Written question asked by John Battle (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 June 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 June 2008. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Wednesday, 18 June 2008 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Congo: World Food Programme

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the UK's contribution to the World Food Programme for programmes in (a) the Congo and (b) Mozambique is for 2008-09.

Answer: The information is as follows:Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)In the DRC, the Department for International Development (DFID) makes the bulk of its humanitarian contributions through the UN's global Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), and through a national pooled fund. In 2008-09, DFID is the largest contributor to CERF, contributing £40 million (20 per cent. of the total), and expects to contribute £30 million to the pooled fund. For both funds, the decision as to how the money is spent is at the discretion of the UN. At this early stage in the year, it is therefore difficult to predict how much the World Food Programme (WFP) is likely to receive from these two sources. In 2007, the WFP received £7.25 million total from CERF and the pooled fund.MozambiqueDuring 2008-09, the WFP is likely to benefit from allocations from the UN's global CERF, to which DFID is the largest contributor. At this early stage in the year, it is difficult to predict how much WFP is likely to receive from this source. DFID currently does not have plans to contribute directly to the World Food Programme in Mozambique in 2008-09.In 2007-08, DFID's contribution to the WFP was £250,000. Through CERF, the WFP received £2 million.

Secondary information