Conflict Resources

Lord Hague of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague)]

I, together with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for International Development and the Secretary of State for Defence, wish to inform the House about our plans for funding conflict prevention, stabilisation and peacekeeping activities for financial years 2012-13 and 2014-15, via the tri-departmental conflict pool.

We intend that this funding be spent within the strategic context set out by the building stability overseas strategy (BSOS). We reported progress on implementing the BSOS in our written ministerial statement of 16 July 2012, Official Report, column 103 WS.

Delivering this strategy is an important priority for the Government. Enhancing genuine stability by supporting the development of societies with strong and legitimate institutions which can manage tensions peacefully is central to our national interests. We have improved our early warning analysis, to better identify instability risks upstream and develop effective interventions. We have also enhanced the UK’s ability to provide a rapid response where that is needed. The co-ordinated use of our highly respected diplomatic, defence and development expertise is central to delivering these priorities. The National Security Council ensures we target our efforts, including our joint conflict resources, on the highest UK priorities. The Government’s commitment is reflected in the increasing size of the conflict resources settlement for the remainder of the spending review period. We are under no illusions about the size of the challenges, for example in the middle east and in Africa. But we are equally clear that the UK can help make a difference, as we have done in Somalia.

Our written ministerial statement of 5 April 2011, Official Report, column 57WS, provided details of the total settlement for conflict resources for the spending review period, covering both the conflict pool and the peacekeeping budget. In financial year 2012-13, the overall settlement will increase to £644 million, rising further during the remainder of the spending review period. The settlement continues to provide a mix of official development assistance (ODA) funding and non-ODA resources.

The peacekeeping budget—from which we meet our obligatory and assessed international peacekeeping costs—has first call on the settlement. The settlement provides £374 million for the peacekeeping budget each year. If costs exceed this figure, they are met from the conflict pool. For financial year 2012-13, we have estimated our obligatory peacekeeping costs to be some £435 million. An additional allocation of £61 million has been made, therefore, to the peacekeeping budget from the conflict pool. In-year monitoring allows us to make adjustments, when necessary, to the balance of resources among budgets.

An allocation of £435 million to peacekeeping leaves a balance of some £209 million available for the conflict pool for financial year 2012-13. The allocation round for this financial year has provided an important opportunity to align conflict pool resources with the BSOS aims of early warning, rapid crisis prevention and upstream conflict prevention. Programme allocations have been decided on their ability to deliver results on the ground against these objectives, with a tight focus on the highest priorities, where the risks are high, where UK interests are most at stake and where we know we can have an impact. Due to the unpredictability of conflict programming we have over-committed initial allocations to ensure we fully utilise the resources.

In the BSOS we said that the UK needed to be better able to respond rapidly to unexpected conflict risks. The new early action facility (EAF) helps us do that. The EAF provides a guaranteed, flexible funding resource of £20 million each year for the remainder of the spending review period to respond rapidly to early warnings of conflict and emerging opportunities to prevent conflict. Potential uses include funding a short-term surge in UK effort, support for peace negotiations or new peacebuilding opportunities. The EAF is already being used for projects in Syria, Libya and Somalia.

We have also introduced provision for sustained, multi-year funding. This is an important step forward, providing predictability to build long-term relationships where needed and to deliver greater value for money. For some programmes we have set firm multi-year allocations; in others, where medium-term perspectives are less clear, the allocations in the outer years of the spending review period are partial or indicative.

In line with priorities identified in the BSOS, we are aiming to increase the proportion of conflict pool activity focused on upstream prevention, including by supporting free, transparent and inclusive political settlements; working with Governments to develop effective and accountable security and justice systems; and building the capacity of communities, regional and international institutions to resolve conflicts.