To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to hold the local and provincial elections that have been delayed since 2006. (258847)

The UK is the largest bilateral donor supporting election processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We have committed substantial funding in support of preparations for the local elections, and capacity-building for the Independent Electoral Commission. We have encouraged our international partners to do the same. Our ambassador in Kinshasa is a member of the Elections Steering Committee in the DRC, which met on 24 February 2009. There are currently serious funding gaps for local elections, which the Committee has undertaken to examine in March 2009.