Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on programmes designed to strengthen tax systems in the developing world in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justine Greening
We do not currently record tax programmes under a separate spend code but we have been expanding our work on tax and transparency over the Parliament. This includes the establishment of a specialist Developing Country Capacity Building Unit in HMRC, to deploy HMRC staff to provide technical expertise in support of these efforts.
Statistics on Overseas Development Assistance are published by calendar year in line with international best practice. Information on country of spend is available from the National Statistics publication ‘Statistics on International Development’ https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-2014 . Information on spend by specific project is available from the Development Tracker http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will appoint dedicated humanitarian advisers on a permanent basis in Nigeria to oversee the distribution of humanitarian funds and the work of aid agencies.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The humanitarian response needs to be led by the Government of Nigeria and supported by the UN. DFID is working closely with the UN and other international partners both in Nigeria and in the region to ensure that humanitarian needs are met.
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the restrictions recently placed on Syrian refugees seeking to enter Lebanon.
Answered by Justine Greening
The UK Government is clear that Lebanon must meet its international obligations to permit humanitarian entry to refugees fleeing conflict in Syria.
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK is taking to encourage other donors to help GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance reach its replenishment target of $7.5 billion.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK is a strong supporter of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The International Development Secretary recently confirmed the UK commitment of up to £1 billion to Gavi for 2016 to 2020, two months ahead of the pledging conference, to encourage other donors to step up and support Gavi to save over 5 million lives. I am, along with Ministerial colleagues, actively approaching Ministers in other governments to encourage them to commit further funding to ensure the full $7.5 billion is achieved.
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's standard terms of contract with suppliers.
Answered by Justine Greening
The standard terms of contract for DFID are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development/about/procurement .
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's news release of 25 June 2013, what progress has been made by the task force of legal experts working to identify legal, regulatory and social barriers that limit opportunities for women in business in the Arab world.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
This work was taken forward under the auspices of the MENA-OECD project “Supporting women as economic actors during the transition period”, which analyses to what extent legal provisions influence women’s economic participation. The project is expected to complete in May 2015, providing concrete recommendations to improve legal frameworks.
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of her Department's Official Development Assistance contribution in 2013 was a result of funding being used or allocated from future years' budgets.
Answered by Justine Greening
The Department for International Development did not utilise any future year budget to deliver its contribution to Officials Development Assistance in 2013.
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many teams of staff from UK accountancy institutions have been deployed to developing countries under the Investment Facility for Utilising Specialist Expertise funded by her Department since April 2014; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justine Greening
2 UK accountancy institutes have completed deployments in Zambia and Ethiopia since April 2014. A further 3 deployments are scheduled to take place in the first quarter of next year, with future deployments thereafter.
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, on what date Ministers and officials in her Department first met (a) Médecins sans Frontières, (b) ActionAid, (c) CARE, (d) Concern, (e) International Rescue Committee, (f) Save the Children, (g) UNICEF and (h) WorldVision to discuss Ebola.
Answered by Justine Greening
DFID Ministers and officials regularly meet representatives from Medecins sans Frontieres, ActionAid, CARE, Concern, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, UNICEF and World Vision to discuss Ebola.
Asked by: Anas Sarwar (Labour - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department provides for services for survivors of gender-based violence in the Central African Republic and efforts to empower women and girls in that country.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID is supporting a number of agencies in the Central African Republic to provide services for survivors of sexual violence, including Save the Children, International Medical Corps, Mercy Corps, ICRC and UNHCR. DFID funds are supporting health projects where the clinical needs of survivors of sexual violence can be met, and women's listening centres in order to address some of the psychological needs of survivors of gender-based violence.
Women in the Central African Republic have been particularly affected by the ongoing conflict. DFID programmes aim to address these vulnerabilities, for instance by catering for the specific needs of mothers, pregnant and breastfeeding women, supporting women's associations in resuming income-generating activities or by mobilizing communities to reduce the risks of gender-based violence.