Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much financial assistance has been given to the government of South Sudan in each of the last three years by (1) the Department for International Development; (2) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and (3) the Ministry of Defence, under separate or joint headings.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK Government has not provided any bilateral financial assistance to the Government of South Sudan in any of the last three years. We ensure UK Aid is effective by working through a range of UN and international organisations who are experienced in operating in South Sudan, and who can deliver flexibly according to need.
The table below shows total spend by the Department for International Development in South Sudan in each of the last three financial years. The top three sectors funded by DFID are humanitarian, health, and education.
2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 |
£189 million | £169 million | £163 million |
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide in-country training for government officials and others engaged in (1) monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals, and (2) data collection, following United Nations guidelines; and to what extent the Commonwealth could provide this training.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID provides a range of support and training to National Statistics Offices in developing countries to gather, analyse and use a wide range of information, including data relevant to the SDGs. For example, through the UN Statistics Department, we are supporting 20 developing countries to disseminate SDG data through National Reporting Platforms, including technical assistance and training. We are also funding such support through the World Bank, the IMF and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) is also planning to host a meeting of Commonwealth heads of National Statistics Institutes (NSI) later this year. The ONS is proposing including in the agenda a focus on data gaps for global SDG indicators. This will build on publication on 19 March of a report on UK data gaps, including our initial Inclusive Data Action Plan.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 12 February (HL5337), how the Department for International Development will monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals in the poorest developing countries; and whether this will require any additional staff.
Answered by Lord Bates
Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals is reported through various means, including the UN’s SDG indicators website, https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/database/, which captures data reported to the UN by Member States under the global indicator framework for the 2030 Agenda. In addition, Member States are expected to complete voluntary national reviews of progress towards the Goals at least once in the period to 2030. The reviews are presented to the annual UN High Level Political Forum each July.
We will continue to use these sources to monitor progress towards the SDGs by Least Developed Countries. We will not require additional staff to do so.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which public bodies will be involved in the review of organisations in receipt of UK aid funding; which organisations will be reviewed; and according to what timetable.
Answered by Lord Bates
On 12 February, the Secretary of State for International Development wrote to all UK charities that directly receive UK aid. She asked them to provide her with assurance that the systems and culture that are needed to protect vulnerable people are in place and that they have referred any and all concerns organisations may have on specific cases and individuals to the relevant authorities. DFID officials are now analysing those responses with independent oversight and have shared returns with the Charity Commission. We will share key findings, trends and themes at our Safeguarding Summit on 5 March and will then conduct further in depth analysis as required. DFID has also written to more than 393 international charities which receive UK aid to set out the high standards we expect, and we will undertake a similar exercise with all multilaterals, suppliers and stakeholders.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much humanitarian aid, including earthquake relief and reconstruction, they have provided to Nepal in each of the last five years; and what impact, if any, this has had on the amount of healthcare and sustainable development funding that has been provided.
Answered by Lord Bates
As reported in “Statistics on International Development 2017” (available at www.gov.uk) the UK’s humanitarian support to Nepal was £5 million in 2012, nothing in 2013 and 2014, £35.9 million in 2015 and £13.2 million in 2016. In 2016, the UK committed a further £83 million for Post-Earthquake Reconstruction (2016 – 2022). Although disrupted by the 2015 earthquake, we have maintained our commitment to healthcare and sustainable development over the period.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what their development priorities are for Nepal over the next five years; and what support they intend to provide for reforestation and sustainable forestry.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK government’s three main development priorities are:
1) Supporting Nepal’s transition to an effective federal democracy;
2) Accelerating the rate of inclusive growth to generate jobs; and
3) Ensuring that the most vulnerable are better protected from shocks.
Forestry support will be provided through our market development programmes that will work with forestry enterprises to create jobs and our climate programmes which will support afforestation to reduce emissions and protect watersheds. In addition the UK government is a core supporter of the World Bank, Forestry Investment Programme that is developing a £18.5m forestry programme in Nepal.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which least-developed and post-conflict countries have requested assistance from the UK for information-gathering and monitoring of their Sustainable Development Goals; what support has been provided to those countries; and through which programmes.
Answered by Lord Bates
In line with the UK’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), DFID provides support for information-gathering and monitoring of the SDGs at the global and country levels.
While information on individual requests for SDG monitoring support is not held centrally, programmes and initiatives through which we support least-developed and post-conflict countries include:
Countries we support through these programmes and initiatives in monitoring their SDGs include:
Burundi, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, Myanmar, Nepal, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Tajikistan and Vietnam.
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 prospects for stable government and economic development in Nepal in the current political climate; and whether they are giving any assistance to non-governmental organisations or others in relation to local, provincial, and national elections.
Answered by Lord Bates
Nepal is at a pivotal moment. By early 2018, Nepal should have completed a set of elections bringing a new system of federal government into being, after a decade of insurgency and a similar period forming a new Constitution.
Broadly supported and inclusive elections would be a positive step towards greater stability. However challenges remain: expectations about what the new federal system can deliver will be high and not all communities are satisfied with the Constitution. Any associated political uncertainty or instability around the elections could dampen economic growth, which is currently forecast at 4% to 5% this fiscal year.
The Department for International Development is providing up to £1 million in assistance for local, provincial and federal elections in collaboration with the Embassy of Denmark and Swiss Development Cooperation. This includes support for long term national NGO and international organisation monitoring of the political and electoral environment before, during and after the elections.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the extent of civilian casualties in the civil war in Yemen; and what response they have made during 2017 to appeals from humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations providing relief in Yemen.
Answered by Lord Bates
In September 2017, the UN Human Rights Office reported that at least 5,144 civilians have been documented as killed by conflict in Yemen and at least 8,749 injured between March 2015 and August 2017.
We have increased our support for Yemen to £155 million this financial year, making the UK the second-largest donor to the UN appeal. Delivered by UN agencies and NGOs, our humanitarian assistance will provide enough food for 1.8 million people for a least a month, nutrition assistance to 1.7 million people, and clean water and sanitation to an expected 1.2 million people.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 31 March 2016 (HL7304), how much the UK has paid to (1) the African Development Fund, and (2) the International Development Association, in relation to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; and which qualifying countries have been unable to reduce their debt export ratio.
Answered by Lord Bates
In 2005, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative was supplemented by the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The MDRI allows for the cancellation of debts to multilateral organisations and has been supported by the UK since inception.
Based on information from the World Bank Debt Relief Trust Fund and MDRI records, we calculate that the UK has provided £226 million to the African Development Fund (AfDF) and £808 million to the International Development Association (IDA) for foregone payments in relation to the HIPC Initiative since1996.
In its September 2017 Statistical report, the IMF states that between 2001 and 2015, the average debt service to export ratio for countries which have completed the HIPC process fell from 17.5% to 6.2%. Only 7 of the 36 countries did not have lower ratios of debt to exports in 2015 than in 2001 - Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania and Mozambique – and all but two of these countries still have debt service to export ratios of below 10%.