Baroness Hussein-Ece

Israel must engage with its partners urgently to establish sustained, safe and timely passage for patients who need medical or surgical interventions not available in Gaza. We recently announced £1m for the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, delivered through WHO Egypt, to support medically evacuated Palestinians from Gaza. The UK is also supporting the provision of essential healthcare to civilians in Gaza, including support to UK-MED for operating their field hospitals. The Government is keeping existing policies on medical evacuations and visa pathways under review in response to events in Gaza.

The UK Government is committed to comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), and to maintaining a strong portfolio of financial support to the sector. Our approach to modernising development means working with others in a spirit of genuine partnership and respect and making good on our word. At present, there is no requirement for SRHR programmes to run for a minimum of five years, and future spend will depend upon the outcome of the multi-year Spending Review.

Reciprocal exchange programmes are not a specific recommendation in the January 2024 International Development Committee Report. Nonetheless, maternal, newborn and child health, including midwifery, is a priority for the FCDO. The FCDO recently signed an agreement with the International Confederation of Midwives, aiming to strengthen midwifery associations in partner countries.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annually reports on Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure via the Statistics on International Development publication (Statistics on International Development: final UK ODA spend 2023).

UK ODA reporting follows established sector codes and recipient countries designated by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC). We do not report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) expenditure as it is not specified by OECD DAC and spans across multiple OECD sector codes.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to reaching the most marginalised. The Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) Dividend programme focuses on reaching marginalised groups. Implementers report on indicators, including targets on the number of adolescents reached and how many clients are in multidimensional poverty. In 2022 a third of WISH clients were under 20 years old and 5% of clients were living with a severe disability. Regarding funding for the UNFPA Supplies partnership, UNFPA in-country assessments provide data on commodities reaching the last mile and UNFPA Supplies mid-term evaluation will include assessment for the most-left-behind groups.