Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans Ministers have to attend the Global Disability Summit, due to be held in Berlin in April.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The 2025 Global Disability Summit is an important moment for the UK to reinforce our commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion and launch the refresh of our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy (2022-30), setting out new priorities. The Cabinet Office and the FCDO are working closely together to draw up the UK's delegation and final decisions will be made soon.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the FCDO disability inclusion and rights strategy 2022 to 2030, published on 16 February 2022, consistently across UK Official Development Assistance programmes.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The FCDO continues to take a 'twin track approach' including mainstreaming a disability inclusive and human rights perspective across all the department's work. For example, we will shortly launch new e-learning on how to use the disability inclusion and gender equality policy markers to make FCDO programmes more inclusive across the organisation. Our progress against the strategy is regularly reviewed by a board of independent experts from civil society and academia.
At the Global Disability Summit in April 2025, the FCDO will reinforce our commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion and launch the refresh of our FCDO Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy. Setting out new priorities, we will continue to provide targeted support to people with disabilities through high quality, targeted programmes to test new innovation and strengthen national systems that better reach people with disabilities. For example, this will include supporting inclusive approaches to education, health, and employment through our Disability Inclusive Development programme.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Humanity and Inclusion report Beyond Access: Ensuring the Continuity of Education for Adolescent Girls with Disabilities, published on 24 January, what steps they are taking to promote continuity of education for adolescent girls with disabilities through development assistance.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK is working to tackle the barriers to accessing quality education that are faced by adolescent girls with disabilities, through our education policy and programmes.
In countries like Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, UK development assistance has supported the implementation of disability-inclusive pedagogy in classrooms, funded assistive devices, and provided technical assistance to ministries of education, to develop and implement inclusive education policies. We are growing our understanding of what works to support learners with disabilities through our Disability Inclusive Development Programme.
At the Global Disability Summit in April 2025, the UK will reinforce its commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion, including specific actions on inclusive education, and will launch the refresh of our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office accounts due to be published at the end of July will include the detailed spending allocations for the financial year 2022/23.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The FCDO's Annual Report and Accounts will be laid in Parliament before the Summer recess, and will include further detail on FCDO's planned Overseas Development Assistance spending.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a signed hard copy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office annual accounts will be sent to Members of the House of Lords; and if not, whether this practice has ceased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Under the International Development (Reporting & Transparency) Act 2006 and the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, FCDO will provide printed copies of its Annual Report & Accounts (ARA) to the Vote Office which are available to all Parliamentarians. Copies are also available in the respective House Libraries. The Accounting Officer's signed copy of the ARA is supplied to the National Audit Office.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average purchase price for the 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses donated to developing countries in 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
By the end of 2021, we met our goal of donating 30 million AstraZeneca doses by the end of the year, benefiting over 30 countries, as part of our G7 pledge to donate 100 million doses by June 2022. The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Secretariat has now provided guidance for reporting donations of excess COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2021 in ODA. The UK is considering this guidance together with our other commitments and obligations, and is actively engaging with the OECD's DAC Secretariat on valuing Covid-19 vaccines in Official Development Assistance in 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost that they will be reporting to the OECD Development Assistance Committee for COVID-19 vaccine donations to developing countries in 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The DAC Secretariat has now provided guidance for reporting donations of excess COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2021 in ODA. The UK is considering this guidance together with our other commitments and obligations, and is actively engaging with the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Secretariat on valuing Covid-19 vaccines in Official Development Assistance in 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the Equalities Impact Assessment relating to the reduction in Official Development Assistance in March.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government disclosed the Equalities Assessment to the International Planned Parenthood Federation as part of their Judicial Review claim. Having considered usual practices across Government, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has no plans to publish the overarching Equalities Assessment for Official Development Assistance for its spend in financial year 2021-2022. We will set out our future ambitions on transparency in the upcoming International Development Strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what year they will use as a benchmark for the restoration of spending for women and girls to the level it was at before the reduction in Official Development Assistance announced this year.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are restoring funding for women and girls to pre-ODA cut levels over the Spending Review period, focusing on giving more girls a quality education; ending the extremely harmful practice of female genital mutilation, supporting girls' health; and ending the abhorrent use of sexual violence around the world.
Following the Spending Review, decisions on allocations and individual programmes will be published in the usual way.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement by the Foreign Secretary on 16 November that funding will be restored for women and girls to its former level before the Overseas Development Assistance cuts, what year they plan to use as a benchmark for reinstating former funding levels; when they estimate that this commitment will be fulfilled; and whether the commitment includes restoring funding to sexual and reproductive health services.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
On 16 November the Foreign Secretary announced how women and girls will be at the centre of our foreign policy priorities, with more than £20 million of new funding to help stop violence against women and girls around the world. We are restoring funding for women and girls to pre-ODA cut levels, focusing on giving more girls a quality education; ending the extremely harmful practice of female genital mutilation, supporting girls' health; and ending the abhorrent use of sexual violence around the world.
The UK is firmly committed to defending comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally - this includes family planning and maternal health, both central to the empowerment of women and girls. Any funding for SRHR will contribute to UK objectives to improve the lives of women and girls across the world. Following the Spending Review, decisions on allocations and individual programmes will be published in the usual way.