Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 287: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the situation in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13453/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Under the provisions of the 2002 Sun City peace accords, the transition process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — DRC — is formally set to conclude at the end of June 2006, with the holding of the first democratic elections in the DRC in more than 40 years. The successful holding of national elections represents a major undertaking which will require substantial international support. The European Union and its member states have made substantial contributions in support of the electoral process, with the European Commission contributing €150 million while Ireland has contributed €500,000. The EU is also likely to deploy an election observation mission, although a final decision on its deployment is still awaited.

The European Council decided on 24 March that the EU would deploy a mission to provide support to MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, during the upcoming electoral process. Ireland has indicated it will make available up to ten headquarters personnel for the mission, subject to national decision-making procedures.

Major challenges continue to confront the DRC, as the transition process draws to a close. Greater progress needs to be made in tackling impunity and establishing an effective system of justice. The DRC Government and its armed forces need to continue collaborating closely with MONUC in confronting and removing the threat posed by illegal armed militias in eastern DRC. There also needs to be greater progress in security sector reform, particularly with regard to completing the creation of a fully integrated national army and police and effectively establishing state authority throughout the DRC. The EU is actively supporting the process of security sector reform in the DRC, through deployment of two EU missions, EUPOL and EUSEC. The regional dimension in improving peace and security also remains critical and underlines the importance of initiatives, such as the International Conference on the Great Lakes, which Ireland has supported financially.

Up to 5 million people have died from the direct or indirect consequences of the conflict in DRC since 1998. There are more than 1.6 million displaced persons in the country while 80% of the population live below the absolute poverty line. The UN has launched a 2006 action plan for the DRC which calls for €570 million in funding for humanitarian programmes. So far in 2006, Ireland has provided emergency and recovery funding of €4 million to the UN World Food Programme, WFP, UNICEF and UNHCR in response to the UN plan.

Within Kenya, the major challenge confronting President Kibaki and his Government continues to be that of corruption. Following the publication of the Githongo report in January 2006 which made a series of allegations of high level corruption, two ministers and a personal assistant to President Kibaki were required to resign. Another minister subsequently resigned on account of his implication in a previous corruption scandal. However, to date no prosecutions have resulted from the allegations made.

The Kibaki Government has made efforts since its election in December 2002 to tackle corruption and to strengthen the legislative and institutional anti-corruption framework. However, further measures, including prosecutions, will be necessary in order to reassure international opinion of the seriousness of the government's intent in tackling corruption. In this regard, the EU has publicly expressed its concern over recent raids on the media in Kenya carried out by security agencies which appear to be an attempt to curb press freedom in commenting on issues of public importance such as corruption.

Kenya and its neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa are in the grip of a severe drought affecting up to 11 million people across the region. It is estimated that 5 million people in Kenya alone now require food aid. Ireland responded promptly to this emergency, providing over €5 million in emergency humanitarian funding last February to agencies working in the Horn of Africa. Further funding of €2 million is now being made available to key NGOs and international organisations working in response to the emergency.

Mozambique continues to be one of Africa's most successful examples of post-conflict reconstruction and development. President Armando Guebuza assumed office in January 2005, following elections in December 2004 which the EU election observation mission deemed to have broadly met international accepted standards. The Guebuza Government has taken steps to tackle the problem of corruption in the public service, police and legal system by establishing a central office for combating corruption. The EU is pursuing an active political dialogue with the government under Article 8 of the Cotonou agreement.

Mozambique is one of Ireland's six ODA programme countries in Africa, with a bilateral assistance programme amounting to some €29 million in 2006. Ireland is helping Mozambique to reduce poverty through fostering economic growth, equitable social development and improved democratic governance. In addition, Ireland is committed to providing €40 million over five years — 2003-07 — through the Clinton Foundation to support the rapid scaling up of HIV-AIDS care and treatment programmes in Mozambique. In 2005, Irish Aid also provided funding of €1 million to the World Food Programme for emergency food assistance in Mozambique as part of the response to the region-wide food security crisis in southern Africa.