Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what programmes of assistance the UK is offering to (a) Tunisia and (b) Egypt. [59199]

Alistair Burt MP; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State : Following the announcement by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), of the Arab Partnership in February of this year, £1.15 million of the initial fund of £5 million has been allocated for projects in Tunisia and £1.2 million for Egypt. Additional funding will become available, following the expansion of the Arab Partnership funding to £110 million over four years.

In Tunisia our programme focuses on three main themes:

political participation;

strengthening the rule of law, with a particular focus on tackling corruption; and

employment opportunities, especially for young people.

The embassy plans to work with a range of partners including the British Council, the BBC World Service Trust, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Thompson Foundation, and local civil society organisations.

In Egypt, our embassy in Cairo is in close contact with government officials, the opposition and activists to identify the most useful interventions. They are making progress in developing programmes that address Egypt's political, economic and structural needs. These include:

political participation;

employment and education;

investment and trade;

civil society development;

security sector reform; and

tackling corruption and conflict of interest and constitutional reform.