Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to promote development across the Commonwealth.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Our commitment to the Commonwealth is unwavering. Many of DFID’s largest bilateral programmes are with Commonwealth countries across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. In 2015, six of the ten largest recipients of bilateral UK ODA were Commonwealth countries, with £2.11 billion allocated to 39 members.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress she is making on ensuring that Syrian refugee children in that region receive an education; and what her plans are to follow up the outcomes of the London Conference in February 2016 at the next UN General Assembly meeting.
Answered by Rory Stewart
DFID helped launch and has committed £285 million to the No Lost Generation Initiative. This will provide education opportunities for an estimated 1.4 million Syrian refugee children allowing them to catch up on lost learning time and perform well in public school examinations in the foundational subjects of Arabic, English, Maths and Science.
The Secretary of State for International Development will co-host an event at the UN General Assembly in which Conference co-hosts, top donors and refugee-hosting countries will review the overall progress against the commitments. The event aims to agree on how donors and host countries can improve and hasten education provision and quality for refugee children, and job opportunities; and review the evolving situation inside Syria, with particular reference to humanitarian access and protection.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she expects the airport at St Helena to open to commercial flights; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
A number of options are being explored. The aim is to establish scheduled services once an operator is identified and regulatory conditions are met.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department provides to support efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation; and what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of that funding.
Answered by Nick Hurd
DFID provides no bilateral aid to Brazil. As such, DFID does not provide any support to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation. DFID does provide support to stop deforestation in other developing countries, such as Indonesia, Liberia, and the Central Africa region, and this is a key priority for UK climate finance.
DFID’s relationship with Brazil focuses on working together in partnership to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development in other developing countries.