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Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 10 Jun 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa: Water and Sanitation

Speech Link

View all Lord Polak (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Sub-Saharan Africa: Water and Sanitation

Written Question
Palestinians: Teachers
Tuesday 31st March 2020

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of teacher training programmes supported by UK aid in the Palestinian Territories.

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

DFID supports teacher training in the Occupied Palestinian Territories through the UK’s ‘Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning Programme’, which is co-funded by DFID and the British Council. The programme focuses on core and transferable skills, and global citizenship.

The content is centrally designed by UK-based experts and delivered on the ground across the world by trainers who are validated and quality assured by the British Council. The British Council undertakes quality assurance visits to ensure the content delivered is appropriate and high quality. The British Council also monitors feedback from participants and has commissioned an independent evaluation of the effectiveness and quality of the training.


Written Question
Palestinians: Curriculum
Tuesday 31st March 2020

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether UK aid is distributed to employees of the Palestinian Ministry of Education’s Curriculum Development Centre.

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

Our money to support education and health provision in the West Bank goes into a special, dedicated bank account and is only paid to individuals vetted through the Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE) to ensure they have no connections to any proscribed groups and are still in employment.

Employees of the Palestinian Ministry of Education’s Curriculum Development Centre are included on the PEGASE list, alongside teachers and other public sector education professionals.

Each payment is independently audited to ensure it has been transferred to the declared bank account of the intended recipient. This rigorous process means we are confident no UK aid is being diverted.


Written Question
Palestinians: Textbooks
Tuesday 31st March 2020

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which textbooks are used by the teachers in the Palestinian Territories that are funded by UK aid.

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

The UK does not fund textbooks in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Our education funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA) contributes to the salaries of carefully vetted teachers. Teachers in PA schools teach the Palestinian curriculum. Following allegations of incitement in the PA’s school textbooks, the UK secured agreement from our European partners to lead an independent review of the textbooks which is underway. We expect interim findings in Spring 2020 and full findings later in the year.


Written Question
UNRWA
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is rated by the Publish What You Find AID transparency index.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
UNRWA
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's mandate; and whether that mandate complies with the Department for International Development's anti-corruption strategies.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
UNRWA
Tuesday 16th April 2019

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the United States about new models and approaches to ensure the long-term viability of the work currently undertaken by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

Answered by Lord Bates

The UK maintains a regular dialogue with the US on a range of Middle East issues, and has discussed UNRWA’s long term financial viability in light of the US decision to withdraw their funding.


Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 28 Feb 2019
Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2019

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View all Lord Polak (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2019

Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 19 Nov 2018
United Nations Relief and Works Agency

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View all Lord Polak (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: United Nations Relief and Works Agency

Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 19 Nov 2018
United Nations Relief and Works Agency

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View all Lord Polak (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: United Nations Relief and Works Agency