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Dept for International Development

Answer

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources are set aside in her Department's contingency reserve for 2003-04; what assessment she has made of the impact of allocating a significant proportion of the contingency reserve for the next financial year to humanitarian support for Iraq on her Department's ability to respond effectively to other global emergencies; whether she expects her Department's contingency reserve for 2003-04 to be replenished by the Treasury; what bids for additional funding for humanitarian activities in Iraq she has made to the Treasury; and if she will make a statement on how her Department spent its contingency reserve in 2002-03. [107581] Clare Short: DFID's contingency reserve for 2003-04 has been set at £100 million, of which £75 million has been earmarked for Iraq. We have allocated £15 million to Iraq from other DFID budgets and have been allocated an additional £120 million from the Treasury reserve for expenditure on Iraq. We have made clear that we will not redirect funds to Iraq from other emergencies like Southern Africa, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Afghanistan or the West Bank and Gaza; nor will we divert funds from programmes supporting development for poor people elsewhere. We started 2002-03 with a contingency reserve of £50 million. During the year allocations were made from the reserve to augment our response to the food shortages in Southern Africa, to provide humanitarian aid and initial rehabilitation assistance in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Ethiopia, and for emergency assistance in the Palestinian territories.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

403 c176-7W; 107581

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Development aid Department for International Development Expenditure Iraq Iraq conflict

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk