WRITTEN QUESTION E-0802/02

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(20 March 2002)

Subject: Reconstruction of Kambia Hospital, Sierra Leone

What funds is the Commission providing to fulfil its commitment to reconstruct Kambia Hospital?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2002)

The Commission was approached by the Kambia Hospital Appeal launched from Cheltenham hospitals in England. But until today no official request was made by the Government of Sierra Leone (the National Authorising Officer) to the Commission and accordingly no formal commitment was ever made from the Commission side.

As the basis for use of European Development Fund (EDF) funds is partnership, after receiving an official request from the government, the Commission will examine carefully the possibility in the light of the current situation. If eligible and depending on the budget of the operation, it could be financed from the actual Health Sector Support Programme or the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Programme, both of which are under implementation and have funds available. Reconstruction of social infrastructure and support to the health sector in Sierra Leone are both priorities for Community-Sierra Leone co-operation. A EUR 30 million Resettlement Programme was signed with the government in December 2000.

The overall objectives of the programme are:

- to assist war-affected populations and communities in resettling in their areas of origin through agricultural assistance programmes;

- to support the reintegration into society of ex-combatants by means of paid employment concentrating on rehabilitation of infrastructures;

- to improve the provision of basic social services in health, sanitation and education fields.

The activities to be realised are:

- infrastructure rehabilitation of primary education/health and water/sanitation facilities. The identification of the infrastructures to be rehabilitated is carried out in collaboration with the local communities, the ministries concerned and in co-ordination with other donor agencies;

- job creation and training schemes for the unemployed, resettling communities and ex-combatants.

Important internal reallocations of the programme took place in December 2001, in order to take into account the economic, military and social conditions in the country. A EUR 10 million contribution from the programme was pledged into a Multi-Donor Trust Fund managed by the World Bank. This decision came after the World Bank Conference held on 11 and 12 June 2001 in Paris to call for new funding for the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme of ex-combatants in Sierra Leone.

The Health Sector Support Programme is a EUR 28 million project signed in May 2001 for a period of five years. It aims to improve the health status of the population in the rural districts of Sierra Leone. This will be achieved through establishing mechanisms for the sustainable delivery of quality affordable health care at the primary and first referral level. The Health Sector Support Project gives priority to establishing systems of care and management.

The project will have complementary operational components, which are expected to achieve the following results:

- availability and accessibility of primary and first referral health services;

- reinforced human and financial resources for the health sector;

- accessibility of essential drugs;

- reinforced stakeholder participation.

The Health Sector Support Project responds to a focal sector of the 8th EDF National Indicative Programme in Sierra Leone and is complementary to the EDF-funded project, which supports reforms in the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and to the EDF-funded Rehabilitation and Resettlement Project (RRP). It is expected to contribute to restoring confidence and hope among the traumatised population of Sierra Leone and to supporting the government's efforts towards poverty reduction. Its activities will also be complementary to activities undertaken by United Nations agencies and development banks.