Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the UK’s current development and humanitarian programmes in Sudan; and what effect the recent unrest in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country has had on those programmes.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK’s main development and humanitarian programmes, operated at Post are listed below.
All programmes, including humanitarian activities have been affected by Sudan’s current economic crisis. This includes rising procurement and operational costs and delays to activities due to fuel shortages.
The current demonstrations and Government of Sudan response to the demonstrations has led to the postponement of certain activities which involve convening large groups; and the postponement of meetings and monitoring visits that involve travel to areas where we or our partners assess increased risks to staff safety, in line with Foreign Office travel advice. There have been some delays in administrative procedures related to humanitarian programmes due to Government of Sudan officials being re-deployed to other areas. DFID and Embassy officials at Post continue to consider whether to maintain, adjust or suspend activities on a case to case basis.
Officials in Khartoum are in contact with delivery partners on the ground to assess evolving risks should the situation become protracted. These include the risk of redeploying staff of partners based in affected remote areas to Khartoum to mitigate safety risks and the ongoing risks to Sudanese staff that may be affected by the increased risk of violence.
Ref | Programme | Sector |
1 | Responding to Protracted Crisis in Sudan: Humanitarian Reform, Assistance & Resilience Programme (300196) | Humanitarian and Conflict |
2 | Rural Water for Sudan (300222) | Governance and Poverty Reduction |
3 | Urban Water for Sudan (300225) | Governance and Poverty Reduction |
4 | Sudan Stability and Growth Programme (SSGP) (300365) | Governance and Poverty Reduction |
5 | Sudan free of Female Genital Cutting. (203407) | Governance and Poverty Reduction |
6 | Adapt Environmental and Climate Resilience in Sudan (205115) | Governance and Poverty Reduction |
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7 | Conflict resilience and stabilisation programme | peacebuilding |
8 | CSSF regional migration programme | migration |
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they have given to the government of India, and to the administrations of individual states, in the last three years to improve the quality of water and sanitation, and to end the practice of manual scavenging.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID’s portfolio of urban programmes work to strengthen India’s capacity to make cities cleaner and more sustainable for all – including provision for water and sanitation. We have partnered with the Government of Odisha to improve the state’s water supply. We have also partnered with the Government of India on its SMART cities initiative. DFID has not had any specific programming on manual scavenging in the last three years; however, the Manual Scavenging Act provides for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers through training in alternative employment. This is the right way forward and should be upheld. DFID is committed to work with India on urban and skills development.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are assisting the government of Afghanistan and UN agencies to register returnees from Pakistan who remain internally displaced, but receive no benefits or transport to places of registration.
Answered by Lord Bates
We are extremely concerned about the situation for returning refugees, undocumented Afghans and internally displaced people in Afghanistan. Our assistance is based on need and supports the United Nations-led Humanitarian Response Plan in Afghanistan. In 2016 and 2017 the UK provided urgent additional funding to UNHCR to ensure refugees were provided with immediate assistance upon return, including to cover immediate food, shelter and transport costs. In 2018 there have been fewer returns from Pakistan compared to previous years, so the focus of our assistance has changed. In 2018 UK aid will provide humanitarian assistance for up to two million Afghan people. This includes lifesaving food, access to water, shelter, nutrition, healthcare and demining activities. It will also support people who have been displaced for a long time to integrate sustainably into local communities. As recently announced at the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, we have increased our funding for the humanitarian response to £67 million this year. We continue to press others to do more.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much UK Official Development Assistance has been directed to India in each of the last five years; through what channels such assistance was directed; in which states it was directed; and how many staff worked at the Department for International Development in New Delhi in each of those years.
Answered by Lord Bates
Our bilateral aid programme with India ended in 2015. The UK has forged a new development partnership with India that delivers benefits for both countries and our joint role in the world. Britain’s new cooperation with India aims to foster inclusive growth, create new investment opportunities, develop markets and stimulate mutual prosperity. Under this new UK-India development partnership, our ODA funds the sharing of expertise and the investment of development capital, the returns on which are available for reinvestment. This helps develop markets, trade, investment, technology and partnership opportunities for British as well as Indian companies and organisations.
The following net Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been directed to India from various UK government departments and agencies in the five years 2012-2016. Figures for 2017 will be released in November. Data on the provision of assistance to each state is not available.
Year | Amount (net) |
2012 | 291,791,385 |
2013 | 268,040,985 |
2014 | 278,796,048 |
2015 | 185,579,807 |
2016 | 92,620,387 |
This ODA has been directed through a number of channels, which are set out in the attached table.
The following data shows staff in DFID working in India. There are a number of regional teams within these figures.
These teams are based in India but do not work on India specific work, such as a regional IT and HR team. The figures are for total staff, not headcount. Where one person has left and been replaced by another within a year, this is classed as two people. Figures for 2018 are for January to September. Figures for 2013 and previous years are not available.
Year | No. of Staff |
2014 | 154 |
2015 | 127 |
2016 | 100 |
2017 | 108 |
2018 | 86 |
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economy of Nepal and its attractiveness for UK investment; and to what extent, if any, they have invested in (1) hydropower, (2) tourism, and (3) medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) make regular assessments of the economy of Nepal and its ability to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), including from the UK. Analysis suggests that there is potential for FDI in areas such as hydropower, education and tourism. However, constraints to investment remain from poor transport, energy and urban infrastructure, and aspects of the regulatory environment. The UK is working with the Government of Nepal to address these barriers to growth.
