Covid-19: UN Sustainable Development Goals

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con) [V]]

[Inaudible.] It is clear, however, that Covid-19 poses yet further challenges to reaching the sustainable development goals by 2030 and that urgent action to accelerate progress is required. The UK is committed to this aim. To date, we have provided £769 million of UK aid to the international response and we are co-leading work through the UN Financing for Development work stream on sustainable recovery.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, this pandemic has proved the importance of the global goals. Sadly, last year’s Voluntary National Review was evidence that the SDGs were not prioritised by the top level of government, despite David Cameron’s early leadership role in their establishment. What practical and institutional steps are the UK Government taking to ensure that the SDGs are at the centre of their plans to “build back better” at home and internationally post Covid?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that the sustainable development goals remain central to the Government’s plans, both internationally and domestically. We remain strongly committed to responding to Covid-19 and, in parallel, it is of course important to consider how we will recover. The SDGs are an important lens to help shape policies that will help us build back better from Covid-19 both here in the UK and in our international work.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, in what ways are the UK Government ensuring that their rebuilding and recovery efforts are guided by local partners and in line with the national SDG strategy, including working with the private sector globally?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, it is of course important both that we work with the private sector and that we champion localised action as well. We work very closely with front-line responders and southern women’s rights organisations; we know that those people are best placed to ensure that the response is informed by the voices and needs of those being affected.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP) [V]]

Now that the Department for International Development has been scrapped, which Minister and which department are responsible, and ultimately accountable, for the UK’s delivery of the sustainable development goals?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, the department is being merged to form the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The SDGs will remain at the centre of that department and the Cabinet Minister with ultimate responsibility for the SDGs is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

[Baroness Stroud (Con) [V]]

As part of our commitment to achieving the SDGs, Her Majesty’s Government have signed up to eradicate extreme poverty for all people, including those in the UK, and to reduce by at least half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions, according to national definitions. I welcome the fact that the Government have committed to developing the Social Metrics Commission measure of poverty as the UK’s measure but, given that the officials undertaking the work have been deployed to the front line as part of our Covid response, can my noble friend the Minister tell me when work will resume and, when it does, what the strategy will be for halving the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to these national definitions?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, as my noble friend says, due to the current circumstances, work to develop experimental statistics has been suspended. DWP’s current focus is on supporting people financially in these unprecedented times. In the current uncertain climate, I am afraid that I am unable to provide my noble friend with a date for when this work will continue. It will happen only when we are able to do so and are sure that benefit payments and support to the vulnerable will not be put at risk.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the global devastation caused by Covid-19 tells us that we must redouble our efforts to deliver the SDGs. This will require vision, finance and open and transparent collaboration between Governments and stakeholders, both public and private. Why are we dismembering the one department within government that is closest to those requirements? How will our experience be any different from Australia’s, where a similar merger led to a loss of over 2,000 years-worth of experience?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, as I said, the UK remains committed to the SDGs and to the underpinning pledge to leave no one behind as we strive to achieve them. The Prime Minister said in his statement to the UN high-level event on financing for development at the end of May that, following Covid-19, there is every need for us to work together to advance shared international objectives, including the SDGs. The SDGs will therefore remain central to the new department’s mission.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con) [V]]

My Lords, given that Covid-19 has exacerbated gender inequality, pushing the rights of women and girls backwards, how will we ensure that more girls across the world are able not only to go to school but to stay in education at secondary level? Without girls’ education, SDG 5 will be impossible to achieve.

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I completely agree with my noble friend. We know that we will not achieve all the goals without strong action on gender equality, and women and girls are key to their success. We absolutely agree on the importance of girls’ education. The Prime Minister and the department champion the right of every girl to 12 years of quality education.

[Lord Crisp (CB) [V]]

My Lords, the pandemic has dramatically demonstrated the importance of having strong health systems everywhere in the world. In that context, what assessment have the Government made of progress towards universal health coverage—part of goal 3—and will they increase their support for achieving universal health coverage?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, the weakness of developing countries’ health systems is one of the biggest risks of the global impact and spread of Covid-19. Equitable, resilient and sustainable systems for health are the foundation for meeting all health needs and preparedness for future health threats. Working towards universal health coverage is more important than ever, given the increased barriers to, and needs for, accessible healthcare. The Government will continue to support access to universal health coverage.

[Lord Judd (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, when, as we all hope, a vaccine to deal with this scourge becomes available, what plans are in place to ensure that adequate supplies of the vaccine are getting to the most needy in the Third World?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, a globally accessible and affordable vaccine is, of course, needed to end the pandemic; we are working very closely with organisations such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi. The noble Lord will know that recently we hosted the Gavi replenishment conference. We will work with the WHO on its ACT Accelerator and with partners across the globe to make sure that, if and when a vaccine is found, it is accessible to all.

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD) [V]]

In his Statement announcing the incorporation of DfID into the Foreign Office, the Prime Minister complained:

“We give as much aid to Zambia as we do to Ukraine … and we give 10 times as much aid to Tanzania as we do to … the western Balkans”.—[Official Report, Commons, 16/6/20; cols. 666-7.]


At a time when the number of those facing food insecurity and consequent health vulnerability is likely to double, according to UNDP, is it right to think of taking money from sub-Saharan Africa and giving it to middle-income countries which have been well supported by the EU and aided by the UK contribution to the EU budget?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

The noble Lord is right to highlight the issue of food insecurity. Pre-existing levels, before Covid-19, were historically high and the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions on trading and supply chains are likely to increase food insecurity. That is why we are working very closely with the World Food Programme and UNICEF to ensure supply chains for food supplies and life-saving treatment for acute malnutrition.

[Lord Loomba (CB) [V]]

My Lords, now that Covid-19 is affecting earning power, health and access to education worldwide, it is obvious that many girls in developing countries may not get a quality education, which will affect the SDGs. What plans do the Government have to meet their 2019 pledge of ensuring 12 years of education for more than 12 million children, half of them girls?

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[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, the Covid-19 crisis has had an incredibly negative impact on the education of millions of children—at least 1.5 billion children in more than 150 countries were out of school at its height. We are working to ensure that we are pivoting our existing programmes to allow remote learning, through radio and television programmes. The important thing is to make sure that all pupils, especially girls, return to schools as and when they reopen. We know that children outside school are at risk of child marriage and violence, so the important thing is to get girls back into school and then ensure that we are doing more to deliver 12 years of quality education for every girl in the world.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Covid-19: Vaccine Availability

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Tuesday 14th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sheehan]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that a COVID-19 vaccine, if developed, is (1) available to, and (2) affordable for, low- and middle-income countries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, the UK is leading international efforts to develop and ensure fair and affordable access to a Covid-19 vaccine. The UK has committed up to £250 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and is the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. These organisations are key to developing and globally distributing a Covid-19 vaccine. We are committed to working with international partners to develop a vaccine and make it available to all.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD) [V]]

I thank the Minister for her reply. However, Gavi and CEPI have taken no action to tackle IP barriers to ensure access for all. The Government cannot assume that access, supply and affordability will simply be dealt with by others through the WHO ACT-Accelerator. Does the Minister agree that there is a critical need for the UK Government to attach conditions, including pricing and transparency controls, to their public funding of the potential vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca?

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[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we of course support the WHO Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator, a global call to action to accelerate the development and production of and equitable access to new Covid-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. We are working closely with AstraZeneca to ensure that we have the right number of doses in the UK and that they are distributed throughout the developing world.

[Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Lab) [V]]

We all recognise the criticality of a high take-up rate of a vaccine, once one is developed. What steps, if any, are Her Majesty’s Government taking or planning to increase public awareness of the need to engage with the vaccine programme and, probably more importantly, to challenge fears and misconceptions over receiving a vaccine?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I completely agree that if—and, we hope, when—a vaccine is developed we need to ensure that it gets to the people who need it most. Getting vaccinated against preventable diseases is the right thing to do to protect others as well as yourself. Since the start of the pandemic, we have been working with specialist government units to identity and rebut false information, and we will be working closely with Gavi and CSOs to make sure that when and if a vaccine is found it is properly distributed.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Non-Afl) [V]]

What assurances can the Minister provide that the forthcoming merger of DfID with the FCO will not impact on its plans to ensure that any Covid-19 vaccine is made available speedily and equitably to low and middle-income countries?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, with the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office we will be able to maximise both our development and our diplomatic muscle, so I very much hope that the new merger will mean that we are able to do more in this area.

[Lord Elton (Con) [V]]

My Lords, whatever the eventual outcome, we must assist countries that are poorer than ours. However, I am concerned that we should not be caught on the back foot if the contingency for which we are now planning—the discovery of an effective vaccine—is not forthcoming. We need contingency plans to deal with the situation either where there is no vaccine or where the vaccine that is discovered has a very short viable life. Is the laudable effort being put into pursuing economic fairness between countries preventing the development of these contingency plans?

[Baroness Sugg]

My noble friend is right to highlight that. Of course, we do not know whether a vaccine will be found or, if it is, how effective it will be. We are taking a comprehensive approach, making sure that we invest also in globally accessible treatments and tests. We have provided up to £40 million to the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator and up to £23 million to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics to develop and deliver new Covid-19 tests.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

My Lords, Covid-19 is a global pandemic with no respect for national borders. We know that as long as anyone is at risk from this virus, the entire world is at risk. Is the Minister aware of recent polling conducted by the Wellcome Foundation in the UK, the US, Germany and France that shows strong public support for making sure that any new treatments or vaccines are made available first to those who need them most, wherever in the world they live? Does she agree with the overwhelming view expressed there that national Governments should work together on a global response based on need rather than on ability to pay?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, our best chance of defeating this virus is by working together globally to develop a mass-produced vaccine that is accessible and affordable to all. The UK absolutely supports a global approach to the rapid development and scaled-up manufacture of vaccines, with equitable access to all who need them.

[Baroness Verma (Con) [V]]

My Lords, what are the Government doing to ensure that rural communities in poorer countries will get access to a vaccine when one becomes available? In the meantime, nutrition is vital for those communities to keep in reasonable health as best they can. Does my noble friend see merit in DfID investment in local laboratories so that, regionally, countries can access not just Covid vaccines but other vaccines and medicines and make them accessible in a timely manner?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, our £48 million of support for Gavi’s Covid-19 advance market commitment aims to ensure affordable access for developing countries. The UK has a proven track record of leading in this area. Gavi’s new strategy will increase its focus on zero-dose children, with targeted investments in health systems to improve immunisation access in the hardest-to-reach areas. And, of course, we will continue our significant work on nutrition.

