Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Jim Cunningham (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 27 February 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

UN Operations (Africa)

Question: I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. What contribution are EU countries making to peacekeeping in Africa in terms not only of armed forces, but of resources and aid? - EU.

Answer: I did not quite catch whether my hon. Friend said "AU" or "EU". My hon. Friend comes from a different part of Lanarkshire from me and sometimes the accent changes. The EU is of course very significantly involved, not least in Darfur but in other areas as well. In countries where there are particular issues that have to be dealt with, we are seeking to deal with them. A key example is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the EU's mission is concerned with supporting security sector reform. The AU is also extensively involved and, as has been said time and again, we need African solutions to Africa's problems. Both we and the EU are trying to build the AU's capacity in that regard.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 443 c18
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Armed forces Deployment Africa Peacekeeping operations United Nations Sierra Leone Sudan Darfur EU external relations EU aid Democratic Republic of the Congo Liberia
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk