To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he has plans to provide assistance for programmes for the political and social empowerment of women in Burundi, with particular reference to the participation of women as candidates in elections. (321648)

The Department for International Development (DFID) has provided £1 million to a pooled fund, managed by the UN Development Programme, for the 2010 elections in Burundi. This includes funding for the mobilisation of women as participants in the electoral process, as electors, candidates and administrators. A voter registration exercise was successfully carried out in February 2010 resulting in 3.5 million people registering to vote, 52 per cent. of whom were women. The project also aims to support political parties to ensure the effective participation of women in the electoral process, in line with the requirement in Burundi’s Constitution of at least 30 per cent. female representation in Parliament.