[Lord Hope of Craighead (CB) [V]]

My Lords, we are faced with a pandemic that extends across every continent except Antarctica, affecting every country, rich and poor. To follow the point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler of Enfield, will the Government encourage the creation of a global fund, as was done in the case of anti-retroviral drugs to combat AIDS, as a matter of urgency to enable all poorer countries to meet the costs of distribution of the drug as soon as it becomes available?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we are supporting many international funds to ensure equitable access for all who need it. We support the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, which is the global call to action to accelerate development of a vaccine. We also support the recently formed Covax facility partnership, which is actively taking part in discussions on its mechanism and structure. Under the accelerator, Covax brings together international partners and Governments, and has the potential to ensure that a vaccine is accessible and affordable.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, Gavi is a success story, and the Government’s commitment to it is great, but Gavi can ask more of pharmaceutical companies. MSF recently made three recommendations to secure equitable access, including: requiring pharmaceutical companies to sell Covid vaccines at cost; boosting transparency, which we do not have enough of at the moment; and ensuring that civil society organisations have a meaningful role in distribution. What steps are the Government taking on these three recommendations?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the work in this area is being led by the Vaccine Taskforce in the UK, which will ensure that the work being done in the UK to find a vaccine complements and supports global efforts. I will come back to the noble Lord in writing on the three specific points that he raised.

[Baroness Barker (LD) [V]]

My Lords, how will the Government influence the US Administration to agree and accelerate the affordable pricing of, and access to, a Covid vaccine?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we are working with the US, and indeed all our international partners, to ensure that we have a truly collaborative approach to developing this vaccine.

[Lord Loomba (CB) [V]]

My Lords, Professor Robin Shattock, head of the research team at Imperial College, said last Sunday that vaccine testing was progressing well. However, it is most likely that a vaccine will be available for mass use by the middle of next year. Do the UK Government have any policy or safeguards in place to stop profiteering from the discovery and to stop more prosperous countries hoarding the vaccine, preventing less-developed countries gaining access to it?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we are working closely with all manufacturers to ensure that we have full, affordable access to all vaccines.

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her efforts. Will she urge her ministerial colleagues, and indeed the Prime Minister, to provide continued world leadership on vaccine sharing, particularly backing Gavi and Bill and Melinda Gates’s initiative, for all to benefit from vaccine research and progress?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, our record shows that we are taking a leading role in this. The Prime Minister has consistently called on world leaders to work together to rapidly develop a vaccine and make it available to all, including at the Coronavirus Global Response pledging conference, which the UK co-led, and at the recent Global Citizen summit. The UK also hosted the Gavi summit, which raised over £6.9 billion for Gavi to sustain its immunisation coverage and bolster the primary healthcare systems needed to tackle Covid-19. We will continue to play this leading international role.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Lexden) (Con)]

My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked and we now move to the next Question.

East Africa: Food Security

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Chidgey]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) desert locusts, on food security in countries in east Africa, and in particular in (a) Sudan, and (b) South Sudan.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, we are deeply concerned about the food security situation in east Africa. In Sudan, we expect the number of people without access to sufficient food to increase this year by 35% to 9.6 million. In South Sudan, already 6.5 million people suffer acute food insecurity. The UK is working across east Africa to provide life-saving assistance, cash transfers where markets are still functioning, and tools and seeds to build a longer-term ability to respond to shocks.

[Lord Chidgey (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that Answer and I welcome the Government’s efforts over the desert locust storms and Covid-19 in east Africa and the Sudans. What UK aid programmes have been cut as a result of moving funding for these urgent projects? The FAO reports that some 19 million people were food insecure in the region last year, so situation is worse than it was 12 months previously. In South Sudan, close to 60% of the population are severely food insecure. Locust swarms present a double crisis for those battling the Covid pandemic, preventing the delivery of locust-control equipment and restricting access to response teams with essential advice and expertise. Will the UK Government commit to maintaining the central purpose of our 0.7% GNI aid programme as ODA compliant to support east Africans with meagre health infrastructure and to ensure access to affordable Covid vaccines, once available?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, as the noble Lord said, we are committed to 0.7% of our GNI. That commitment continues, and will continue, to work to end poverty. The noble Lord refers to a process that departments are going through at the moment, given the likely reduction in GNI this year. I am afraid I do not have further information about that process but it will be available in due course.

[The Lord Bishop of Salisbury [V]]

With the economy of Sudan collapsing and inflation rocketing, the Anglican Archbishop of Khartoum said recently that people would rather die of Covid-19 than of hunger. In South Sudan the Anglican Archbishop of Juba said that mortality rates were already high and, in response to the virus, hygiene and social isolation are difficult—indeed, almost impossible. The diocese of Salisbury has a long-standing partnership with the Anglican churches in those countries and we have launched an emergency appeal this month for at least £50,000 for hygiene and food. What are the British Government doing to support the improvement of hygiene and food in those countries? What does the Minister think we are learning about the motivation for our giving aid to these countries?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the right reverend Prelate for his fundraising efforts. I talked earlier about 0.7%; while it is wonderful that we spend that much money overseas, given Covid, locusts and flooding, those needs are very great so people need further help. The UK Government will continue to support countries across east Africa, including Sudan and South Sudan. We will ensure that we are providing healthcare, clean water and nutrition where possible.

[Lord McInnes of Kilwinning (Con) [V]]

My Lords, given that the UK is a signatory to the Agenda for Humanity’s Grand Bargain initiative, which encourages the use of local and regional NGOs in the delivery of aid, what steps are the Government taking to use local and regional NGOs to deliver food aid in Sudan and South Sudan?

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[Baroness Sugg]

We continue to work to improve the effectiveness of the international humanitarian system. In the time of Covid-19, that is more important than ever. The UK is the largest donor to the UN’s Sudan humanitarian pooled fund, which aims to advance the Grand Bargain commitments that my noble friend referred to. That works by providing direct funding to national NGOs, as well as building the capacity of local partners to strengthen programmes and deliver results.

[Baroness Hayman (CB) [V]]

My Lords, I declare my interest as a trustee of the Disasters Emergency Committee. That committee is launching a coronavirus appeal tomorrow to protect refugees and displaced people in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, including South Sudan, Yemen and Syria. Given the devastating consequences of the virus for those already desperately vulnerable people, will the Government encourage the public to give generously to that appeal by doing so themselves in the form of aid matching?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank the noble Baroness for highlighting the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal. We will be supporting that appeal; I think we will be making an announcement on it tomorrow. The noble Baroness also referred to support for refugees and internally displaced people. Today we are making an announcement that we are supporting 5,500 teachers to ensure that refugees, over half of whom are young people, will be able to continue their education throughout the crisis.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, the situation in Sudan is so awful that one can hardly imagine it. Women play a crucial role with vulnerable people in the global food system as producers and workers and at processing plants. In the present situation, it is almost impossible to buy food. We have to think about how the right and proper nutritional food is available and can be bought and consumed or given as aid. We know the importance of the right nutrition from gestation for the mother and for the child during the growth of the brain, the lungs and the body, and none of this can wait until later. It is important that there is a proper diet. I want to know how we can ensure that food is getting directly to mothers and children on the ground. We must look at the metrics through a gender lens.

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Baroness refers to the situation of women in Sudan. We welcome some of the recent reforms that will support women in Sudan. Gender inequality of course plays a significant role in food security and the nutrition status of individuals. Entrenched sociocultural norms and practices are placing women and girls at greater risk. We are working with the World Food Programme and others to ensure that we are targeting vulnerable groups, including women and girls, as the response continues and as we help to increase food productivity and the diversification of crops and livestock for women farmers.

[Lord Oates (LD) [V]]

Does the Minister agree that growing food insecurity in Ethiopia, compounded by Covid-19 and the ongoing locust infestation, is placing further strain on an already fragile political situation? What support are the Government providing to relieve these added pressures and to help ensure that Prime Minister Abiy’s reform process is successful?

[Baroness Sugg]

I agree with the noble Lord that the humanitarian context in Ethiopia is increasingly complex and of concern. The UK supports a safety-net programme to deliver food and small cash transfers to 8 million people in Ethiopia, and we continue to support the welcome reforms, which include supporting the independent electoral board, organised free and fair elections, and the consultations with civil society and media. We are reviewing the impact of the recent political insecurity on these reforms.

[Baroness Verma (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the pandemic will have multiplied the challenges that the poorest are facing in the least developed countries. Reducing or cancelling debt is only part of the solution. Will my noble friend ensure that the processes for businesses that wish to go and operate in those developing nations are streamlined by the Government, which would benefit not just those countries but our country as well?

[Baroness Sugg]

My noble friend referred to debt relief. Of course, the UK—together with other G20 countries—suspended debt service payments, making up to £12 billion of additional fiscal space. I agree with my noble friend that we must support UK businesses in investing in developing countries, and we are doing that through our work with UK Export Finance and the CDC, our development finance institution. I agree that we must do more to streamline the process.

[Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, the United Nations World Food Programme acute food insecurity and malnutrition forecast for this year confirms the terrible figures that the Minister gave in her Answer. Sudan alone will have up to 9 million people facing food insecurity this year as that insecurity worsens after the coronavirus epidemic. That is a potential famine of biblical proportions. Have the Government had any discussions with the UN in respect of that report? If so, what action ensued from those discussions?

[Baroness Sugg]

Existing humanitarian disasters and conflicts are going to be exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19. We are working hard to urgently redirect programmes right across Africa to respond to these compound risks. We will be working through our country programming and multilateral responses, as well as through the World Food Programme.

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB) [V]]

My Lords, can the Minister confirm that the combined departments of the FCO and DfID will now provide added value to UK humanitarian work in the Sudans, and to good governance? Can she report on any progress with conflict prevention in the south?

[Baroness Sugg]

DfID and the FCO already have a joint Sudans unit covering both Sudan and South Sudan. That work will continue and, as the noble Earl says, with the new department we will be able to ensure that we use both our diplomatic and development expertise to the highest effect.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Water and Sanitation

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Wednesday 10th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing on my name in the Order Paper and draw attention to my entry in the register of interests.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, water, sanitation and hygiene are essential for preventing the spread of Covid-19. We continue to support WASH projects throughout Africa. Our country teams are responding through health and humanitarian programmes, with water and sanitation being a key area. We have provided more funding to UNICEF, the lead UN agency for water supply and sanitation, to help with the response. We have launched a new partnership with Unilever, which is working in Africa to scale up Covid-specific messaging on hygiene.

