§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's estimate is of the number of people affected by violent conflict in(a) 2003 and (b) 2002; and whether he expects to meet his Department's Public Service Agreement in respect of this point. [125610]
§ Mr. IngramThe Public Service Agreement (PSA) covering this issue is; shared between Department for International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence to reflect the Government's closely coordinated approach to improving the United Kingdom's contribution to reducing conflict overseas through the Conflict Prevention Pools for sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world. The information sources we use to derive the number of people affected by violent conflict (the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the Journal of Peace Research, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, UN High Commission for Refugees and the United States Committee for Refugees) report annually and cover the figures collated for the previous year. Therefore, we do not expect to have the details for last year before the end of 2003 and the figures for this year before the end of 2004. Overall assessment of progress; will be based on the data, but will also take account of factors beyond UK control, either in-country or within the wider international system.
The UK is beginning to make an impact in meeting the PSA targets. Examples of important initiatives include our post-conflict reconstruction work in Afghanistan and the Balkans, our political support to the Middle East Peace Process, our direct assistance to Sierra Leone and our support to African-led peacekeeping missions in general. UK efforts through the Pools to reduce the risk of conflict also include programme and project activities further afield, such as in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. We will continue to evaluate progress and improve the effectiveness of the Pools over the coming years.