AUGUST 2005: UK GOVERNMENT NEWS REPORTJICA UK OFFICE
Sources:- Department for International Development (DFID) website: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/- Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website: http://www.fco.gov.uk/- HM Treasury website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/- 10 Downing Street website (PM’s speeches): http://www.number-10.gov.uk/

Note: During August, no speeches were made on international development due to the summer vacation
period. News items are also limited for the same reason.

PRESS RELEASES
3 August 2005
DFID is providing £19.6 million additional funding for a new programme to provide 11 million
bed nets treated with insecticide to vulnerable women and children in Kenya. This additional
funding means that nets will be available to over 75% of the vulnerable population by 2007/08.
The nets will be distributed through the Mother and Child Health Clinics and rural retailers. DFIDand USAID began providing insecticide treated bed nets in Kenya in January 2002.

NEWS24 August 2005
Case studies on how CDC Group, a private sector development organisation 100% ownedby DFID, has helped build sustainable growth in the developing world. CDC Group has aportfolio of investments in low- and middle-income developing countries valued at over £1.1billion. It aims to invest where others are generally unwilling to do so, to invest in a socially,ethically and environmentally responsible way, and to encourage other private investors bymaking a profit. In 2004, 75% of CDC investment was in poorer developing countries, and 56% in
sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. CDC has its own board of directors - DFID does not get
involved in its day-to-day operating decisions. CDC's investments are currently managed by Actis,
an private equity firm.
The following case studies are now available:• Ivory Coast: Helping the rubber business to bounce back(http://www.dfid.gov.uk/casestudies/files/africa/cotedivoire-cdc.asp)• Developing Zambia's agricultural potential(http://www.dfid.gov.uk/casestudies/files/africa/zambia-cdc.asp)• China: How investment in wolfberry wine is going down a treat(http://www.dfid.gov.uk/casestudies/files/asia/china-cdc.asp)• Investing in better communications for Africa(http://www.dfid.gov.uk/casestudies/files/africa/africa-celtel.asp)• Cleaner, more reliable power for Tanzania(http://www.dfid.gov.uk/casestudies/files/africa/tanzania-songas.asp)

17 August 2005
175,000 children under the age of five in Mali and 57,000 vulnerable people in Burkina Faso
will receive emergency feeding funded by DFID. $1.2 million (£675,000) will be provided tosupport the relief efforts in those countries. $1 million will be channelled to the World Food
Programme's revised emergency operation in Mali, while $200,000 will be contributed to CatholicRelief Services in Burkina Faso.This brings the total amount of DFID funding for the countries of
the Sahel region, including Niger, to £3.925 million.

12 August 2005
DFID closed its programme in Kazakhstan at the end of July. The UK has been supporting
sustainable development in Kazakhstan since 1992. During the past thirteen years over £17
million has been spent on development work. The decision to graduate from Kazakhstan is part ofthe overall shift in DFID to work in low-income countries around the world. Kazakhstan’s status asa middle-income country determined the decision to withdraw.
Key achievements• Established a participatory land use planning process for the former nuclear testing site,which will help environmentally sound and sustainable land use;
• Assisted in improving the quality and accessibility of primary health care;• Improved capacity for management of water resources, including a new Water Code;• Enhanced civil society's understanding of its role in poverty reduction.
Continuing engagement• Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative - Kazakhstan’s oil and gas reserves offer theprospect of long-term prosperity and stability, but this can only be achieved by ensuring thatrevenues from these industries are managed transparently and responsibly and benefit thepoorest in society.
• HIV/AIDS - there is a growing HIV/AIDS problem in Central Asia and the need for effective
national responses to prevent an HIV/AIDS epidemic across the region. DFID has therefore
agreed to provide £6.4 million over four years to a regional HIV/AIDS project with the WorldBank and other partners. DFID will be working in the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan andTajikistan and supporting the World Bank’s programme, which will also cover Kazakhstan.
The work will assist the implementation of national programmes to combat HIV/AIDS and will
focus on prevention amongst highly vulnerable groups.
• The UK government will continue to support a wide range of work in Kazakhstan with thefollowing UK government departments: Foreign and Commonwealth Office; DEFRA(Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs); Department for Trade and Industry
and other organisations. Work includes: energy sector reform, prison reform, environmental
education, democracy building, counter proliferation of nuclear materials and counternarcotics.

10 August 2005
DFID is providing a further £250,000 to support the delivery of humanitarian aid in Niger. The
funding will help strengthen the coordination work in Niger of the UN Office of the Coordinator ofHumanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). This brings the totalcommitment to the food crisis in Niger by DFID to £3.25 million.

4 August 2005
Following a year-long process of discussion and debate, DFID has produced a draft agriculture
policy paper. Feedback is now invited on the draft over the next eight weeks up to 30
September 2005.
The paper sets out the importance of agriculture in reducing poverty. It challenges accepted
thinking on the role of agriculture in contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction; and it
asks what the international community, working in support developing country governments, cando better or differently.
Views are particularly requested on whether the draft:• presents a clear rationale for DFID's support to agriculture;• misses any important aspects of agriculture's role in growth and poverty reduction;• is likely to be useful to the work you do, and2

• is accessible to a wide audience.
While general comments are welcome, specific recommendations plus brief supporting evidence
will be particularly helpful. Comments should be sent to agriculture@dfid.gov.uk•DFID draft Agriculture Strategy Paper:
http://dfid-agriculture-consultation.nri.org/launchpapers/NewAgricPolicyPaper_draft08_05.doc

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