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie [V]]

With the impact of Covid-19 and the stress on water supplies from the climate emergency, I know the Minister recognises, as she acknowledged, that clean water and sanitation are more vital than ever, especially when aid budgets are squeezed. Water Unite, which I chair, collects a 1% levy on the sale of bottled water to invest in water and sanitation projects. Will the Government encourage this and other innovative ways of unlocking millions of pounds for development funds to add to taxpayer-funded donor contributions? Will she consider meeting me to explore this further?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank the noble Lord for that suggestion. We have discussed that excellent initiative in the past and I would be delighted to meet him to discuss it further. As he says, water, sanitation and hygiene are incredibly important and the first line of defence for preventing the spread of Covid. DfID will continue to support WASH, as we know it is critical for managing the Covid recovery.

[Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, handwashing is one of the most effective disease prevention methods available, including specifically for Covid-19, yet 3 billion people globally do not have handwashing facilities at home. As part of DfID’s monitoring of Covid-19 cases in developing countries, do the Government intend to increase support for sanitation programmes in areas that are experiencing a high number of cases?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, as the noble Lord says, hygiene relies on access to adequate quantities of clean water, and that applies to both handwashing and surface hygiene. We will absolutely continue to support WASH projects. We need to make progress on sanitation, and progress to ensure that sufficient clean water is available for people to be able to keep safe.

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl) [V]]

Can the Minister be absolutely clear: will we be spending more on this in sub-Saharan Africa in the next 12 months?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I fear I am not in a position to answer that question. As the noble Lord will be aware, DfID funds a vast number of projects to tackle Covid. As I said, WASH projects will absolutely continue to be a key priority for DfID as we move forward.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)]

My Lords, I gather that the noble Lord, Lord Duncan of Springbank, is not asking his question, so I call the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD) [V]]

My Lords, in Africa, the WASH sector is critical for both containing the virus and lowering its devastating impact on human and economic costs. Can the Minister say what conversations DfID has had with the CDC about using its heft to leverage investment into both WASH, infrastructure and products such as soap and sanitiser?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, obviously we work closely with CDC to ensure that it is responding sufficiently to Covid. CDC is urgently undertaking a Covid-19 impact and vulnerability assessment across its portfolio of investments in Africa and South Asia. As other investors withdraw, CDC is looking at extending the risk-sharing agreements it has with partner banks to ensure that it will continue to be able to support projects. I will certainly have a further discussion with it about how it can specifically support WASH projects.

[Baroness Stroud (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the recent outbreak of Covid has led to the biggest and most welcome extension of the WASH programme across Africa. How can we ensure that the investments made in water sanitation and hygiene by DfID look beyond Covid-19 and help to fight other diseases in the long term, such as neglected tropical diseases, and provide sustainable water and sanitation solutions for vulnerable populations going forward?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, my noble friend is of course quite right to point out that WASH is critical not only now as we deal with the immediate impacts of Covid-19 but for the future. That is why we are working closely with our partner Governments to ensure that the water systems in their countries continue to receive investment as countries around the world are challenged with the economic impact of Covid-19.

[Lord Hope of Craighead (CB) [V]]

My Lords, can the noble Baroness assure the House that everything possible is being done to assist villagers in poorer countries such as Malawi, in sub-Saharan Africa? Access to clean water for washing hands is often very limited, as has been pointed out, and traditional medicine inhibits knowledge of symptoms and how to deal with them. The provision of well-judged education and sufficient hand sanitation could save many lives.

[Baroness Sugg]

I certainly agree with the noble and learned Lord that we must make sure that the information provided to people is correct in order to help them save lives. I mentioned our project with Unilever, which aims to reach 1 billion people with the correct information about how best to protect themselves from Covid.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I congratulate the Government on the Gavi replenishment—a great example of international co-operation delivering on a vital health initiative. WASH is an important ingredient in delivering SDG 6, as well as our objective of universal health coverage. What are the noble Baroness, the Government and DfID doing to ensure that we lead and get other countries to invest in WASH projects?

[Baroness Sugg]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for bringing up Gavi, which was a great success last week, and which brought the world together to raise over £8.8 billion for essential vaccinations. As he says, improving access to water and sanitation is its own development goal; safe water and sanitation are critical to public health and are necessary elements of universal health coverage. It is also good value for money, and we encourage other donors and indeed the World Bank to continue investment. It estimates that for every £1 spent there are economic benefits worth over £4. Therefore, we target our aid well to vulnerable countries. Between 2011 and 2015, we helped 64.5 million people get access to water and sanitation. We will continue this work and continue to encourage other partners to invest.

[Baroness Randerson (LD) [V]]

I declare an interest, as my husband receives a grant for research on sustainable farming in Uganda. Almost 22 million people in Uganda do not have access to clean water. That is important for health but also for equality and education opportunities for girls in particular. How much funding have the Government allocated in the last year to address health and sanitation problems in that country?

[Baroness Sugg]

I am afraid that I do not have the specific amount of funding for that country but I will write to the noble Baroness with that information. I completely agree that we must ensure that, as schools reopen, all pupils are able to return to school, and providing proper health, hygiene and clean running water will of course be important for that aim.

[Viscount Waverley (CB) [V]]

My Lords, negotiating a broad network of water PPP awards similar to that which has worked well in Gaza could be a strategy. However, I draw attention to the use of the term “sub-Sahara”, which many consider to have overtones from a bygone colonialist and racist era and so to have had its day. Would it therefore not be better to exercise our minds on Africa geostrategically, to include north Africa and the Maghreb?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank the noble Viscount for that question. While examples of donating water supply or treatment equipment have been successful in some cases, our programmes overall focus increasingly on more systems-strengthening and climate resilience, as they are part of our work on ending preventable deaths. I recognise that both “Africa” and “sub-Saharan Africa” are used as shorthand for a continent that is incredibly diverse in people, cultures and contexts, and our work is designed in collaboration with countries and partners to respond to that diversity.

[Lord Polak (Con)]

My Lords, there is a practical and reliable solution. For the last 12 years, the charity Innovation: Africa has enabled remote villages to harness the power of the sun using Israeli solar and water technology. The solar panels power the pump, which is placed in the aquifer below ground. The clean water is then pumped into a tank and taps are installed throughout the village, providing up to 10,000 people with clean water from one system at a cost of about £40,000 per system. Thanks to Innovation: Africa, 1.7 million people in remote villages in sub-Saharan Africa have clean running water. Would the Minister agree to meet with Innovation: Africa to explore ways in which her department can help ensure that clean, fresh water can be delivered to the millions in desperate need?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Sugg]

My noble friend highlights one of the ways in which we are helping people in rural villages, which the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, asked about earlier. I understand that Innovation: Africa works closely with UNICEF, one of our key partners in WASH. Its use of innovative technology is particularly encouraging, especially as it uses green energy to power it. To achieve our ambitious SDG 6 WASH targets will require a major increase of resources and capacity. To use those effectively we must make the most of domestic funding, contributions from households and attract new finance. The WASH team at DfID will be happy to meet with Innovation: Africa, and I will follow that up with my noble friend.

[The Deputy Speaker]

My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked, so we now move on to the next Question.

Black Lives Matter

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of the USA regarding their response to the ongoing protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, following the death of George Floyd, and what are they doing to address racism, discrimination and injustice experienced by those here in the UK.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con) [V]]

My Lords, as one of America’s closest allies, we join the American people in their grief. We condemn George Floyd’s death and trust that justice will be done. The violence we have seen is very alarming; the right to peaceful protest is an essential part of any free society. The protests are a reminder that, despite decades of progress, we must listen and learn from communities that face discrimination and work together to put an end to such injustices.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab) [V]]

I thank the Minister and agree with her that, irrespective of the actions of a small minority, we must defend the fundamental democratic right of peaceful protest. George Floyd’s murder has rightly triggered international condemnation. The voices we have seen on the streets in the US, here and globally need to be not only heard but acted upon. For too many people, racism and discrimination are an everyday experience in work, health and public life. What is the United Kingdom doing to ensure that the call of the United Nations Human Rights Council on systematic racism is acted upon not only by the US but by all nations, including us?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, I agree that there is injustice that needs to be tackled. We are tolerant and open, but more can always be done to help people realise their potential. There is a lot to what the marchers are saying; action is needed across the board as part of the levelling-up agenda. That starts with education and job opportunities, but there are also health disparities that need to be addressed, as Covid has shown.

[Lord Robathan (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the appalling death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, at the hands of a policeman who has now been charged with murder, cannot be used as an excuse for illegal and violent behaviour here in the UK. Nor can understandable strong feelings about racism and discrimination in America—or indeed in Asia, Africa, Europe and the UK—be any excuse. Will my noble friend the Minister ensure that the small number of anarchists and irresponsible yobs who attacked and injured brave and blameless police officers doing their duty in London, painted graffiti on Churchill’s statue and others or committed other illegal acts in Bristol or elsewhere are identified and prosecuted?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, the Government fully support peaceful protest. As I said, it is a vital part of our democratic society, but violence and criminal behaviour are never acceptable—particularly against the police, who are working in very difficult circumstances. I recognise the strength of feeling, but protests should be peaceful so as not to undermine the cause the protesters are marching for. It is absolutely essential that those who perpetrate criminal acts face justice.

[Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Collins for bringing this important PNQ. No one needs to tell me that black lives matter. This is an everyday occurrence and part of our lives. What will Her Majesty’s Government do to make sure that “black lives matter” is in policies in the UK?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her question and pay tribute to her work. She has been a passionate and effective campaigner for a fairer society for all. The work of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust has benefited many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. I agree with her that across all our policy we must make sure we reflect that black lives matter. We are absolutely committed to tackling racism and levelling up. That means unleashing potential and creating opportunity for all. We have set up the Government’s Race Disparity Unit, a world first, for publishing data on ethnicity. It is working across Whitehall and with local authorities to ensure that all our interventions are properly considered and that “black lives matter” is in everything we do.

[Baroness Benjamin (LD) [V]]

My Lords, 50 years ago I was stopped in my car and aggressively questioned by the police. My three brothers have all been stopped and searched aggressively. Twenty years ago my 16 year-old nephew was stopped and brutally beaten up in the back of a police van, then falsely charged. Shockingly, in 2020 during lockdown we saw excessive force used when a black man was tasered in front of his toddler. Today’s protests have shown that we are at a tipping point. What action do the Government plan, especially through education, to reassure the black community, including children, that their lives matter?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question and pay tribute to all the work she has done on supporting the Windrush generation. The Government are clear that no one should be stopped and searched based on their race or ethnicity. We are working with the College of Policing to update guidance on community engagement and scrutiny over the use of stop and search powers and are ensuring that the law requires detailed records and scrutiny.

[Lord Lucas (Con) [V]]

My Lords, people like me like to comfort themselves that we are doing a great deal better than we used to and that we do not see much discrimination now. When we took the trouble to ask the staff in this House whether they were suffering harassment or bullying, we were all shocked to find out what was really going on. Might we not do the same thing with people at large and take advantage of the 2021 census to gather some information on what people experience in this country, and perhaps shock ourselves into taking proper action?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I thank my noble friend for that question. I agree with him; he is absolutely right that we need to understand what these issues are, so that we are able to act on them accordingly. I will take back his suggestion on the census to the relevant department.

[Lord Boateng (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, systemic racism is a fact of life in the US, the UK and the world over. Combating it requires not just words but concrete actions. In seeking re-election to the UN Human Rights Council this year, will the UK support an investigation by the special rapporteur into systemic racism and deaths in police custody, with recommendations for action and the promotion of best practice? If not, why not?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, I apologise but I do not have that information, so I will have to come back to the noble Lord in writing.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the brutal killing of George Floyd resonated with millions in the UK and around the world. Do the Government understand that black, Asian and minority-ethnic people dying disproportionately during the Covid pandemic has laid bare the gross inequalities that exist in this country? Does the Minister agree that we need a clear, strong, consistent message, and leadership from this Government, that recognises that racism exists? It is no use pretending it does not exist—it does. What action will they take to eradicate racism and build a fair, equal, democratic society, where everyone is valued?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, we want to build a fully democratic society where everybody is properly valued. The noble Baroness refers to Covid-19, and we fully recognise that some people have been disproportionately impacted by the virus. We have committed Public Health England to examine those disparities and we have appointed our Equalities Minister, Kemi Badenoch, to take forward the findings of the review, so that we can better understand the key drivers and shape our response to the virus.

[Baroness Kidron (CB) [V]]

My Lords, like thousands of others, this weekend, I joined an online protest organised by Black Lives Matter. I was struck by the youth of the speakers who eloquently articulated very practical demands about our education system, the job market, housing, health, political representation and, above all, the justice system. These young people are yet again having to protest the indignities and injustices suffered by their parents and grandparents that remain unaddressed, which represents an abject failure for the rest of us. What plans do the Government have to engage with BAME leaders and their allies to take action to implement the radical, practical and urgent change that they demand, and, in doing so, put a chasm between the UK response and the wholly divisive response of the US President?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I agree with the noble Baroness that we must take action across the board: on education, as she mentioned, on employment and work, and in particular on crime and justice. We welcomed David Lammy’s 2017 review, which shone an essential light on the disparity in the treatment of, and outcomes for, ethnic-minority individuals, and that remains a priority. In February 2020, we published an update on our broad programme to address race inequalities. I also agree it is important that we have conversations with those affected. Minister Alex Chalk will meet stakeholders during the next Lammy round table in the coming weeks.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP) [V]]

My Lords, I was going to ask a question about deaths in custody, but as the Minister is from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, I shall instead suggest that the UK should immediately suspend exports of riot gear, tear gas, rubber bullets and small arms to the United States. Will the Minister take that suggestion back to her department?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I thank the noble Baroness for that question. We have a ministerial board on deaths in custody to ensure that we are driving forward the recommendations of Dame Elish Angiolini. On exports to the US, the UK has issued licences that permit the export of crowd control equipment to the US, but we continue to monitor closely developments there, and we consider all export applications within a strict risk assessment framework. We keep all licences under careful and continual review.

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the British response following the death of George Floyd in America has rightly been to condemn the excessive use of force which led to his tragic death. In reflecting on this dreadful occurrence, does my noble friend the Minister agree that British policing represents everything that is great about our law enforcement, particularly with regard to policing communities? Does she agree that representations should be made to America that policing by consent is, by far, the preferred method of delivery, as opposed to policing by force?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I agree with my noble friend. As he says, we police by consent in this country. Our world -class police officers continue to put their own lives on the line to protect the public during the protests, despite coming under attack. We ask our police officers to do the most difficult of jobs, and they are respected around the world for the excellent work they do.

[Baroness Crawley (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, following last week’s PHE report, are the Government now in a position to say how successful NHS trusts have been in risk-assessing and reassigning those staff most at risk, given that, in many hospitals, front-line NHS staff are predominantly black, Asian and minority ethnic? I understand that the noble Baroness is from the Foreign Office, so I will be happy with a written answer.

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, all NHS organisations will continue to make appropriate arrangements to support their black, Asian and minority-ethnic staff. On 28 May, NHS Employers published guidance for employers on risk assessment, advising them to consider issues such as ethnicity. The PHE Covid-19 report on disparity is the first step—it is certainly not the end; there is lots more work to do.

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I accept what the Minister says about the strength of feeling in this country and what the Government are trying to do, but will she accept the premise of the original Question and tell us whether they have made representations to the American Government? Has the US ambassador been called in? Has any member of the Government spoken out clearly, palpably addressing non-white people—BAME people—in this country, to say how we feel their hurt?

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I thank the noble Baroness for that question. At senior levels, our embassy in Washington has raised concerns with the State Department. We have also seen statements from the US ambassador here in the UK. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, both in the other place and via the media, have been very clear in their stance on this issue.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, as there are no more supplementary questions, the House will now adjourn until a convenient point after 4 pm, for the Motion in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park.

Gavi: Covid-19

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

The Question was considered in a Virtual Proceeding via video call.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, the UK has committed the equivalent of £330 million per year to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, over the next five years. As Gavi’s largest donor, UK funding will bolster and protect healthcare systems during the Covid-19 pandemic. That includes vaccinating children against other deadly diseases such as measles, yellow fever and polio. We look forward to hosting—virtually—the global vaccine summit on 4 June.

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Con)]

My Lords, what do the Government want to achieve at the summit in practical terms? Is this about securing offers of money or technical advice? What steps will the Government take to ensure that any pledges are met?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, in practical terms, our aim is to raise at least $7.4 billion to fund Gavi’s work over the next five years. That will save millions of lives. I encourage our international partners to follow the UK’s lead and step up their support to Gavi.

[Lord Boateng (Lab)]

My Lords, Gavi does an excellent job, as I have seen for myself, but if it is to make the impact that it deserves to make, African Governments must act to bridge the $66 billion per year gap in fund- raising. There is a great need for better internal resource mobilisation and enhanced investment in healthcare systems, research, laboratories and the local health industry. Will the Government look at how they can support UK academic research and financial institutions to help bridge that gap?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, yes, the UK is working very closely with international financial institutions such as the World Bank to bridge the gap in funding.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

I note that, as well as giving money to Gavi, the Government are also funding UK-based efforts such as that at the University of Oxford. Given the multiplier advantages of combining funds with others—the fact that there is no way of knowing which of the hundreds of vaccine efforts around the world will be successful and that no one is safe until all are safe—how are the Government deciding the division of funds between national efforts and international efforts such as Gavi?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, as the noble Baroness highlights, we are doing both. We are investing here in the UK and we are also investing in Gavi, CEPI and many other organisations. We also support the WHO’s Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, an action plan to accelerate the development and production of, and equitable access to, new Covid-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

[Baroness Fall (Con)]

My Lords, while we commend all the efforts to try to find a vaccine, what steps are the Government taking to work with others on not just finding a vaccine but the supply and, later, the distribution of it? How can we use our role in Gavi to make that work?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, Gavi itself will help fund equitable access to and the distribution of vaccines. That is why it is so important that the world comes together to ensure that it gets the funding it needs.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD)]

My Lords, health systems in the countries where Gavi operates programmes are very stretched, and routine vaccination programmes are suffering from movement restrictions. What assessment have the Government made of the risk of a re-emergence of the diseases which have been suppressed or even eliminated through Gavi’s work?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we are concerned about a resurgence. In addition to helping health systems respond to Covid-19, Gavi is helping poor countries adapt immunisation programmes. In areas where childhood immunisation services are disrupted, Gavi is planning an immunisation catch-up campaign to reach unimmunised children.

[Lord Pickles (Con)]

My Lords, in the forthcoming virtual summit, will my noble friend emphasise that a multilateral approach is far preferable than each Government seeking to go their own way and that those Governments who seek to put their own country first are likely to be the losers? It is in all our interests to stamp out this deadly disease, wherever it is.

[Baroness Sugg]

I entirely agree with my noble friend that we must work together in a global pandemic; we cannot separate countries because diseases do not respect borders. Gavi supports vaccines in the world’s poorest countries to make sure that access and affordability are not barriers to future immunisation.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, experts have stressed the importance of nutrition as part of the pandemic response, likening good nutrition in infants to a vaccine against the secondary effects of the pandemic, as it is essential to building strong immune systems. Can the Minister expand on her previous Answers to the House and commit to ensuring that, whatever delays there are to the Nutrition for Growth Summit, there will be no cliff-edge in nutrition financing at the end of this year?

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Baroness is right to point out the importance of malnutrition and making sure we provide children with a good-quality diet, so that they are not affected more in the long term. I am afraid I am still not able to announce any future funding for nutrition, but I acknowledge—as I did previously—that we must ensure there is no cliff edge to funding.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab)]

My Lords, I see two challenges to developing the vaccine. It is no less challenging for us to ensure that, once the vaccine is available, everyone has access, with equal distribution, and that it is not too expensive for developing countries, such as Afghanistan, and for refugee camps. Gavi’s advance market commitment is required. I hope that no country has priority before other countries. I would like the Minister to assure me that we will encourage every country that can afford to give more money to Gavi to do so and that, at every bilateral meeting that our Ministers have or the Prime Minister has, they raise this among the other key issues that are affecting the global community now.

[Baroness Sugg]

We are encouraging others to step up and donate to Gavi. It is high on our agenda in bilateral calls. We have already made our commitment and have seen lots of other commitments, both from countries and private companies, which are welcome if we are to achieve our aim.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, will the Government commit to help, in every way they can, to make sure that those firms that have contributed to a vaccine will continue to get a good market opportunity, if they are producing the vaccine at an affordable price? This seems important to Gavi’s work.

[Baroness Sugg]

Yes, I can give that commitment. Kate Bingham, who was just appointed head of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, has outlined that one of her two immediate aims is

“to ensure adequate global distribution of vaccines to bring the quickest possible end to the pandemic.”

It is important that we support the private companies that are developing this vaccine to do so.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, how are the Government working with partners and retaining our commitment to childhood immunisation programmes and reproductive health services for women, particularly in many of the refugee camps—including the largest one in Bangladesh—and enabling localised solutions, in light of many global health emergencies? They include a shortage of PPE for health workers as they enter the camps.

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we are working closely with the UN agencies and NGOs in refugee camps to ensure that they continue to provide the life-saving SRHR support that they do, and that we provide them with the correct healthcare equipment, which they distribute to keep people safe.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, I ask the Minister to use her good offices, in advance of the summit on 4 June, to contact our Commonwealth partners about increasing immunisation against those deadly diseases to which she referred, in spite of the ongoing pandemic.

