Written question asked by Caroline Spelman (Conservative) on Monday, 14 July 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 September 2003. It was answered by Hilary Benn (Labour) on Monday, 1 September 2003 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Dept for International Development

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development, what funds the Department placed with the Burundi Multidonor Debt Trust Fund in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003; how much of the pledges have been released; and what percentage of released funds have gone to the Africa Union Force. - Includes figures.

Answer: Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what funds the Department placed with the Burundi Multidonor Debt Trust Fund in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003; how much of the pledges have been released; and what percentage of released funds have gone to the Africa Union Force. [126398] Hilary Benn: DFID pledged an initial US$ 1 million to the World Bank Multidonor Debt Trust Fund (MDTF) at the Geneva Roundtable Meeting in December 2001. We agreed to make an additional contribution of US$1 million following the Geneva Donors Roundtable Meeting in November 2002. These funds were released in March 2003. We are encouraging other donors to contribute to the MDTF. The purpose of the MDTF is to help Burundi finance the servicing of its multilateral debt obligations, and so none of its funds will go to the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB). DFID has however contributed £3.9 million to AMIB from the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool, for equipment costs related to the Mozambican contingent.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 126398; 409 c868-9W
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Debts Development aid International assistance Humanitarian aid Trusts World Bank Burundi
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk