§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the cost of peace-keeping forces in Sierra Leone up to the present time; what additional aid and investment have resulted from that action; and if he will make a statement. [127806]
§ Mr. MullinThe UN peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone. UNAMSIL, was established in 1999. The total cost to the end of the present financial year (31 March 2004) is estimated at £1,894 million, of which the UK's contribution will be £92 million. The secure environment which UNAMSIL has helped to establish has allowed aid programmes to restart and the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of over 50,000 ex-combatants. UNAMSIL has now begun to reduce its numbers and is expected to complete withdrawal from the country in late 2004.
The UK has provided £70 million in aid to Sierra Leone since the war ended in 2001. We have committed ourselves to a ten-year programme of support and have pledged £120 million towards the social and economic development of Sierra Leone over the next three years. Delivery of these funds is dependent on progress by the Government of Sierra Leone on key areas such as security sector reform, regulation of the diamond industry, corruption, government and media reforms, and the development of a poverty reduction strategy.
In October 2002 the first British trade mission in over a decade visited Sierra Leone. Another trade mission will visit later this month and a delegation from the construction and consultancy industries is planned for early 2004.