[Baroness Sugg]

I reassure my noble friend that we are working closely with the Commonwealth, which has an essential role to play in our global response. Most recently, on 14 May, there was a virtual meeting with all Commonwealth Health Ministers, which was also attended by the director-general of the WHO and representatives of Commonwealth organisations, such as the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Medical Association. We will continue to work closely with our Commonwealth partners to ensure that we end this pandemic.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

Lords, we move on the second Question but, before we do, I will say that this was the first time we got through all 10 questions. I congratulate Members and the Minister on their prompt questions and replies.

Covid-19: International Response

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Sugg]

That the Virtual Proceedings do consider the international response to COVID-19.

The Motion was considered in a Virtual Proceeding via video call.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to update the House on the UK’s international response to Covid-19—the biggest threat that we have faced in decades. A global pandemic needs a global response, and the international community must work together to tackle this virus so that we can all be safe from future waves of infection.

The UK has a proud history of leading international efforts to tackle global problems. Despite the challenges we are facing at home, we are determined to fulfil our role in the international response. The UK has been playing, and will continue to play, a leading role in galvanising the most effective co-ordinated international action through our international strategy, leadership and partners. We are tackling this crisis using the full range of development, diplomatic, national security, prosperity and influencing tools to address the direct and wide-ranging secondary impacts.

We are funding global research into therapeutics, diagnostics and a vaccine, recognising the urgent need to equitably distribute a treatment once it becomes available. We are protecting the poorest and most vulnerable people and working to ensure that no one is left behind. We are supporting British nationals across the world and getting people home when we can; and, of course, we are looking to the future and investing in a clean and resilient global recovery.

Our UK aid support has reinforced our international leadership. The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, and Health and DfID Secretaries of State have all been actively engaging in dialogue with world leaders and other international groups—and our engagement is making a difference. We are playing a key role in the multilateral response to Covid-19. We have encouraged the G7 and G20 to act, and have called on international organisations to co-ordinate and increase support for vulnerable countries and to deliver the appropriate international financial and health system assistance.

Working with our G20 partners, we have ensured that critical supply chains remain open for food and medicines, and we have driven agreement on the finance ministers’ action plan for the immediate response and a clean and resilient recovery.

We are investing in vaccines and global health. The UK is proud to have world-class scientific and medical research facilities. British scientists have driven major breakthroughs throughout the history of global health, in epidemiology, immunology and vaccinations. Continuing this tradition, the Government’s Vaccine Taskforce has just provided an additional £84 million of new funding for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing at Oxford University and Imperial College, bringing the total government investment for these institutions to over £130 million.

The Oxford team is also working in partnership with the great British company AstraZeneca to ensure that any successful vaccine could be rapidly produced to meet global demand. The agreement will deliver 100 million doses in total, ensuring that in addition to supporting our own people we are able to make vaccines available to developing countries at the lowest possible cost. British researchers who built diagnostic kits for Ebola are also working on new rapid diagnostics for Covid-19.

However, our domestic efforts are just one piece of the puzzle in solving this pandemic. No country can do this alone. To maximise our chances of finding a workable vaccine as quickly as possible, the UK has committed £250 million of UK aid to the global Covid-19 initiative by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations—CEPI. This is the largest single contribution by any country to date. The UK is also working closely with CEPI, the World Health Organization and our international partners to ensure that, when a vaccine is available, it will be accessible to everyone who needs it as soon as possible.

Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister co-hosted a virtual summit to raise funds for the global coronavirus response. We called on all world leaders to increase their ambition in this urgent shared endeavour. The global community heeded this call and pledged approximately £6.5 billion for Covid-19 research and supporting activities, including the UK’s own £313 million commitment for vaccines, tests and treatments and £75 million for the World Health Organization. This funding will equip us to fight the virus at home in the UK and across the world.

To further strengthen international efforts on vaccines, on 4 June the UK will host the global vaccine summit for Gavi, the global alliance that provides vaccinations in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. Gavi will be critical to the international co-ordination and operational delivery of a Covid-19 vaccine—at scale, at a price people can afford and available as needed. To this end, the UK has also committed to the equivalent of £330 million a year to Gavi for the next five years. This all builds on our existing significant aid programming on health system strengthening, clean water and sanitation, and global health security.

While we are searching for a cure, we cannot forget the most vulnerable, who are suffering the devastating effects of Covid-19 right now. We have committed up to £744 million of UK aid to support the global response and address both the primary and secondary impacts. This includes building resilience in vulnerable countries and supporting the economic response. We are also pivoting existing work to provide targeted health, humanitarian and economic support. We are paying particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable. Our funding for UNHCR is focused on supporting refugees. Our support to UNFPA and UNICEF will protect the rights of women and girls, including addressing gender-based violence and ensuring continued access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.

We recognise that NGOs are key partners in responding to the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19. Through direct funding, country programmes and multilateral support, we will work closely with NGOs, which are often best placed to meet the needs of those most at risk. UK aid is also working closely with British businesses such as Unilever to tackle the pandemic. Our £100 million mutual partnership, with £50 million from DfID, will tell 1 billion people around the world about the importance of hygiene. This project will provide significant extra funding to well-known British NGOs such as WaterAid.

To manage the economic impact, the UK has committed, with our G20 partners, to suspend debt service payments from the poorest countries to the end of this year. Implementation by the G20 will provide $12 billion in fiscal space, which can be spent on healthcare and managing the impacts of Covid-19. The UK also made a leading contribution of £150 million to the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to fund debt repayments to the IMF from the poorest countries.

Thanks to UK leadership—we pushed early for a capital increase of the World Bank in 2018 and we are the largest donor to the International Development Association—the multilateral development banks are in a strong position to respond rapidly to this crisis. With UK support, they are making $200 billion of financing available to developing countries over the next 15 months, with streamlined procedures to ensure rapid disbursement.

We are also reducing the impact on businesses in developing countries. For example, to help companies access the finance they need and to protect supply chains and jobs overseas, the CDC, the UK’s development finance institution, is continuing to invest patiently and is working alongside other DFIs to maximise efforts. UK Ministers will continue to engage with Governments across the globe to ensure that critical supply chains and transport routes remain open for food and medicine. Within the G20, the UK has called for reduced tariffs on essential Covid-related medicines, pharmaceuticals and products.

We are also supporting British nationals across the world. The pandemic has seen borders shut and transport routes suspended. Like many countries, a top priority has been getting our nationals home and supporting our nationals unable to return in keeping safe as they remain overseas. We are working closely with Canada and the US in the G7 on global travel and keeping passenger and freight hubs open. We have worked tirelessly with international partners and commercial airlines to get people home. We estimate that more than 1.3 million people have returned to the UK through commercial routes since the outbreak of the virus, with many benefiting from FCO’s work with airlines and foreign Governments. With funding of up to £75 million, we have worked with UK airlines to arrange 142 specially chartered flights for more than 30,000 people. Additionally, almost 20,000 people have returned home from cruise ships with our help.

We are also planning for our future beyond Covid-19. We need a clean and resilient global recovery. It will be more crucial than ever to think about the connection between healthy lives, healthy societies and a healthy environment, which are at the heart of the sustainable development goals. The UK played an instrumental role in establishing the SDGs; even before Covid-19, we knew that global progress was off track.

This will be alongside continued work on other priorities, including our manifesto commitments, which are all critical parts of a clean and sustainable recovery. We are committed to leveraging the best UK Government offer on critical issues such as providing 12 years of quality education for girls, ending preventable deaths and tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, including through hosting COP 26, which now will be next year.

Covid-19 does not respect national borders and individual efforts will succeed only as part of a global response. The UK will continue to play a leading role in galvanising the most effective co-ordinated international action to support both the current international Covid-19 response and longer-term recovery. As the Prime Minister said on 4 May at the Coronavirus Global Response Summit:

“It’s humanity against the virus—we are in this together and together we will prevail.”

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate this evening on the biggest international challenge we have faced in our lifetimes. We are seeing the devastating impact of this killer at home and overseas, and of course, the secondary impacts of Covid-19. We have touched on many aspects this evening—economies, education, livelihoods, food systems, and gender and social inclusion issues—which will be felt for some time to come. As is so often the case, the poorest will be disproportionately affected. It a global problem that needs a global solution.

The debate has also underscored the crucial importance of a strong and co-ordinated international response, and it is in our best interests, and in our nature as an outward-looking nation, to be at the forefront of this. The international impact and the UK’s response are wide-ranging, and this debate has touched on a broad range of these vital issues. I will attempt to address as many points as I am able to in the time allowed, but if I miss any, I will follow up in writing. Many good points have been raised this evening.

The noble Lords, Lord McConnell, Lord Hain and Lord Monks, and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Newnham, spoke of the importance of a co-ordinated response. We are working to ensure that the international response to Covid-19 through the G7 and the G20 responds to the needs of the most vulnerable countries. We are working through the G7 and G20 to deliver an ambitious response and are playing a leading role in supporting G7 Foreign Ministers and the Foreign Secretary, who are committed to driving forward a co-ordinated global health response, to build the resilience of vulnerable countries.

As the noble Lord, Lord Hain, mentioned, the development of a vaccine will be crucial to stopping the global spread of the virus. We are working with G20 Governments to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible and make it available to anyone who needs it. The noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Newnham, and the noble Lord, Lord Desai, asked how we are supporting the global recovery. As co-chair of the G20 framework working group, we are leading the development of a wide-ranging G20 action plan, which covers health, economic and financial response, the foundations to secure an environmentally sustainable and inclusive recovery and support for vulnerable countries in lessons for the future. Through this action plan, we are calling on international organisations to support countries to deliver international financial and health system assistance and prioritise resources towards those vulnerable countries.

As the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, highlighted, Covid-19 is a full-spectrum threat to achieving the SDGs. But during our G7 presidency next year, we will continue to press the development priorities and to co-ordinate a strong global response.

My noble friend Lord Lucas, the right reverend prelate the Bishop of Durham, and the noble Lords, Lord St John of Bletso, Lord Hannay and Lord Bilimoria, all spoke about the importance of international trade. This crisis highlights just how important it is to keep trade flowing and to keep supply chains open, so that we can all have the essential supplies that we need at this difficult time. Free trade and resilient supply chains through open markets will be crucial to the global economic recovery as the crisis passes. In the extraordinary meeting of G20 Trade Ministers on 30 March, the International Trade Secretary called for major world economies to work together to tackle the economic impact of coronavirus. In times of economic difficulty, it is more important than ever for countries to remain open to trade.

