§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department is doing to promote peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [102744]
§ Clare ShortI have been closely involved in supporting the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition DFID has provided support to a number of peace-building initiatives in support of the Lusaka and Pretoria agreements. We have committed $25 million to the $330 million World Bank Multi-Country Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme for the Great Lakes region. We are assisting the UN's peacekeeping interventions through support to Radio Okapi, the MONUC linked radio station in the DRC. We have supported community based peace-building projects managed by the Christian Aid and476W CAFOD in Eastern DRC, and provided funds for the peace-building work of Life and Peace Institute and International Alert. We have also provided some limited technical assistance to the office of the Facilitator in the Inter-Congolese Dialogue.