DFID, through its funding of Investment Board Nepal, helped to secure $1.2bn of investment for the new Arun 3 Hydropower project, which will double Nepal’s hydropower generation and energy exports to neighbouring countries. DFID funding supported the Nepal Tourism industry to recover following the 2015 earthquake, and has supported the construction of and marketing for the Great Himalayan Trails. Support has also been provided to approximately 250,000 small-scale entrepreneurs and farmers to significantly improve their business practices, for example through better management of crop diseases, and contributed to increased incomes.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what investment, if any, the Department for International Development has made in Nepal in the last two years other than emergency relief; where any such investment has been made and in what sectors of its economy.
Answered by Lord Bates
Information on DFID spend in Nepal is available in the DFID Annual Report and Accounts. The most recent version of this publication (2017/18) reports that total UK ODA to Nepal was £88.2m in calendar year 2015 (of which £35.9m was humanitarian assistance) and £103.0m in 2016 (of which £13.2m was humanitarian assistance).
Further information on the sector breakdown of UK ODA to Nepal for 2015 and 2016 is available from Statistics on International Development on GOV.UK. This reports that the three largest sectors of investment for 2015 (excluding humanitarian) were Government and Civil Society (£17.1m), Economic Infrastructure and Services (£16.9m) and Multisector (£6.4m). For 2016 the three largest sectors of investment were Government and Civil Society (£20.8m), Health (£19m) and Economic Infrastructure and Services (£15.8m).
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following their response to the International Development Committee’s report Definition and administration of ODA (HC 1011), whether any middle-income country on the World Bank’s list may be eligible for UK Official Development Assistance (ODA); and which of those countries are currently in receipt of UK ODA.
Answered by Lord Bates
The OECD DAC determines which countries are ODA eligible based on World Bank GNI per capita data. The list of ODA eligible countries consists of all low and Middle-Income countries except for those that are members of the G8 or the European Union. The UK provided bilateral ODA through a range of government departments to the following middle-income countries in 2016:
Middle Income Countries (Lower & Upper) in Receipt of 2016 bilateral UK ODA | ||
Albania | Gabon | Nicaragua |
Algeria | Georgia | Nigeria |
Antigua and Barbuda | Ghana | Pakistan |
Argentina | Grenada | Panama |
Armenia | Guatemala | Papua New Guinea |
Azerbaijan | Guyana | Paraguay |
Belarus | Honduras | Peru |
Belize | India | Philippines |
Bolivia | Indonesia | Serbia |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Iran | Seychelles |
Botswana | Iraq | South Africa |
Brazil | Jamaica | Sri Lanka |
Cameroon | Jordan | St. Helena |
Cape Verde | Kazakhstan | St. Lucia |
Chile | Kosovo | St.Vincent & Grenadines |
China | Kyrgyz Republic | Swaziland |
Colombia | Lebanon | Syria |
Congo, Rep. | Libya | Thailand |
Costa Rica | Malaysia | Tunisia |
Cote d'Ivoire | Maldives | Turkey |
Cuba | Mauritius | Turkmenistan |
Dominica | Mexico | Ukraine |
Dominican Republic | Moldova | Uruguay |
Ecuador | Mongolia | Uzbekistan |
Egypt | Montenegro | Venezuela |
El Salvador | Montserrat | Vietnam |
Fiji | Morocco | West Bank & Gaza Strip |
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) | Namibia |
|
Source: Statistics on International Development 2017
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much humanitarian assistance they have given to the Yazidis in northern Iraq in each year since 2014; and what form this assistance takes within the current UK humanitarian programme in Iraq.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID has committed £237.5m in humanitarian support to Iraq since 2014, including £20 million this financial year. This support is provided on the basis of need, irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity, and in line with international humanitarian principles; it is not possible to provide figures on assistance specifically provided to Yezidis or other religious groups. The UK works with the Government of Iraq, the UN, humanitarian partners and minority representatives to support the rights of all minorities and to ensure our aid reaches those in the greatest need.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to opt into any future successor to the Cotonou Agreement.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK government welcomes the EU’s intention to involve a broad range of actors in the EU’s post-2020 partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. This is of particular interest to us as we consider the UK’s future partnership with the EU.
We will only continue our development collaboration with the EU where it is in our mutual interest and represents the best value for taxpayers’ money. As the successor to the current Cotonou agreement is still subject to negotiation between the EU and ACP countries, it is not yet possible to determine whether it will be in the UK’s best interests to seek to join any future agreement. We will continue to participate in those discussions while we remain an EU Member State.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the peace-keeping activities of the EU currently managed by the European Development Fund.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK currently contributes to the European Development Fund (EDF) as part of its obligations as a Member State. For the period covering 2014-2018, 5.2% of the EDF was directed towards African-led peacekeeping, through the African Peace Facility.
The European Commission has recently published plans that would see future support to peace-keeping activities, currently managed by the European Development Fund, routed through a newly proposed European Peace Facility under the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The UK will have left the EU when this comes into force in January 2021. After we have left the EU the UK will decide how best to fund the priorities previously funded through our EU contributions.