The noble Baroness, Lady Northover, and the noble Lords, Lord Hannay and Lord Hussain, spoke about the World Health Organization, which of course has a vital role to play in co-ordinating the global response. We must continue to support the WHO and the wider UN system to lead an effective, evidence-based public health response and increase the resilience of the most vulnerable health systems. The WHO is providing key global co-ordination, bringing global health systems together. It also provides evidence-based guidance and operational support where a country’s health system is too weak to deliver the response alone.

My noble friends Lord Holmes and Lord Robathan spoke about the importance of learning lessons from around the world. There is no easy solution to Covid, or indeed to reducing lockdown measures. It is really important that we learn the lessons. We are reviewing the approaches used by other countries. My colleagues across government, our Chief Scientific Adviser and our Chief Medical Officer are in regular conversation with their counterparts around the world, to share lessons and analyses. As many noble Lords highlighted, the World Health Assembly is meeting today, and provides a further opportunity to learn these lessons.

The noble Baronesses, Lady Jay of Paddington and Lady Goudie, spoke of the 0.7% commitment. That commitment remains. However, as the noble Lord, Lord Bruce, highlighted, we must be clear that there are pressures on our finances, so we cannot do everything that we wish. The important thing will be to strike the right balance between our Covid response and ensuring that we are not taking large steps back in the development gains we have seen over the years.

In specific answer to the noble Viscount, Lord Chandos, the £388 million for CEPI and the WHO is ODA money, but the Oxford and Imperial funding is not.

I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Judd, that the work of the Department for International Development is more important than ever, and I also agree about the importance of taking a truly holistic approach to how we respond.

The noble Lords, Lord McConnell and Lord Bruce, spoke of the importance of 12 years of quality education for girls and education in general. It is important that we continue our focus on that. Before Covid-19, we were already facing a learning crisis. We are working to help mitigate the immediate effect of Covid-19 and school closures on pupils and the education workforce by addressing child safety, nutrition, well-being and learning. We are also working to preserve education systems and finance in the medium to long term by maintaining school places and school education funding, improving the crisis response and working towards a recovery when schools reopen.

As the noble Lord, Lord Collins, highlighted, we have made contributions to Education Cannot Wait, as have other donors. We are also working closely with UNESCO, the Global Partnership for Education and other donors to ensure that we get the funding we need. In the slightly longer term, we are working on our detailed girls’ education strategy and action plan, and on integrating that into our Covid-19 response.

The noble Lord, Lord Purvis of Tweed, and the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, spoke about the importance of keeping in mind the significant gendered impacts of this crisis, including the surge in gender-based violence. We are really clear that our global response must explicitly consider and support women and girls. We know that women and girls will be particularly hard hit by the secondary impacts of the pandemic, but they will also be the backbone of recovery in communities. We therefore support the meaningful participation and leadership of women and girls, in both the immediate response and the longer-term recovery process. That will be essential to build back better and have a fully resilient recovery.

The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, spoke about the importance of sexual and reproductive health services. We are making sure that we provide those services in response to prevent unintended pregnancies, dangerous back-street abortions, HIV infections and higher risks for mothers and babies. We are flexing our flagship WISH programme in Africa, to ensure that women get access to the sexual and reproductive health services that they need. We are also reorienting existing bilateral programmes to ensure that women and girls can continue to access services they need during the lockdown.

The noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, spoke of the importance of malaria and of the UK as a long-standing leader on it. I assure her that that will continue. Despite the huge efforts which saw malaria deaths halved between 2000 and 2015, progress has been stalled; in addition, progress is threatened by Covid-19. Our priority on malaria today is to support countries to continue to provide essential health services during this pandemic. We are actively flexing our health programmes to make that happen and working with countries to ensure that essential malaria services continue.

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham and the noble Lord, Lord Collins, spoke on the importance of food security. We are repurposing programmes in agriculture, social protection and humanitarian assistance to tackle the factors driving Covid-19-induced food insecurity. We are also a major funder of existing multilateral programmes in this area, such as the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme. We have committed £50 million to the World Food Programme’s recent urgent appeals and are learning the evidence from previous crises to make sure that we are sharing evidence on improved action. In all this, we continue to put the poorest and most marginalised at the heart of our programmes to address the underlying causes of chronic hunger.

The noble Baronesses, Lady Jay and Lady Sheehan, along with other noble Lords, spoke about the importance of NGOs. Civil society organisations and NGOs are key policy and delivery partners for DfID. We work with a range of charities and the work which the NGOs do is critical. Civil society plays a particularly important role in ensuring that our aid reaches the most vulnerable. DfID has channelled much of its initial support to multilaterals to ensure that we can achieve the necessary scale of action and co-ordination. Much of that work will be delivered on the ground through NGOs such as Plan International, working with the Education Cannot Wait fund. We are working with the UN to make sure that our contributions are channelled to NGOs and others as quickly as possible.

The noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan, referred to £20 million going to NGOs; that is just part of our funding to NGOs, which is done through our rapid response facility. We have also allocated money to NGOs through our Unilever partnership and recently launched a new round of Aid Direct for small and medium-sized charities. Our Small Charities Challenge Fund, for the UK’s smallest and best charities, is open to applications. However, I speak to NGOs regularly and am very aware that the charity sector, like many others, is facing financial and delivery challenges as a result of Covid-19. Many charities have already made use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. We are also working flexibly and collaboratively with current NGO partners to ensure continued programme delivery. That includes applying Cabinet Office guidance on supply relief to help them continue to deliver life-saving aid.

I join my noble friends Lord Holmes of Richmond and Lord Bridgeman, and the noble Lord, Lord Collins, in thanking front-line workers here and abroad. My noble friend Lord Bridgeman’s idea of a royal commission is an interesting one. I will take it back to the health department, but I agree that we must learn from all these experiences.

On the issue of refugees, which was raised by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans, the noble Lords, Lord Griffiths and Lord Alton, the noble Baroness, Lady Goudie, and others, we are working hard to respond to refugee crises and forced displacement globally. Our existing programmes already provide access to public health information on clean water, sanitation and health services for displaced people and their host communities, and we are working closely with international partners to ensure that the global response addresses the needs and vulnerabilities of displaced populations. We are lobbying the UN to ensure that they are included in the global humanitarian response plan, and that their rights are protected. The noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, rightly highlighted the importance of access to such people. We are working hard to ensure that those delivering these essential services get the access they need. We are very concerned to see the recent reports of cases in Cox’s Bazar, among the Rohingya people. We are working closely to do all we can in such challenging circumstances to ensure that we can contain the spread of the disease.

The noble Lords, Lord Bruce and Lord Collins, and my noble friend Lady McIntosh spoke about the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene. They are really important during periods of physical distancing and will be central to preventing the spread of Covid-19. This is the first line of defence against it. We know that handwashing with water and soap kills the virus, but that means access to running water in sufficient quantities.

We are also concerned about an underlying crisis of inadequate WASH in healthcare facilities in developing countries. I have already mentioned the new initiative with Unilever, which will help to strengthen government-led hygiene communication. We are also contributing to the UNICEF global appeal to strengthen water and sanitation co-ordination in countries to assist with the Covid-19 response.

The noble Lords, Lord Foulkes and Lord Collins, spoke about the key importance of making sure that we address our response to older people and those with disabilities. We remain deeply concerned about the significant impact of this crisis on marginalised groups. People with disabilities and older people are more at risk of contracting and dying of Covid-19, because of underlying health conditions and existing barriers, which have been intensified by the crisis. As well as the increased risk of contracting the illness, people with disabilities, older people and other marginalised groups will experience secondary impacts, such as decreased access to services. We are engaging internationally to push for greater explicit consideration of and support to marginalised people. The new funding we are providing through our rapid response facility will target support for vulnerable people.

The noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, spoke about our response in Africa. We are rapidly adapting our bilateral programmes across Africa to help counter the health, humanitarian and economic impact of Covid-19. We provided health experts to give direct support to African countries, made significant contributions to the multilateral response and are supporting the WHO team to help co-ordinate the regional response.

The noble Lord, Lord Bruce, and my noble friend Lord Robathan asked about numbers of cases in developing countries. While the WHO publishes regular updates on the numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths at a global, regional and country level, reporting, testing and surveillance systems in low-income and middle-income countries are generally weak. That is due to the limited number of tests available, and weaknesses in health, laboratory and information systems. As a result, there are likely to be more cases and deaths than are reported, but exactly how many is not clear. To help address that, we are supporting the development of new tests, supporting the WHO to strengthen its testing and surveillance, and backing research partnerships to strengthen data quality.

The noble Baronesses, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws and Lady Ritchie, and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, spoke about the importance of ensuring that human rights continue to be recognised. We are aware of and concerned by reports of the measures taken by some countries in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, which may unduly restrict human rights and democracy. States must not use the pandemic as a cover for repressive action, such as silencing human rights defenders or journalists. They should restrict rights only so far as permissible under international human rights law. Through our international engagement, we have made it clear that any restriction of human rights must be lawful, targeted, time limited and subject to regular review to ensure that it remains necessary, as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement with his European counterparts to mark World Press Freedom Day. As the noble Baroness highlighted, this risk has a disproportionate impact on marginalised and vulnerable groups, including the elderly, women and girls, minorities and people with disabilities. The phrase “We’re all in this together” has a meaning only if we can avoid the most vulnerable suffering disproportionately. We will continue to raise human rights in all our international engagements.

The noble Baronesses, Lady Goudie and Lady Sheehan, and others spoke about the importance of a ceasefire. When we are fighting this virus, the last thing we need is to be fighting each other. The UK supports the call from the UN Secretary-General for a global ceasefire and his appeal to open up spaces for diplomacy to protect the most vulnerable, allow humanitarian access and focus our collective energies on fighting Covid-19. In recent years, we strongly supported the Secretary-General’s Sustaining Peace agenda and encouraged the UN to place more emphasis on conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

The noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, spoke about NATO. We are supporting NATO as a really important actor in the global response and encouraging the use of NATO’s unique capabilities in our international collaboration. We will continue to protect our NATO commitments during the Covid-19 response, but we must also prevent potential adversaries from exploiting the crisis, as others have highlighted. We therefore support NATO’s efforts against disinformation, which seeks to divide allies, discredit NATO and sow division within our societies. We are deploying our defence experts into NATO to support this effort and putting our expertise at NATO’s disposal. We also continue to ask NATO allies to support vulnerable NATO partners where they can.

The noble Lords, Lord Loomba and Lord Alton, and my noble friend Lord Blencathra spoke about the global review into the handling of this crisis. As the Foreign Secretary said, there will need to be a full review of what happened. That will need to include looking at why the outbreak happened, why it was not stopped earlier and what can be done to manage any outbreaks in the future.

The noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, and the noble Lords, Lord Faulkner and Lord Rennard, spoke about Taiwan. The UK’s position on Taiwan is of long standing and is unchanged: we support Taiwanese participation in international organisations where there is a precedent for their involvement, where they can contribute to the global good and where there is no prerequisite of nationhood for participation. That includes the World Health Organization.

The noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, asked about the British Council. Of course, Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the British Council’s operations and finances. More than 95% of its English teaching and examination centres worldwide have closed, so its cash flow and income have sharply reduced. The noble Baroness highlighted the support that the FCO has provided for additional funding for this financial year. We have also provided some of next year’s grant in aid funding up front to help alleviate pressures, but we are in ongoing conversations with the British Council.

My noble friend Lady McIntosh spoke about wet markets. Conclusive evidence about the origin and mode of transmission of Covid-19 is not yet available, but the virus has really highlighted the health risks associated with keeping and selling live animals, particularly wild animals, and their meat. There is no doubt that poorly managed wildlife trade poses threats to animal health and welfare, diminishes our biodiversity and can result in serious public health issues. The keeping and selling of live animals, including wild animals, or their slaughter for meat in wet markets, can pose significant threats. That is why we agreed with the WHO that it is important to ensure strict food hygiene and health standards and that markets should close if they are not met. Looking ahead, we want to engage with all global stakeholders to understand the range of views on this sensitive matter. I look forward to working with our international partners in the immediate future to make sure that we can build a clean and resilient recovery.

Many noble Lords raised equitable access to vaccines. As the noble Lord, Lord Collins, highlighted, we support the WHO’s Access to Covid Tools. Proposals for the development of and access to these tools are currently being discussed, including at the World Health Assembly today. The UK has long supported affordable and equitable access to essential medicines, including in low and middle-income countries. That is being discussed at the moment and I hope to have more information on it shortly.

I am running out of time. I will touch briefly on malnutrition, because its prevention and treatment are part of our immediate response. We will continue to work with the Government of Japan to ensure that they can deliver a successful Nutrition for Growth summit. As I did earlier, I acknowledge the importance of ensuring that we do not have a cliff edge on our nutrition funding.

Lastly, I thank my noble friend Lady Buscombe for highlighting Bhutan’s response. I join her in congratulating it and wishing it well for the future.

I am out of time, and I apologise because I have not answered all of the many and wide-ranging questions, despite the speed I speak at. I will follow up with a full and complete letter, taking on board everybody’s questions that I was not able to attend to today. This crisis is very much ongoing and it is important that we begin to think about sustainable recovery, as well as making sure that we are dealing with its impacts. The hard-won development gains achieved over recent decades are at risk. Economies have been ravaged and hunger will become famine unless we act now. As the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, highlighted, our climate crisis continues to deepen. There are no easy answers, but when we emerge from this crisis we will owe it to all those who have struggled and to those we have lost to rebuild a more resilient, healthier and greener world.

Motion agreed.

Africa: Support

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Wednesday 6th May 2020 Lords Chamber

The Question was considered in a Virtual Proceeding via video call.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, DfID is rapidly adapting its bilateral programmes across Africa to help counter the health, humanitarian and economic impacts of Covid-19 in support of the most vulnerable and poorest people. We have provided health experts to give direct support to African countries, and we have made significant contributions to the multilateral response. UK aid is also supporting a team at the WHO’s office in Brazzaville, to co-ordinate the regional response.

[Lord Oates (LD)]

My Lords, I commend the Minister and her department for the rapid deployment of financial support to the continent. As she will be aware, the gravest health risks facing African people may well arise from the economic impacts, rather than the disease impacts, of Covid, leading to a reduction in resources available for health services, spiralling hunger and an increase in other fatal diseases such as measles, polio and malaria. Can the Minister therefore tell the House what planning DfID is undertaking to ensure a co-ordinated and long-term approach to supporting and reviving African economies as they emerge from the immediate crisis?

[Baroness Sugg]

I agree with the noble Lord that the gravest health risks may come from the economic impacts. The UK is at the forefront of efforts to protect African economies. We are encouraging international financial institutions, UN agencies and others to co-ordinate to make funds available as quickly as possible. We have committed up to £150 million to the International Monetary Fund to help vulnerable countries meet debt repayments. In the longer term, we are providing technical assistance and capacity building to help support the African Union’s African continental free trade area, which offers the opportunity to kick-start regional trade and support the economic bounce back.

[Lord Cormack (Con)]

My Lords, would my noble friend agree that, if Covid-19 becomes endemic in African countries, it will remain a threat to the world for the foreseeable future? Would she consider convening a conference of Commonwealth African countries—after all, Nigeria, the largest country on the continent, is a Commonwealth country—to see whether the initiative can be taken on a Commonwealth basis?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank my noble friend for that question. I absolutely agree that we need to tackle this pandemic globally. We are not going to resolve it within our own borders unless we help the rest of the world to tackle it too. I also agree on the importance of our Commonwealth relationships. Sadly, the CHOGM conference has been postponed, but I know that my noble friend Lord Ahmad, the Minister for the Commonwealth, is in regular contact with Commonwealth leaders so we can help each other to tackle the pandemic.

[Lord Carrington (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as a farmer as set out in the register. Could the Minister confirm that, in providing support to African and other eligible countries, careful consideration is given by DfID to purchasing suitable surplus agricultural products from British farmers as a result of the steep decline in demand from the food service sector, and that this is distributed as part of the aid budget to those countries experiencing desperate food shortages? A broadly similar policy has just been announced by the Canadian Government.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we remain deeply concerned about the food security situation in Africa. In east Africa alone, nearly 25 million people are at crisis levels of food insecurity. We are supporting farmers in Africa in a number of ways through our global agriculture and food security programme and our adaptation for smallholder agriculture programme. On the export of food from the UK to Africa, I will have to take that back to the department and follow it up in writing to the noble Lord.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)]

My Lords, the G7 is due to meet in the United States in June—or perhaps virtually. What action will the UK take to ensure that that summit addresses the economic fragility of sub-Saharan Africa, the supply chains and the international trade that has been disrupted as a result of the Covid-19 international lockdown, and not just the economic needs of the developed world?

[Baroness Sugg]

I assure the noble Lord that we will absolutely take into account the economic and supply chain impacts on the developing world. We have pre-meetings ahead of the G7 where that discussion is already happening, and I am sure it will be on the agenda for the summit.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, aid to developing countries is dwarfed by massive debt repayments to rich countries. Other than the G20’s decision to temporarily suspend debt payments, what further measures are being considered to alleviate the crippling debt so that health systems can be strengthened?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the noble Baroness refers to the suspension of debt repayments, which we argued for with the G20 and the Paris Club. I have already mentioned the £150 million going to the International Monetary Fund for catastrophe containment. We are also working closely with the private sector to see what we can do there and providing advice to developing countries on how best to respond to the economic impact of Covid-19.

[The Archbishop of Canterbury]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a member of the Secretary-General of the UN’s High-level Advisory Board on Mediation. What specific steps are the Government taking to support the very successful call for a global ceasefire as it applies to sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among those countries that already have some kind of ceasefire in place, to support the mediation and peace process? I am of course referring to the Secretary-General’s call.

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we fully support the Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire. We are working in countries, where it is relevant, to ensure that we are doing what we can. We do not need any further issues affecting people who are already impacted so heavily by Covid-19.

[Lord Pickles (Con)]

The Foreign Secretary yesterday warned about the criminal gangs and other supranational organisations seeking to disrupt a cure for Covid-19. We have seen a rise in attacks on Chinese people in the United Kingdom and suggestions that the virus has been spread by Jewish people or by Muslims. What will my noble friend do in terms of offering advice to African countries to counter this kind of fake news, which could turn various communities against one another and be just as damaging as the disease itself?

[Baroness Sugg]

My noble friend will be aware of the programme that we have in this country to tackle fake news, but we have also announced support to tackle false claims and conspiracy theories in Africa, which may spread rapidly on social media and may even promote dangerous behaviour. Our support will be going to the Humanitarian to Humanitarian Network, which addresses the spread of misinformation during epidemics and will help to tackle specific mistruths in Africa.

[Baroness Cox (CB)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware of the devastating effect of the combination of Covid-19 and famine caused by locusts sweeping across east Africa? As PPE is needed to fight coronavirus and locusts—both are growing simultaneously—supply chains are being badly affected in the worst affected countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan. Can the Minister give some assurance that this lethal combination of locusts and coronavirus is being addressed as a priority?

[Baroness Sugg]

I can assure that the noble Baroness that it is. We are deeply concerned about the potential second wave of locusts coming into east Africa. We are working with other donors to support UN agencies, the Red Cross and NGOs to respond to coronavirus, and with the FAO on locusts. That includes helping the world’s poorest countries to access critical medical supplies, including PPE.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome Monday’s pledge by the UK of £250 million at the virtual EU summit to boost public research funding for a new Covid vaccine. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that any vaccine developed using UK public money will be accessible by and affordable for all?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, in fact, the UK co-hosted that summit along with the EU and we are absolutely committed to the WHO Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator to make sure that new vaccines are accessible by everyone.

[Lord German (LD)]

My Lords, I refer to my interests as listed in the register. There are Commonwealth countries in Africa that have no DfID representation within them. What are the Government doing to ensure that on-the-ground organisation is arranged for the aid that the UK is providing? Would the Minister consider using the Governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, who have relationships in some of these countries, to assist?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, as I said, the Commonwealth has an essential role to play in the global response to Covid-19. We obviously have a presence in the vast majority of countries that need our presence and, where we do not, we work closely with international agencies to make sure that they are delivering the help needed on the ground. However, I will certainly take the noble Lord’s suggestion of working with other Governments back to the department.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.

Overseas Development Assistance: Gender-based Violence

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2020 Lords Chamber

The Question was considered in a Virtual Proceeding via video call.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, we are deeply concerned about the surge in gender-based violence during the Covid-19 pandemic. DfID is reprioritising our programming and working with global partners to prevent violence. We must ensure that women and girls have access to the vital services they need, and we are urging all Governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women and girls a key part of their national response plans.

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Con)]

What measures are being put in place to ensure that DfID will maintain, and indeed increase, the quality and quantity of its excellent work to protect women and girls, against the background of this month’s forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility that the UK economy will contract by 12.8% this year, thus shrinking the money available in our 0.7% pot?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we must of course recognise the challenges that are going to be faced by economies all around the world. We are considering carefully what that means for our 0.7% aid commitment, but we are proud that the UK is keeping that commitment; it is more important than ever. Given that we are in the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, we do not yet know the exact implications, but we will ensure that we use all possible financial levers to support our response. As my noble friend says, we must maintain and indeed increase the quality and quantity of our work to protect women and girls.

[The Lord Speaker]

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho? Baroness Helic.

