§ 21. Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department is giving to programmes combating social exclusion of vulnerable groups in south eastern Europe. [69893]
§ Clare ShortWe are working with governments, civil society and international organisations in the region to tackle this issue. Specifically: we are supporting two regional programmes on promotion of minority rights and rights and access to justice for Roma communities and a project in Bulgaria focused in reduction in social exclusion. In Romania we are assisting the Anti-Poverty Commission to develop a social exclusion policy.
We are funding projects in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria to assist with the reform of social policy, focused on more effective social services, social welfare and employment systems, including improved cooperation between government and civil society. These will, in part, address the situation of socially-excluded groups. These projects are mostly linked to World bank structural adjustment credits.
We are supporting poverty surveys in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania to assist the authorities in identifying the features of poverty and monitoring measures to address it.
We have provided grants totalling £8.4 million to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for family welfare payments targeted at the poorest section of the population.
We have assisted with the preparation of a Poverty Reduction Strategy for Albania, and are supporting their preparation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia.
We are working with the World bank to support social mitigation programmes in Romania (targeted at ex-mining communities) and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also in Romania we are assisting the Social Development Fund.
In Romania and Bulgaria we are supporting child welfare and protection projects.
In Albania we are funding a programme of support to rural livelihoods, targeted at the poorer, mountainous regions.