Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the International Rescue Committee's research highlighting that 52 million additional people will go hungry in fragile and developing countries in 2020, whether the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will maintain the proportion of the aid budget that is spent in fragile and conflict-affected states, currently set at 50 per cent of the Department for International Development's annual budget.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is concerned about the food security outlook in 2020. At the end of last year, 135 million people were facing acute food insecurity in 55 countries. This is set to increase this year, driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and the desert locust outbreak. Fragile and conflict affected states (FCAS) will be amongst the most impacted.
We are working with international partners to closely monitor the situation and take action. As a leading donor to the COVID-19 response and one of the biggest humanitarian actors, we are ensuring essential supplies reach those who need it the most. We have also adapted our social protection, agriculture and food security programmes to support the most vulnerable.
The UK is committed to spending 0.7% of national income on development. Our work in FCAS is a vital part of this and we have consistently spent at least 50% of our Official Development Assistance in these contexts between 2015 to 2017. Figures for 2018 will be published in due course. We continue to look at how UK aid can be deployed most effectively in our national interest including through the Integrated Review, which will report in the Autumn and inform the new department’s priorities.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she has taken to ensure that the G20 action plan to tackle the economic impact of covid-19 does not exclude (a) people in conflict settings and (b) displaced people.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government is committed to supporting people in conflict settings and displaced persons. The UK played a leading role in the development of the G20 Action Plan – ‘Supporting the Global Economy through the Covid-19 Pandemic’. This includes ensuring the Plan has a strong emphasis and clear commitments on helping the poorest countries - many of which are conflict settings with high numbers of displaced people. We will continue to work closely with G20 members and other partners to ensure robust implementation of the Plan’s commitments and to support people and countries most vulnerable to the economic impact of COVID-19.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made with the Georg Eckert Institute on the review of the textbooks included in the Palestinian Authority’s school curriculum; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Following the UK’s calls for international action, an EU sponsored independent review of Palestinian textbooks is currently underway. The EU has contracted the Georg Eckert Institute, a specialist textbook analysis centre, to lead this review.
To ensure the review could begin immediately on the signing of the contract, the UK commissioned the Georg Eckert Institute to produce an inception report to establish its methodology in advance.
We understand from the EU that an interim report covering grade 8 – 10 books will be completed in Spring 2020, with the full report covering all the books due later in the year. DFID is part of the steering committee for this review, and we will continue to engage with the EU to press for this timetable to be met.