Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to develop practical programmes of assistance which take into account the specific contexts and needs of vulnerable (a) religious communities and (b) other groups.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is firmly committed to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities. We work to ensure that the specific contexts and needs of vulnerable religious communities and other vulnerable groups are taken into account when practical programmes of assistance are developed.
DFID undertakes interdisciplinary analysis to ensure that religious groups are factored into all of our country programmes. The situation of minority communities is taken into account when assessing those most in need of protection and assistance. This includes when a community is being targeted or is otherwise vulnerable because of their faith. We actively consult civil society including faith-based organisations to understand how best to support vulnerable groups.
Vulnerable religious minority groups will experience crises such as COVID-19 outbreaks differently. Crises are likely to reinforce their marginalised position in society, their experience of discrimination, violence and stigma, and further limit their access to essential support and services. For this reason, guidance was circulated across DFID highlighting that inclusion must be central to our response and the specific contexts and needs of vulnerable religious communities and other vulnerable groups should be taken into account when developing practical programmes of assistance.
On 8 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State responsible for Human Rights, hosted a roundtable to hear from faith leaders and faith-based development organisations about the specific challenges minority faith communities are facing during this COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to work closely with partners to ensure that vulnerable religious communities and other vulnerable groups are being supported through our programming.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What assessment she has made of the effect of the application of the rule of law on levels of prosperity in developing countries.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We believe the rule of law underpins open and fair societies and economies, where citizens, businesses and civil society can prosper. We undertook our own assessments in 2013 and 2015; and also use the 2017 World Bank Global Investment Competitiveness report to assess the evidence.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department operates a ban the box employment policy in respect of ex-offender job applicants with unspent convictions; and how many employees of her Department have unspent convictions.
Answered by Rory Stewart
DFID supports fair chance recruitment practices and uses the Civil Service wide recruitment system to advertise all jobs. This fully complies with the ‘Ban the Box’ policy.
The Cabinet Office mandated Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) requires all new recruits to declare unspent criminal convictions. Employees have a continued obligation to inform us of any criminal convictions received during employment with DFID.
To comply with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998, we do not routinely store this information and are unable to confirm how many employees have unspent convictions.