Nutrition for Growth Summit
Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Baroness Jenkin of Kennington(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that I have read the documents in advance of this Question. Indeed, the recommendations made by ICAN are very much part of our thinking as we look to complete the spending review. I cannot give a specific commitment, but I recognise the work of the noble Lord and my right honourable friend David Mundell in this respect. We will work very constructively to ensure that we remain committed to this important priority.
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)
My Lords, of course it is not only the UK Government whose job it is to end global malnutrition; others have roles to play, and we will be effective only if we work in partnership with like-minded allies. Which Governments are the FCDO speaking to ahead of the summit to ensure that our strategy is aligned with that of our closest allies, in particular the United States?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, my noble friend raises a very important point. I assure her that we are talking to all our allies. Indeed, this has been part of our feature—talking about tackling, for example, famine, as part as our leadership under the G7 agenda. I hope to travel to the United States shortly to meet some of the new members of the State Department team and this will certainly feature in those discussions as well.
Overseas Development Assistance: Budget
Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Baroness Jenkin of Kennington(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, we are working very closely with the VSO. We are proud that the FCDO and the VSO were able to work together to pivot over 80% of programme funding to the pandemic response. On managing the current budgets, I assure the noble Baroness that we are working very closely with the VSO to ensure that any impacts of any reduction in funding are managed. I stress that this is a settlement for this year; we are looking at how we can best manage the impact on programmes for the medium and longer term directly with the VSO.
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)
My Lords, given the OBR forecast that the economy will return to pre- pandemic levels in Q2 next year, why will the Government not commit to returning to 0.7% at that point?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, my noble friend speaks with great insight and expertise on this subject. I note very carefully what she has said. The underlying base on which we will return to 0.7%—again, the reduction to 0.5% is temporary—is, as my noble friend suggests, the prevailing economic conditions and fiscal conditions at that time. I note what she has said. We and our colleagues in the Treasury will keep a very firm eye on that.
Overseas Development Assistance
Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Baroness Jenkin of Kennington
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The issue of Burundi is an important one, and I acknowledge the efforts that the Burundi Government have made. The review that was done on the allocation of bilateral aid resulted in the decision to which the noble Lord just referred. Nevertheless, I assure him that DfID continues to support Burundi through a range of other channels. For example, DfID contributes to multilateral efforts in Burundi by providing 15% of EU funding and more than 14% of World Bank funding. DfID is committed to development in Burundi and will continue to support it through efforts with international organisations.
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington
My Lords, can my noble friend say what DfID is doing to support developing countries in improving their capacity to collect taxes?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
My noble friend raises a very important point. In all DfID funding, this concern has been expressed across the board, by both the previous Government and the current Government. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has taken up this issue personally. Indeed, in his golden thread, he sees the rule of law and good governance within countries as essential features of continuing support. Indeed, we are looking at countries such as Pakistan, where tax collection is very low, to ensure that tax levels and collection rates are improved domestically.