HC Deb 29 April 2002 vol 384 cc545-6W
Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid went to each South American country in the last 12 months; and whether it was ring-fenced for particular projects. [52146]

Clare Short

The bilateral development programmes for Latin American (central and south) countries last year were:

£ million
Country 2001–021
Bolivia 13.780
Brazil 7.646
Central America 2 5.560
Colombia 1.434
Costa Rica 0.200
Cuba 0.600
Ecuador 0.434
Mexico 0.460
Panama 0.190
Paraguay 0.160
Peru 9.184
1 Includes provisional figures for 2001–02 and provisional figures for DFID debt relief (comprising both interest and principal foregone under retrospective terms adjustment. repayment which would have fallen due in year).
2 A regional programme including Honduras, Nicaragua. Guatemala, El Salvador.

In addition to these figures the European Commission spent £153 million in Latin America (which includes Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela in addition to the countries listed) of which UK share is approximately over £29 million which is drawn from my Department's budget.

her Department has recruited each month since June 2001 at (a) executive officer level and (b) administrative level. [52423]

Clare Short

Details of the net additional staff recruited by DFID at executive officer level and administrative levels, for each moth since June 2001, are as follows:

All our programmes are carried out in accordance with our country strategies, which are jointly agreed with our counterparts in country. Our role is to add value to the combined effort to the international community to create the right conditions necessary for poverty reduction.

Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of aid from the UK was spent on(a) education, (b) health and (c) environmental projects overseas in the last 12 months. [52147]

Clare Short

The information required on the proportion of the UK's bilateral aid programmed allocable by sector in 2000–01, the latest period for which figures are available, is:

Percentage
Education 15
Health 17
Renewable natural resources 12

Environment is such a cross cutting issue that it is mainstreamed into many of our projects and programmes and as such we do not have a separate environment market for our projects. Therefore for the purposes of answering this question we have taken renewable natural resources as a proxy.

These figures represent expenditure on projects specific to sectors but do not capture the full extent of our efforts in each policy area because they exclude multi-sector projects, block funding to civil society organisations and budget support or balance of payments. Also excluded are activities in sectors funded through multilateral channels.