Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's assessment is of the security situationin Nepal; and what effect it has had on her Department's ability to provide development and humanitarian aid. [67037]Clare Short: The security situation has deteriorated sharply since the Maoists abandoned peace negotiations in November last year.Since then an estimated 3,000 people have died as a result of the conflict.The Government holds all the district towns, but large parts of the countryside are under effective control of the Maoists. Theintensity of the conflict varies, with the Maoist "heartland" areas of the mid-west and far-west most affected.The war is generally regarded to be unwinnable by military means alone, as the country is ideally suited to guerrilla warfare. Thereare growing concerns about human rights violations on both sides. In recent weeks, there has been a noticeable decline inconfrontations between the Security Forces and the Maoists, but this lull in the fighting is believed to be temporary.While there is no direct threat against development workers, there are indirect risks of being caught in crossfire. Restrictions onmovement, especially of people and supplies, and the withdrawal of Government counterparts in rural areas, means that Governmentdevelopment programmes in some remote areas has effectively stopped. None the less, Maoists are allowing continuation of developmentprojects in some areas under their control, particularly where work is strongly supported by local communities.UK funded development assistance is continuing, albeit more slowly. In addition to existing work on rural livelihoods, ruralinfrastructure, health and governance, my Department is implementing a programme of short- term support for people in conflictaffected areas, and are working to re-orientate the entire DFID programme towards conflict resolution.We have not yet reached a situation of acute humanitarian crisis except in a few isolated locations, and there are no plans as yetto provide humanitarian assistance although we are monitoring the situation very closely.