International Development: Aid Distribution

Debate between Baroness Manzoor and Baroness Sugg

Thursday 6th February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, gender equality is and will continue to be a top development priority. Girls and women across the world are held back by systematic and entrenched inequality and discrimination; the noble Lord raised some specific examples. Despite leaving the European Union, we will of course continue to work with our friends in Europe to ensure that these girls and women are kept safe.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I co-chair the APPG on Nutrition for Growth. As my noble friend will be aware, malnutrition adversely affects young girls, children and women. Will she assure me that the upcoming Tokyo summit will be funded and that we will continue our leadership role in this key area?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the UK is a leading player in global health and nutrition forms a big part of that. We recently had debates on its importance. We continue to support the Government of Japan in organising the Tokyo summit and we will play a leading role in it.

UK Aid: Nutrition-sensitive Programmes

Debate between Baroness Manzoor and Baroness Sugg

Monday 13th January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the UK has been a proud global leader on nutrition since hosting the summit in 2013. Since 2015 we have reached more than 60 million women, adolescent girls and young children with nutrition services in 25 countries. The noble Lord is right to point out the advantage of the new OECD policy marker. Indeed, the UK worked with donors and other Governments to develop the guidance for that marker and supported its adoption at the OECD. The new marker gives a big improvement in our ability to track aid spending on nutrition. We are exploring options to ensure that we use that policy marker to its best effect in DfID.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are doing some excellent work on nutrition and there is a very expert team in DfID. I co-chair the APPG on Nutrition for Growth and, as my noble friend the Minister knows, there is to be a summit in Tokyo later in the year. Will she agree to meet me and other members of the APPG to discuss Her Majesty’s Government’s commitments to the summit?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the work of my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Collins, in co-chairing the APPG, an important body. Our current commitments to nutrition will come to an end in 2020, so the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth summit in December will really be a key moment in making sure that progress continues. We have bold ambitions for the summit. We are working closely with the Government of Japan to ensure that it is a success. We are looking to strengthen health systems, to come up with longer-term funding and to ensure that Governments, donors and businesses take positive action to improve access to nutritious and sustainable diets. I would be delighted to come along to the APPG with officials to provide further briefing.

Ebola

Debate between Baroness Manzoor and Baroness Sugg

Thursday 25th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

We are the leading donor for regional preparedness and will certainly be working with Rwanda to ensure that it is firmly on the agenda.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, as has already been said, it is important to control the spread of Ebola. Can my noble friend say whether local schools are closed in eastern DRC? Would that help to reduce the spread of this infection?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank my noble friend for that question. Of course, as I said, we are doing all we can to reduce infection. Unlike in Sierra Leone, schools in the affected area currently remain open; so far, they have not been identified as a major source of transmission. In west Africa, we saw that school closures could have many negative and long-lasting effects on children and the surrounding communities. As the noble Lord, Lord Collins, pointed out, schools are actually a way in which we can educate people on this. Our support for UNICEF helps to fund infection prevention and control work in schools near confirmed cases. While the ultimate decision to shut schools rests with the Government of the DRC, it is something that the UK monitors closely.

Road Safety: Hand-held Devices

Debate between Baroness Manzoor and Baroness Sugg

Monday 13th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I agree that everyone who uses highways has a responsibility to behave safely. A number of offences can cover cycling behaviour, such as fixed penalty notices, or officers can report the road user for prosecution. The Government announced last month their cycle safety review, which will involve a consultation on these issues. We are working with stakeholders for their input and we will publish fuller terms of reference next year.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, statistics show that young people aged between 17 and 29 are more likely to use mobile phones and other hand-held devices. What are the Government doing to take action against this, especially relating to further education for that group?

[Baroness Sugg]

My noble friend is right to highlight the important issue of addressing young drivers. Around 20% of new drivers will have a crash within the first six months of passing their test, so any novice driver caught using a mobile phone while driving in their first two years will have their licence revoked. We have announced changes to the practical driving test that will come into force in December. I mentioned the THINK! campaign, which targets young drivers. We have also produced a provisional licence mailing insert, which is estimated to reach nearly 1.7 million new drivers annually.