[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords, fighting sexual and gender-based violence remains the most chronically underfunded sector in the humanitarian appeals of the United Nations. What consideration has been given to allocating a specific minimum percentage of the DfID budget to fighting sexual and gender-based violence not only during emergencies but as part of the regular allocation of funds?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, DfID does not currently favour earmarking specific overseas development aid as that limits its flexibility to respond to unseen priorities, a case in point being our Covid-19 response. However, I agree with my noble friend that there is more the UK can do to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls. That is why we have made the largest single investment in preventing violence against women and girls of any bilateral donor, through our new What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Programme.

[Baroness Massey of Darwen (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that as well as providing services, sexual and reproductive health programmes are also important in empowering women to be more comfortable about their bodies and to resist violence? Will she therefore tell us how much DfID is allocating to sexual and reproductive health programmes for women?

[Baroness Sugg]

I agree with the noble Baroness. Particularly in the face of Covid-19, with overwhelmed health systems trying to cope with the disease outbreak, sexual and reproductive health services will be even harder to access, putting even more lives in danger. We are working with our partners to support them to continue to reach populations, and to make sure that every woman and girl can continue to realise her right to choose.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment as the UK champion for She Decides. ODA is increasingly being spent in unusual ways. For instance, the FCO’s prosperity fund has investments to develop ideas from industry and the bond market. How can this displacement of ODA from front-line UK NGOs battling the funding challenges that Covid-19 has brought be justified?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her congratulations; I am delighted to become a She Decides champion. I agree that it is important that we fund NGOs on the front line delivering the response to Covid-19, and that is what we are determined to do.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, small organisations and those working at grass roots are able to deliver most help to victims of domestic violence. Given the rise of gender-based violence during this crisis, can UK aid be directed more to supporting small organisations giving such vital help to victims? Can our posts overseas help with identifying the best organisations in-country to support?

[Baroness Sugg]

I entirely agree with my noble friend. In the UK we have many excellent small charities that deliver these vital services, including in respect of gender-based violence. DfID has a small charities challenge fund which was developed to ensure it can support these charities, and its posts on the ground are working to help identify them. A review process is ongoing. Applications that will address the impact of Covid-19 are being prioritised and a further round will be opened in the next few weeks.

[Baroness Greengross (CB)]

My Lords, widows often face extreme forms of violence due to being older and widowed. They also face particular discrimination and lack access to various rights, including property rights. Overseas development assistance spending on addressing gender-based violence does not make specific reference to older women or widows. During this period of isolation to stop the spread of Covid-19, older women face increased risks of domestic and gender-based violence. There are 962 million older people living in low and middle-income countries. Those aged 60 and over account for more than 95% of the deaths in Europe from Covid-19. Will the Government make specific amounts of aid and help available to older women, and indeed to widows of all ages?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, as the noble Baroness says, older people will be disproportionately impacted, and sadly that includes widows. We are working with our humanitarian partners to ensure that the most vulnerable, including older women and widows, are reached and supported.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I want to pick up the theme of the secondary impact of Covid-19, particularly the lessons we may have learned from things such as Ebola. It is not just the increase in domestic violence but the isolation of women and girls and their access to education—all those things are big secondary impacts. One thing we are clear about is that a health-only response will not be sufficient. We need to engage and promote behavioural change and social change measures. That means supporting civic society and civil society. I congratulate the rapid response facility on its efforts, but access to that is a bit limited at the moment. Can the Minister tell us more about how we will reach and build civil society to ensure that women, and particularly women’s groups, can protect and advocate for themselves?

[Baroness Sugg]

I agree with the noble Lord that we must address both the primary and secondary impacts. I am particularly concerned about education. Ensuring that vulnerable girls can continue to learn and return to school after this crisis is vital. I also agree with the noble Lord that we must do what we can to support civil society and NGOs. He referred to the rapid response facility. We are also reprioritising our programmes within countries and working with civil society and women’s rights organisations to deliver those programmes.

[Lord German (LD)]

My Lords, I draw attention to my interests declared in the register. Are organisations currently doing other programmes for ODA able to pivot their activities towards gender-based violence? In so pivoting, will they prejudice themselves when applying to continue the work they are currently doing?

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Lord is right to point out that we are working really closely with our partners on doing exactly that: pivoting to programmes relevant to Covid-19. Of course, other programmes will also continue, and we will work closely with partners to make sure that they can continue their vital work.

[The Lord Speaker]

Baroness Blackstone. Baroness Blackstone? Baroness Uddin. No? In any event, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed, so we will move on.

Covid-19: Overseas Development Assistance

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd April 2020 Lords Chamber

The Question was considered in a Virtual Proceeding via video call.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, the Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest threat that this country and the world have faced in our lifetimes, and here in the UK and across the globe we are seeing the devastating impact of this virus. The UK is at the forefront of the international response, having so far pledged £744 million in UK aid. This requires a prioritisation of planned spend for this financial year and beyond, both for our immediate response and to support longer-term recovery.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)]

My Lords, since 1970, 22 April has been celebrated as Earth Day, when we celebrate and recognise participation and advocacy around the world. It therefore seems appropriate that today we look at the international consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, particularly in the developing world. The sustainable development goals were designed to create more resilient and sustainable economies and societies around the world. Will the Government this year ensure that their commitment to the sustainable development goals, nationally and globally, is strengthened rather than weakened to ensure that we are better able in the future to respond to and cope with shocks of an economic and health nature, as we are currently experiencing both in the developed and developing worlds?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the UK played an instrumental role in establishing the SDGs, and even before Covid-19, we knew that global progress was off track. I am particularly concerned with goal 4, on quality education, and goal 5, on gender equality. The SDGs have a key role in framing and shaping recovery, and the decade of action will be more crucial than ever. We will use the international opportunities we have to build our continued SDG leadership, and we will include in that the SDG summit at UNGA this September and our G7 presidency next year.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, women and girls are being disproportionately affected by the impact of Covid-19. Can the Minister please assure me that DfID will address the specific vulnerabilities that women and girls face in the light of the pandemic, and, looking ahead, that women and girls will remain a key focus for DfID?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank my noble friend for that question. She is of course right that during times of crisis, the rights of women and girls are often overlooked. In this time of crisis, when people are at their most vulnerable, women and girls need our support more than ever. We must learn the lessons of past epidemics and explicitly include the needs of women and girls as part of our humanitarian response, and in order to stop more lives being needlessly lost. We are therefore working with our international partners to act now, putting gender at the heart of our response. The impacts of coronavirus are not gender-blind, so nor should our response be.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

Baroness Boycott. No? Lord Collins of Highbury.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

A key element of nutrition-sensitive spending is universal health coverage, which is vital to building resilience to such pandemics. It is likely that the Nutrition for Growth summit will be delayed. Can the Minister assure the House that, if this year’s summit is delayed, she will ensure either that the Government pledge early, or will ensure a continuation of nutrition finance at current levels for another year to avoid a cliff edge in such financing at the start of 2022?

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Lord is right to highlight that global commitments on nutrition financing are indeed ending this year, and I agree with him that this continued investment is needed to prevent and treat malnutrition, particularly as countries face worsening levels of malnutrition in the face of Covid-19. We are looking carefully at the options for the UK commitment now that both the Olympic pledging event and the main Nutrition for Growth summit have been postponed, and we will provide an update on our plans when we are able to. Yesterday, the World Food Programme reported that Covid-19 could push 265 million people into acute hunger by the end of this year, so maintaining our commitment to nutrition is more important than ever.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I have two questions for the Minister. First, borders are an ineffectual barrier against Covid-19, so does the Minister agree that only a victory that fully includes Africa and the rest of the developing world can end this pandemic? Secondly, notwithstanding President Trump’s intervention, do our Government acknowledge that we need a World Health Organization fully equipped to co-ordinate an international pooling mechanism for Covid-19 research into diagnostics, treatments and vaccines that will be affordable for all?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, Covid-19 is a global challenge and it is essential that countries come together to tackle the shared threat. We will continue to fund the World Health Organization. We are a key donor to the WHO and have already contributed £75 million to help the organisation lead international efforts to stop the spread of the virus, find a vaccine and end this pandemic.

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, considering the consequential hunger problems that have been identified, can the Minister guarantee that the UK’s support, including budgetary support, for the work of the UNFPA will be guaranteed throughout the next 12 months?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we are a key donor to the UNFPA. We recently announced a £200 million humanitarian package that included an additional £10 million support to the UNFPA, and we will continue to support it in the vital work it does.

[Lord Sheikh (Con)]

My Lords, we all appreciate that Covid-19 is a hidden enemy that attacks anyone, anywhere in the world. Some countries overseas are in dire straits. It is important that we continue to provide help to foreign countries. Is it possible in the present climate to maintain the spend of 0.7% of our gross national income on foreign aid?

[Baroness Sugg]

I can absolutely confirm our commitment to 0.7%. we need to respond both multi-laterally, though the global system, and bilaterally, in country. We are working quickly to pivot our programming to support the Covid response, reinforcing health, humanitarian and social protections or economic support programmes in country.

[Lord Crisp (CB)]

My Lords, I very much welcome the investment the Government are making in vaccines against Covid-19. Will the Government impose public interest conditions on UK-funded vaccines, treatments and diagnostics, so that they can be affordable and accessible not only in the UK but to low and middle-income countries? Will the Government also encourage and persuade other Governments to do the same?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, we absolutely need an effective Covid-19 vaccine to be developed, trialled and approved for use as quickly as possible. We are doing that in three ways. First, we are the largest funder of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Secondly, we have launched a vaccine task force to expedite and co-ordinate efforts to research and produce a coronavirus vaccine. Finally, in June we are hosting a replenishment for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. That will be really key to the operational delivery of a vaccine at an affordable price to those who need it across the world.

[The Lord Speaker]

Lord Boateng. No? Lord Bruce of Bennachie.

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)]

DfID has given priority to strengthening health systems across Africa. Can we be assured that this will be maintained, if not increased, especially in the light of falling GDP at home? What does the Minister think about the WHO’s advice that there should be no restrictions on travel to Africa, given that the disease is escalating there and that this has proved to be a factor in spreading it worldwide?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I agree that we need to strengthen the fragile health systems in the world’s poorest countries, where the chance of disease spreading rapidly is the highest. That will of course reduce the risk of having future waves of infection globally. I am not going to comment on the WHO’s advice on travel to Africa. I would say, though, that it is important that we maintain connectivity so that we can support our delivery of aid in the countries which are sometimes hardest to reach.

[The Lord Speaker]

Baroness Massey of Darwen. No? There are no more supplementaries, my Lords. The time has also elapsed for this Question. We now come to the second Oral Question.