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Written Question
Iran: Coronavirus
Thursday 30th April 2020

Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they have provided to support the government of Iran to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 upon its citizens.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The E3 (the UK, France and Germany) have provided a EUR 5 million package of financial and material assistance to Iran via the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN bodies to help with the response.


Written Question
Developing Countries: Politics and Government
Wednesday 11th March 2015

Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK is taking to promote good governance and anti-corruption initiatives in (a) Jordan, (b) Gaza and the West Bank, (c) Turkey, (d) Nigeria, (e) Tunisia and (f) Mali.

Answered by Desmond Swayne

a) The UK is supporting political and economic reform in Jordan through the Arab Partnership, including support to committees in parliament to improve the quality of legislation and support improvements to parliamentary procedures. We are also working with different groups across Jordanian governorates to build concepts of good governance, including forming counsels from the local communities that work to monitor the performance of local governance institutions against its roles and responsibilities.

b) The UK is helping the Palestinian Authority (PA) to build strong institutions and deliver essential services. Our support is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding which reaffirms the PA’s commitment to non-violence and a negotiated two-state solution, as well as its respect for human rights and delivering clean and accountable governance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We are also helping deliver institutional reform and improve public financial management, and working with civil society to help citizens become more effective at holding the PA to account.

c) DFID does not does not have any anti-corruption or good governance programmes in Turkey.

d) The UK promotes good governance and anti-corruption in Nigeria through a range of technical assistance programmes which support democratisation, better use of Nigerian resources, improved transparency in the oil sector, increased capacity of civil society and more robust enforcement of anti-corruption legislation. No UK aid money goes directly to the Government of Nigeria to ward against corruption.

e) Since the revolution, UK funded programmes in Tunisia have supported the development and application of a code of conduct for public servants, have strengthened risk management, audit practices and the development of a whistle blowing framework, and have enhanced transparent public procurement. The UK has also supported the development of an anti-corruption strategy and strengthened the role of the National Anti-Corruption Agency.

f) DFID and FCO have developed a cross-governmental strategy to support effective, prioritised and coordinated action at the international and multilateral level to strengthen governance in Mali and the wider Sahel region. Our objective is to ensure that Sahelian States, including Mali, have governments that are politically inclusive, able to deliver basic services, enable growing prosperity and cooperate regionally.


Written Question
Developing Countries: Politics and Government
Wednesday 11th March 2015

Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what work her Department's Governance and Fragile States department has undertaken to promote better governance in fragile and conflict-affected states.

Answered by Desmond Swayne

The Prime Minister has consistently said that there is a Golden Thread of conditions that enables open economies and open societies to thrive: the rule of law, the absence of conflict, the absence of corruption, the presence of strong property rights and institutions. In fragile and conflict-affected states, DFID funds programmes on peace, governance and growth, working on issues such as preventing conflict, fighting corruption, improving the enabling environment for businesses, reducing barriers to trade, and giving women more voice in political processes. DFID is also working closely with other UK Government departments to ensure a whole of government approach to international peace and security. By January 2015, DFID’s programmes globally supported millions of women and men to vote in thirteen countries; supported 81 million people to have choice and control over their own development and to hold decision-makers to account; improved access to security and justice for 10 million women and girls; and helped 5.5 million people secure their land and property rights.


Written Question
Overseas Aid
Friday 28th November 2014

Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answers of 21 October 2014 to Questions 210509 and 23 October 2014 to Question 211186, what measures are in place for oversight of her Department's aid allocation.

Answered by Desmond Swayne

DFID requires partners to set key targets to measure the performance of their programmes and report achievements at regular intervals throughout the year. Partners’ ability to monitor their programming is of critical importance to DFID and DFID makes funding available for these systems. In areas accessible to DFID (currently most of Turkey, and Jordan, and parts of Iraq and Lebanon) DFID humanitarian advisers conduct field visits to observe partner programming on the ground and fact check reporting. In areas that are inaccessible to DFID (namely inside Syria) DFID conducts a more rigorous assessment of partner monitoring systems and has frequent engagement with these partners to assess performance. In 2015 DFID plans to commission an independent monitoring facility that will visit programmes in areas inaccessible to DFID, expanding our capacity to monitor and assess the performance of our programmes.