§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what projects will receive less funding as a result of the cut in departmental funding for(a) Iraq, from 2002–03 to 2003–04, (b) Palestine, from 2003–04 to 2004–05 and (c) Ethiopia, from 2002–03 to 2003–04; and if she will make a statement. [122735]
§ Hilary BennWe have no plans to reduce funding on any projects from our existing programmes in Iraq, Palestine or Ethiopia.
(a) Iraq: because of the conflict, our original expenditure plans for 2003–04 have been increased by an additional £75 million of DFID's own resources and £120 million from the Treasury central reserve in response to humanitarian needs during and following the conflict. An additional £9 million was also spent in 2002–03. (b) Palestine: programme expenditure plans for 2004–05 in fact show an increase over those originally planned for earlier years. Transfers from other budgets across budget lines and calls on the contingency reserve, have enabled us to provide additional funding to meet the urgent needs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
(c) Ethiopia: due to the recent humanitarian situation, DFID expenditure in 2002–03 increased. This included substantial humanitarian assistance and a payment of £10 million for direct budget support. We have committed £19 million to Ethiopia in 2003–04. This includes both humanitarian and development assistance and could increase depending on the humanitarian situation. We envisage increasing our development support to Ethiopia over the coming years, as indicated in the 2003 DFID Departmental Report.