Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to provide humanitarian assistance to religious minority communities in conflict areas.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Humanitarian assistance is provided on the basis of need, irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity. The UK is a staunch defender of the international humanitarian principles which were originated by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the most vulnerable, including those from religious minorities
The situation of minority communities is taken into account by our partners when assessing those most in need in a given humanitarian context. This includes when a community is being targeted or is otherwise vulnerable because of their faith. We actively consult faith based organisations to understand how best to support vulnerable groups.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding his Department has allocated to support (a) food aid programmes and (b) agricultural development in each country in (i) sub-Saharan Africa and (ii) Asia in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DFID gathers information on agriculture and food aid expenditure at an aggregate organisational level and does not routinely analyse these expenditures by country.
Table 1 shows DFID expenditure to support food aid programmes through the World Food Programme over the last five years. This includes both food delivery and cash-based transfers; the modality is chosen based on markets availability and needs.
Table 1 Food Aid Expenditure by DFID
Year | Total contribution (£m) |
2014 | 247,752m |
2015 | 267,184m |
2016 | 261,752m |
2017 | 455,604m |
2018 | 460,541m |
2019 (as of October 13) | 371,234m |
Table 2 shows DFID expenditure to support agricultural development through bilateral programmes and multilateral channels for the period 2013–2016. Data for later years is not currently available.
Table 2 Agricultural Development Expenditure by DFID
Year | Total contribution (£m) |
2013 | 617m |
2014 | 663m |
2015 | 705m |
2016 | 718m |
In 2018 DFID conducted a review of its commercial agriculture portfolio which analyses information about 49 current agriculture programmes, including geography, and can be found here.
DFID’s annual publication ‘Statistics on International Development’ contains detailed information on aid spending by the UK Government, including a breakdown of funding by destination country, and can be found here.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's programmes in reducing the global incidence of HIV/AIDS; and what plans he has for the future of those programmes.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK government recently announced that it will step up its efforts to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns, and children. The UK’s work on ending new HIV infections and preventing AIDS-related deaths is a part of that commitment. We recently announced a 16% increase in our contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria – £1.4 billion for this year’s replenishment. In 2018 alone, UK aid helped the Global Fund to provide 18.9 million people with antiretroviral therapy and protect nearly 700,000 babies from being infected by their mothers.
DFID’s assessment of progress on reducing global incidence of HIV/AIDS are informed by annual reviews of our programmes, which are publicly available on the DFID Development Tracker, along with reports and data produced by UNAIDS and other partners including the World Health Organisation and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of affordable micro-level insurance services in developing countries.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In support of the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 8, DFID is committed to ensuring that individuals in developing countries have access to affordable and appropriate financial services, including in insurance.
DFID supports the creation of an enabling environment for insurance services in developing countries through our funding to Financial Sector Deepening Africa who are working with local insurance regulators to adopt more effective policy frameworks and digitally-enabled product innovations.
We are also funding the World Bank’s Harnessing Innovation in Financial Inclusion programme. This seven-year programme is aimed at enabling financial inclusion on a sustainable basis, using technology to help poor people in developing countries access and use financial services.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the HIV epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK is a longstanding donor to the health sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over the past six years, we have provided better basic health services to 9.7 million people.
Through bilateral and multilateral partners such as the Global Fund, we are contributing directly to tackling HIV/AIDS through the following interventions:
(i) Provision of treatment for HIV/AIDS cases and strengthening the health system to respond to cases;
(ii) Provision of treatment for sexually transmitted infection and to survivors of sexual violence; and
(iii) Increase community awareness and case reporting of sexual violence.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on potential opportunities to help grow the economies of developing countries through free trade.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Trade is a key driver of economic growth that can trigger positive changes in a country’s economy, helping to raise incomes, create jobs and lift people out of poverty.
Our first priority is to deliver continuity in our trading arrangements with developing countries in order to minimise trade disruption as we leave the EU. Once we leave the EU, the UK will be able to offer a fully integrated trade and development package, which will encompass preferential market access for developing country partners alongside our aid spending that helps developing countries to take advantage of trading opportunities.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to provide financial support to Montserrat for the building of a new Parliament building.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Through its programme of Financial Aid to the Government of Montserrat, DFID supports the operational costs of Montserrat’s Legislature and Parliament. Ministers approved a Capital Investment programme in Autumn 2018. The Government of Montserrat has not identified a Parliamentary building as a priority for funding under either Financial Aid or the Capital Investment programme.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he has taken to support the British Overseas Territories tackle environment threats.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The annual contributions DFID makes to the national budgets of Montserrat, St Helena and Pitcairn (the Overseas Territories eligible for official development assistance (ODA)) which support the delivery of government services, includes funds for environmental protection.
DFID contributed £500,000 each year from 2012-2015 to the Darwin Plus Initiative, a challenge fund created by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and DFID to support environmental protection. Since the 2015 Spending Review, all ODA spend for Darwin Plus has been managed by DEFRA.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps he is taking to improve English literacy throughout the Commonwealth.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
DFID is tackling the learning crisis by supporting children to learn the basics of literacy, including in Commonwealth countries.
We are investing in English language learning, for example through our new skills hub, which includes Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.
We also work directly to boost the quality of teaching in English, for example through the Girls’ Education Challenge.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what country-specific direct support his Department is providing to Kenya to (a) support economic development and (b) strengthen democratic institutions in that country.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The DFID Kenya economic development portfolio comprises a range of programmes primarily focused on Trade, Agriculture, Urban Economic Development, Energy and Jobs. Specifically, these initiatives aim to support Kenya in:
In addition, the DFID Kenya Governance portfolio is working to help strengthen democratic institutions in Kenya through supporting:
In line with the UK’s new approach to Africa, our work is helping to build a stronger, more modern partnership with Kenya.