To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on development projects in Yemen in each of the last five years. (271382)

Details of the Department for International Development’s (DFID) bilateral aid to Yemen over the last five financial years is outlined in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which organisations are involved in the delivery of his Department’s project in Yemen. (271383)

The following organisations are involved in the implementation of the Department for International Development’s programme in Yemen for 2008-09:

Social Fund for Development (SFD)

SFD is a Yemeni organisation which provides support directly to communities to improve education, health, roads, and water supplies. This includes micro-finance services and training for local development partners (government, NGOs, communities, and contractors).

World Bank

DFID is working with the World Bank to increase access to quality basic education, particularly for girls.

KFW Development Bank

KFW Development Bank acts on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). DFID is working with KFW through the girls access project (SEDGAP) to improve gender equity, quality and efficiency of general secondary education.

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

IFC are carrying out a range of activities to improve the enabling environment for businesses and investment.

World Food Programme(United Nations)

DFID is supporting the Emergency Food Aid relief programme in the Sa’ada Governorate.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB)

IDB aim to improve water and sanitation in Al-Howta City, Lahej Governorate.

GRM Consulting

GRM Consulting are improving the provision of justice systems and policing services.

Government of the Netherlands

The Dutch and DFID are working through a Delegated Cooperation Arrangement (DCA) on Maternal and Neonatal Health. The programme will reduce maternal and child mortality.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions his Department has had with the Islamic Development Bank on reducing levels of poverty in Yemen. (271384)

In late 2007 the Department for International Development (DFID) began discussions with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) about opportunities for joint collaboration to reduce poverty in Yemen. This resulted in DFID signing an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in November 2008 to co-fund the Urban Water and Sanitation Project in Al Howta City, Lahej Governorate in Yemen. The Project will bring clean water and improved sanitation to 36,000 people in Al Howta City by 2011. Funding is being provided through an IDB Loan of $10 million and a DFID Grant of £1.2million (2008-09).

DFID signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the IDB in January 2009 to develop further partnerships the first of which is the recently agreed Statistical Capacity Building programme (STATCAP) which will also include Yemen as a focus country.

I have regular meetings with the President of the IDB, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al Madani.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what criteria his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of UK assistance to Yemen. (271385)

The Department for International Development (DFID) uses a range of different criteria to assess the effectiveness of UK assistance to Yemen.

All projects, whether implemented directly by DFID or through a partner organisation such as the World Bank or UN, have a monitoring and evaluation framework in place with an agreed set of indicators that are specifically designed for each project. Annual reviews are undertaken for each project. Where projects are jointly funded with other donors joint evaluations are undertaken.

DFID’s evaluation department is also currently undertaking an evaluation of DFID’s development assistance to Yemen. The evaluation will follow the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria and assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the DFID programme in Yemen. The 2008 OECD-DAC baseline survey shows that DFID has either met or is on track to meet all the 2010 targets contained in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

The effectiveness of UK assistance to Yemen is also assessed against the three shared commitments (poverty reduction, human rights and public finance management) between the UK and the Government of Yemen and set out in the 10 year Development Partnership Arrangement (DPA). In March 2009 there was an annual review of both GoY commitments and DFID commitments.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Yemen. (271386)

Progress in Yemen against selected indicators for each of the Millennium Development Goals was published in the Department for International Development’s (DFID) 2008 Autumn Performance Report in December. This is available in the Library of the House or on-line at

www.dfid.gov.uk.

A more detailed assessment will be published in DFID's 2009 Annual Report in July.