Capacity Building
- EU Food Security/Employment Generation Schemes Expert
- DFID Food Security Field Manager
- Support to the Ethiopian Food Security Reserve
225W - Review of the Ethiopian Food Security Reserve
- Community Water Development Project—Phase II (Save the Children Fund)
- Review of Rehabilitation Programme (Overseas Development Institute)
- Prevention and Independent Monitoring of Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides
- DPPC Food Aid Targeting Guidelines Preparation (Save the Children Fund)
- Rapid Appraisal of Pastoral Emergency Response Interventions
- DFID Small Grants Scheme.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has contributed to the UN appeal for Ethiopia launched in January; and on what dates her Department provided the funds. [120765]
§ Mr. Foulkes[holding answer 4 May 2000]Both the UN Appeal and the Government of Ethiopia Appeal in January 2000 identify priorities for assistance. The £7.3 million we have committed since January 2000 is targeted on these priorities.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the amount of food aid necessary to replenish Ethiopia's food reserves; and how much food aid was pledged by the EU to Ethiopia's food reserves in(a) 1998,(b) 1999 and (c) 2000. [120763]
§ Mr. Foulkes[holding answer 4 May 2000]We understand that the physical stock in the Reserve currently stands at 90,000 metric tonnes (MT) of food. The United States, World Food Programme and the EU expect to provide a further 200,000MT by the end of July. The EU have pledged 110,000MT for the Food Reserve, which will be delivered by July 2001. The EU repaid 89,267MT to the Food Reserve in 1998 and 61,293MT in 1999.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with her EU counterparts concerning the provision of food aid to replenish Ethiopia's reserve stocks. [120757]
§ Mr. Foulkes[holding answer 4 May 2000]Our officials have been in close contact with EU officials to monitor the replenishment of Ethiopia's reserve stock. At January 2000 the EU owed 84,000 metric tonnes (MT). They have since repaid 16,000MT and are confident that they will be able to repay the total amount by the end of July this year.