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Written question asked by Marquess of Lothian (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 December 2005. It was answered by Gareth Thomas (Labour) on Monday, 19 December 2005 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Asian Tsunami

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the commitment by the Foreign Secretary of 3 January 2005 that the Government would match those funds donated by the public to the Asian tsunami fund has been honoured in full; and how the Government's matched funds have been spent.
Answer

The UK Government have allocated the equivalent of around £290 million to disaster relief and reconstruction in the Tsunami-affected countries. Funds donated by the public to the Disasters Emergency Committee have totalled some £450 million.Government funding can be broken down into:"75 million of our bilateral funds to the humanitarian relief effort;""an additional 65 million to the longer-term reconstruction phase;""an estimated 50 million through tax relief on public donations made through the Gift Aid Scheme;""contributions through the European Community (EC). The EC has already committed £123 million in humanitarian assistance and up to €350 million for longer-term reconstruction. The UK's share of this would be approximately £55 million;""debt relief. Following the tsunami, the UK announced that Sri Lanka would be eligible for the UK's multilateral debt relief initiative (MDRI). Under this initiative, the UK will pay our share (10 per cent. or around £45 million) of Sri Lanka's debt service costs to the World Bank until 2015."DFID has provided two consultants to work with the authorities and partners in Aceh Indonesia.Reconstruction will take many years to complete and funds will be programmed accordingly. The priority now is to ensure that funds already committed by the UK and other donors are effectively spent. The Government are working closely with the governments of Indonesia and Sri Lanka on the longer-term reconstruction effort. The UK Government will not provide financing in excess of need. The Government will continue to keep under review the financing needs of the tsunami-affected countries.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
38289; 440 c2501W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Debts Development aid Disaster relief Humanitarian aid Reconstruction EU aid Tsunami Indian Ocean
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk