Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial assistance they (1) have made, and (2) intend to make, to the United Nations COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK strongly supports the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP) to tackle COVID-19. Of the £744 million of UK aid pledged to support the global effort to combat COVID-19 so far, £220 million has gone to UN agencies in the GHRP, such as the World Food Programme and UN Refugee Agency, as well as humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross and international NGOs. DFID is also adapting its programmes across its country network to respond to COVID-19 and address the needs of the most vulnerable, as outlined in the GHRP.
Our support will help protect millions of people in the world’s poorest countries and ensure they can treat those who are infected. By taking action to support vulnerable countries’ health systems now, UK aid is reducing the risks of the virus becoming entrenched in certain areas and taking years to eradicate.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance and support they are providing to (1) the Chairperson of the African Union, (2) the World Health Organisation and (3) the African Union’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in coordinating a response to, and mitigating, the economic impact of COVID-19 in Africa.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Ministers and officials are in regular contact with senior World Health Organisation and African Union representatives in coordinating a response to COVID-19 in Africa.
Our partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention includes technical cooperation through the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team and Public Health England, as well as a £2 million research grant through the joint DFID–Wellcome Trust Initiative on Research for Epidemic Preparedness.
Under the African Union-UK strategic partnership, we are in close contact with the African Union on their plans to address the peace and security impacts of the pandemic and promote the continent’s economic recovery. This has included action alongside the Paris Club and G20 partners to respond to African Union calls for debt support.
The UK has provided £75 million to the World Health Organisation to coordinate and support international efforts to end the pandemic.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are supporting Kurdish authorities in Iraq to manage the civilians who have fled the fighting and are displaced in the region.
Answered by Baroness Verma
To date, the UK has provided £59.5m of humanitarian assistance across Iraq. This goes to people most in need, including those in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). We are providing funding for a Joint Crisis Centre (JCC) within the Kurdistan Regional Government as part of this support. The JCC works closely with the UN, the Government of Iraq (GOI) and the international community to provide life-saving coordination. The UK also supports Iraqi-led stabilisation activities to enable the safe return of displaced people to their homes.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure humanitarian access to civilian communities in Iraq in need of aid who are caught up in the fighting.
Answered by Baroness Verma
The UK's humanitarian programme in Iraq is delivered through the partners we judge are best able to access civilian communities caught up in a complex conflict. We work with the UN and other humanitarian actors that abide strictly by the key humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, so they can gain the acceptance of parties to the conflict and access vulnerable groups. The UK is also the leading donor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund which supports a number of national NGOs who typically have better access too hard to reach areas of Iraq.
To date, the UK has provided £59.5m of humanitarian assistance across Iraq.