Overseas Development Assistance
Debate between Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park and Baroness Helic(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, the UK is, and remains, one of the most generous funders in the health sector, in terms of delivery of urgent care—particularly in the context of Covid—and of research and development. My colleagues and I are determined that that should remain the case and that any fallout in that area as a consequence of the cut is mitigated to the largest possible extent.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. The Government position themselves as global leaders in combating gender-based violence but have repeatedly cut funding in this area and neglected proactive programmes such as the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. What funding allocation has been made to that initiative, and to the What Works to Prevent Violence programme? Can my noble friend assure the House that, having been cut to the bone already before this year, funding for these programmes will not be reduced even further?
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, the Prime Minister has always put quality education for girls alongside climate change and the environment as top priorities, and that remains the case. This year, the FCDO will invest £400 million on girls’ education in over 25 countries, advancing our leadership position on the global target to get 40 million more girls into education by 2025. I am afraid that I am not in a position to make comments on specific programmes, but the department will be in a position to do so soon.
Belarus: Roman Protasevich
Debate between Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park and Baroness Helic(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, I apologise for the repetition, but I am not able to speculate publicly on future designations. Our previous actions demonstrate the United Kingdom’s willingness to act and act quickly. Of course, that remains, and we are considering all options.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, the outrageous kidnap and detention of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega is the latest in a string of attacks by the Government of Belarus on anyone who is in a position to challenge or scrutinise them. What steps will Her Majesty’s Government take to protect the lives and safety of Belarusian journalists in a similar position? Will the Government consider providing temporary visas, where necessary, and creating a protected persons list of leading figures who are known to be targets of the Belarusian Government, as a deterrent and a statement of intent to protect?
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
The noble Baroness raises an enormously important point in relation to free media and civil society. As co-chair, with Canada, of the Media Freedom Coalition, the UK unequivocally condemns the attacks on free media, including the targeting, harassment and detention of journalists and media workers, which we have seen a fair bit of. We have increased financial support to independent media organisations and civil society; for example, in the last financial year we provided £1.5 million, and this year a further £1.8 million. Our funding provides training for journalists and supports media workers who have been detained by the authorities. Our support includes a joint UK-Poland initiative designed to help independent media counter disinformation.
Covid-19: Syria
Debate between Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park and Baroness Helic(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, I cannot talk about individual projects; I can say that the UK remains one of the largest humanitarian donors to the Syria crisis. As I said, we have committed more than £3.7 billion since 2012. We have supported millions of people, providing food, clean water and healthcare, and our funding will continue to do so. However, in relation to specific programmes, I fear that all I can say for now is that FCDO programme managers are working with suppliers and delivery partners to work out the precise implications for every programme.
Baroness Helic (Con) [V]
My Lords, more people are displaced from Syria than from any other country in the world. Syria’s neighbours alone host more than 5 million Syrian refugees. We rely on them to do this to avoid a repeat of the mass movement of Syrian refugees that we saw in 2015 and to prevent even worse humanitarian suffering. Does my noble friend see any risk that cutting Britain’s aid to Syrian refugees this year could seriously affect the ability of Syria’s neighbours to continue bearing the burden of the Syrian refugee crisis, particularly if other countries follow Britain’s example and cut their overseas aid?
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]
My Lords, it would be a great thing if other donor countries followed our example of how much we have invested in Syria. We are investing enormous sums in an appalling humanitarian crisis. Over half the pre-war population is displaced from their homes and millions of people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. We have spent at least £1.96 billion to support the probably more than 5.5 million refugees in the wider region, addressing immediate humanitarian need, providing quality education to children, creating opportunities and providing shelter. We continue to support the Governments of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to cope with a protracted refugee presence in a whole manner of ways.