§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the aid budget will be spent on water and sanitation in 2004–05; and if he will make a statement. [187528]
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Mr. Gareth ThomasThe Department for International Development's (DFID) support for water and sanitation is predominantly channelled through our country programmes and support to multi-lateral institutions. Expenditure allocations reflect developing country governments' own priorities, and our assistance is co-ordinated with that of other donors. DFID works to assist countries to use their budgets for greatest impact on reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For these reasons, DFID has not made a forward commitment specifically for the water sector.
However, DFID significantly supports the water sector providing the UK's bilateral expenditure of approximately £90 million (the last period for which 1388W precise data are available is 2001–02 when bilateral water expenditure was £87 million), which represents approximately 6 per cent. of the bilateral aid budget. This includes programmes in which water and sanitation and hygiene promotion are the main aims, and those where water and sanitation are components associated with wider objectives such as better health or education or improved urban management. DFID's contribution to multilateral expenditure on water and sanitation is estimated to be in excess of £40 million per year. As a result, the UK was the fourth largest contributor of financial aid to the water sector in 2000 and 2001, and fifth in 2002. DFID is in the process of updating projections of bilateral and multilateral water-related expenditure through to 2007–08, taking into account the autumn 2004 resource a location round.