Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any financial support they provide to assist the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Gaza and the West Bank is spent as intended.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has pledged £764 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19. We?have?delivered?additional vital support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by providing?£840,000?to WHO and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of?medical equipment,?treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity.
All UK funding to the OPTs is subject to robust controls against fraud and the diversion of aid, and DFID’s funding agreements also commit partners to understand and comply with UK and international counter terrorism legislation.?We maintain regular dialogue with all implementing partners to ensure UK funding is spent as intended.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the accuracy of the report on the internal ethics of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, produced in 2018, and (2) the suspension of aid by Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands to that Agency; and what steps they are taking in the light of the allegations of nepotism, bullying and corruption in that Agency.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
DFID is not in a position to comment on the accuracy of the internal ethics report referred to. However, we are concerned by the allegations of misconduct and mismanagement at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which are currently being investigated by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services under the authority of the UN Secretary General. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa wrote to the UN Deputy Secretary General in August urging the UN to conduct a thorough, rigorous and speedy investigation and to act quickly on its recommendations. It would be inappropriate to comment on the allegations ahead of that process reaching a conclusion.
We note that a small number of donors have suspended funding to UNRWA while the investigation is ongoing (representing approximately 0.01% of UNRWA’s 2019 budget). The UK has, like the substantial majority of donors, and all major donors, maintained our funding.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency has published data to the International Aid Transparency Index in order to inform their review of that Agency’s performance.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
DFID’s Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) requires it to apply transparency standards in line with the UK Aid Transparency Guarantee and the International Aid Transparency Initiative for all funding received from DFID. All of UNRWA’s annual reports are published on UNRWA’s website. The Aid Transparency Index is an initiative run by the independent organisation ‘Publish What you Fund’ which selects aid organisations for inclusion based upon its own criteria. The Government has not pressed Publish What you Fund to include UNRWA in its index as we respect its independence and do not seek to influence the index’s coverage.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is in line with their objective to make the UK international aid process transparent and accountable; and what discussions they have had with UNRWA about transparency and accountability.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
DFID’s Memorandum of Understanding with UNRWA requires it to apply transparency standards in line with the UK Aid Transparency Guarantee and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) for all funding received from DFID. DFID officials last discussed this with UNRWA as part of our annual review cycle in June 2019 and assessed that UNRWA’s work was in line with the UK’s objective to make the international aid process transparent and accountable.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 commitment to build inclusive, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.
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.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is aligned with their Strategic Vision for Gender Equality, published in March 2018; and whether it is working for the empowerment and equality of women and girls.
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.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 23 November (HL11378), whether they have made any assessment as to whether the non-publication of the audit reports relating to UK direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority is compatible with provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Palestinian National Authority and the Government signed on 7 July 2011 and extended on 22 December 2014 relating to the provision of effective public oversight of budget formulation and other key areas.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Memorandum of Understanding included a commitment to the UK’s Partnership Principles. One of those Principles was about improving domestic accountability through oversight mechanisms for Palestinian citizens to scrutinise budget formulation and implementation. The Principle did not relate to publishing audits of UK contributions. In line with Section 27 of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), we withheld the audit reports of the Palestinian Authority (PA) from 2010 – 2015.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 20 June 2016 (HL413), whether they will make available the independent audits relating to UK direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Lord Bates
In line with Section 27 of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), we withheld the audit reports of the Palestinian Authority (PA) from 2010 - 2015, in order to protect delivery of our poverty focused objectives.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 20 June 2016 (HL413), what is their assessment of (1) the adequacy of independent audits relating to UK direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, and (2) the regular reviews of those audits, following of PwC’s response to a complaint submitted to the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises that the narrow scope of its auditing work did not require it to consider the distribution of funds to individuals implicated as terrorists.
Answered by Lord Bates
UK officials safeguard and continuously monitor the expenditure of UK aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. UK aid is channelled through the EU Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE). Our money goes into a special, dedicated bank account before being paid to individuals who have been vetted in advance. Independent auditors then check that the money paid out of the UK dedicated bank account only goes to these vetted individuals after every disbursement. We remain confident that these measures enable us to adequately monitor and evaluate our support to the Palestinian Authority.
The UK National Contact Point has published its Initial Assessment of the complaint made by a UK NGO. This concluded that the issues raised in the complaint merit further examination. The Initial Assessment is not an indication of any wrongdoing by the respondent. The UK National Contact Point is now working with both parties to facilitate mediation on the issues raised. In line with its procedures, the NCP will not be expected to publish further information on the case until this stage of the process is complete and a Final Statement has been prepared.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Palestine regarding the payment of salaries from international aid to convicted terrorists and their families.
Answered by Lord Bates
No UK aid is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners or their families. UK financial assistance to the PA is only used to help to pay the salaries of health and education public servants in the West Bank. Only named public servants - including nurses, doctors and teachers – from a pre-approved EU list are eligible.