§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department is giving to countries in the clearance of anti-personnel land mines; and if she will list the countries concerned. [22977]
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§ Clare ShortDFID' s humanitarian mine action strategy is directed towards widening support for the anti-personnel land mines ban and helping developing countries to develop their own capacity to meet their Ottawa Convention obligations; supporting mines awareness and clearance programmes including, in particular, encouraging practical innovation to enhance safety and efficiency in operations; and strengthening international systems for co-ordination.
DFID has allocated £10 million in the current financial year on humanitarian mine action. Additional resources are available for unforeseen emergency responses such as Afghanistan, for which we have committed a further £2 million for mine action. DFID funding is channelled increasingly towards international organisations (core funding as well as country-specific programmes). Additionally we fund projects bilaterally through NGOs and to a limited extent commercial demining organisations. The profile of expenditure in 2001–02 is expected to be:
Country/organisation Amount (£ million) Core funding United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) 1.0 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 0.6 Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) 1.0 International Testing and Evaluation Programme (ITEP) 0.4 Consultancy/advice 0.2 Mine Action Research 0.25 Kosovo, Cambodia, Georgia HALO Trust 0.8 N. Iraq, Cambodia, Laos Mines Action Group (MAG) 2.0 Bosnia International Trust Fund 0.5 Cambodia, Laos UNDP 1.0 Croatia International Trust Fund 0.125 Kosovo Bilateral via NGO and commercial demining organisations 2.0 Afghanistan, Ethiopia/Eritrea UNMAS 2.0 Nicaragua Organisation of American States 0.2 Total 112.0 1 Rounded