Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the meeting between the Prime Minister and British Palestinian families on 22 October, what consideration they have given to implementing a pilot Child Evacuation Scheme to provide medical treatment for children from Gaza, as proposed by the families and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the sexual and reproductive health rights programmes they support reach marginalised women and girls, and what data they collect to monitor this.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of official development assistance allocated to sexual and reproductive health rights targets populations in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether future sexual and reproductive health rights funding will run for a minimum of five years as recommended in the International Development Committee's report The FCDO's approach to sexual and reproductive health, published 25 January 2024.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to consider reciprocal exchange programmes of midwives as recommended in the International Development Committee's report The FCDO's approach to sexual and reproductive health, published 25 January 2024.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Official Development Assistance related to sexual and reproductive health and rights goes to target populations in (1) humanitarian settings, and (2) fragile and conflict-affected settings.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide funding for future sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes for a minimum of five years, as recommended by the House of Commons International Development Select Committee.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reciprocal exchange programmes of midwives.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their financial contributions were to (1) United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), (2) UNICEF, (3) UNAIDS, (4) WHO, (5) UN Women, (6) The Global Fund, and (7) International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20, and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Table 1 shows UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the form of core contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, for the period 2018 to 2020. Additionally, the UK uses these multilateral organisations as a delivery partner for bilateral aid ("multi-bi" ODA), except for UNAIDS.
The International Planned Parenthood Federation is an international NGO to which the UK provided £5million of bilateral funding in 2018, £35million in 2019 and £49million in 2020, as set out in Table 2.
Table 1 - UK ODA: Core Contributions to Selected Multilateral Organisations (2018-2020, £million)
Organisation | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
United Nations Population Fund | 20 | 20 | 20 |
United Nations Children's Fund | 48 | 48 | 48 |
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS | 15 | 15 | 15 |
World Health Organisation: voluntary contribution | 30 | 35 | 5 |
World Health Organisation: assessed contribution | 13 | 13 | 13 |
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women | 13 | 13 | 13 |
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria | 360 | 370 | 476 |
Table 2 - UK ODA: Bilateral ODA to International Planned Parenthood Federation (2018-2020, £million)
Programme Title | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Women's Integrated Sexual Health Programme | 5 | 33 | 47 |
Approaches in complex and challenging environments for sustainable sexual and reproductive health and rights (ACCESS) | 1 | 1 | |
Preventing Recourse to Unsafe Abortion - supporting locally led initiatives (SAAF) | 1 | 1 |
Source: Statistics on International Development 2020
Asked by: Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports of the (1) attempted removal, and (2) confiscation of property, of the residents of Khirbet Humsahin by that government.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa called on Israel to stop demolitions in Humsa Al Baqai'a on 5 February 2021. The UK Ambassador joined the Ambassadors of European states on 25 February in a meeting with Israeli Authorities, urging the Government of Israel to cease demolitions and allow access of humanitarian support to the community in Humsa Al Baqai'a. At the UN Security Council on 26 February, the UK Permanent Representative called on Israel to allow the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid for those who have had their homes demolished or confiscated. We also joined European UN Security Council members in delivering a specific statement on this issue following the Middle East Peace Process session. Officials from the British Consulate General Jerusalem visited Humsa Al-Baqai'a on 6 November to reiterate UK support for the community.