§ Baroness Whitakerasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the annual report of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy will be available. [HL5475]
§ Baroness AmosCopies of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy's annual report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The foundation has continued its crucial work in building and developing democracy overseas during the last 12 months. The foundation received a grant in aid of £4.156 million from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and further £390,056 of funds earmarked for specific purposes. In addition, it received funds from the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme and the Department for International Development.
Most of the foundation's activities were in its priority areas of Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and anglophone Africa. The foundation initiated an important technical assistance programme in Sierra Leone, promoting the development of political parties and the principles of peaceful and responsible conduct in political life. The significant contribution that the foundation has made to the development of democracy in the Balkans was strongly endorsed by an independent evaluation of its Bosnia programme.