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 inequalities in access to, and the quality of, reproductive, maternal and newborn healthcare services in fragile states.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK is proud to champion and protect reproductive, maternal, and newborn health services, and seeks to take a 'no regrets' approach to supporting the provision of sexual and reproductive health services in all settings, including in conflict and crises.
Reproductive, maternal, child and newborn health outcomes are inextricably linked to strong health systems and the attainment of universal health coverage. The UK works with partners to enable health systems to respond quickly including in humanitarian disasters: from access to skilled health workers, to clean and sanitary health facilities to prevent infection and strong, predictable, supply chains. We provide core funding to the International Confederation of Midwives to strengthen midwifery globally, enabling midwives to save lives, reduce complications, and uphold the fundamental rights of women and girls including in humanitarian settings.
UK investment in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) supports delivery of emergency reproductive health and dignity kits to meet immediate needs in acute crises and focuses on strengthening supply and healthcare systems in fragile states.
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