Jim O'Keeffe
Question:91 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if any assistance is being given to Mozambique arising out of the recent disastrous flooding there. [7276/01]
Written Answers. - Overseas Aid.
The Government continues to be concerned about the ongoing situation in Mozambique following the latest flooding which is estimated to have affected some 400,000 people in the Zambezi valley and other low-lying areas in the central provinces of Sofala, Tete and Zambezia. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated the area of land lost to this year's flooding to be about 22,000 hectares against 167,000 hectares lost in last year's devastating floods which mostly affected the southern provinces.
The Government has been responding actively to the recurrent outbreaks of severe flooding in Mozambique which has been a priority country for Ireland Aid since 1996. As a substantial supporter of development in that country, we are working closely with other donors to assist Mozambique in its emergency and rehabilitation responses to these crises. We are particularly anxious to ensure that they do not inhibit the overall progress of the country's national development strategy. In addition, therefore, to the £700,000 emergency relief provided by Ireland in response to last year's flooding, an additional £1.6 million was reallocated from the budget for long-term development projects to meet short-term needs. A total of £2.8 million was also allocated at that time for the rehabilitation of roads washed away in the flooding and this particular work is continuing with some of the allocated funding yet to be used. As a committed donor to Mozambique, the Government has been helping to address the flooding problems faced by that country since last year. We will continue to do so long after the current crisis, which is set to continue over the coming months, has faded from international media attention.
The Irish Embassy in Maputo, which implements our bilateral aid programme, is working closely with the local authorities, UN agencies and Irish NGOs in monitoring and responding in a co-ordinated manner to the current flooding. This week, Mr. Kenzo Oshima, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, has sent the Assistant Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, who served last year as the Special Humanitarian Envoy of the UN Secretary General to the floods in Mozambique, on a mission to review the international support being provided by the UN system in response to the emergency. Both the UN and the Mozambique authorities have a shared wealth of experience in dealing with the flooding which has been augmented on this occasion by a higher level of local emergency preparedness, including emergency food stocks.
While the UNICEF response in Mozambique is already reported to be fully funded, the Government stands ready to fund the forthcoming UN emergency appeal. In addition, the embassy in Maputo is actively advancing a number of emergency projects which are being prepared by those Irish NGOs active at the scene of the flooding. The Government will thus continue to support and fund appropriate emergency and rehabilitation responses to the flooding in a manner which reflects its substantial commitment to Mozambique as a priority country for Ireland Aid. The 2001 budget for the Mozambique pro gramme, which will take due account of the impact of the latest flooding crisis, stands at £15.5 million.