Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the level of the funding gap for the UN Global Humanitarian Response for Yemen; and what steps her Department is taking to help (a) close that gap and (b) meet the humanitarian need in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are extremely concerned about the lack of funding for the UN’s humanitarian response in Yemen, which is constraining the UN’s ability to address the devastating humanitarian situation, now being compounded by COVID-19.
In response, the UK has committed £160 million for the current financial year, the third highest pledge at the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Pledging Conference. We have already disbursed 32% of this funding and will have disbursed over 50% by the end of July.
Our new funding aims to provide support to at least 300,000 vulnerable people each month to help buy food and household essentials, treat 40,000 children for malnutrition and provide 1 million people with improved water supply and basic sanitation.
We are also actively encouraging international donors to urgently provide funding to the UN humanitarian response ahead of Yemen’s expected COVID-19 peak in late July.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of demand for humanitarian assistance in Yemen in the next six months.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is extremely concerned that Yemen’s devastating humanitarian crisis, already the world’s largest, is set to further deteriorate given the onset of COVID-19.
24 million were already in need of humanitarian assistance and COVID-19 is now spreading rapidly. UK funded modelling predicts that there are now over 1 million infections and in a worst-case scenario, there could be between 62,000 and 85,000 deaths.
Alongside the significant direct impacts of COVID-19, the virus is exacerbating existing humanitarian needs. Getting accurate data on the level of need in Yemen is very challenging, but we expect that forthcoming food analysis will project a further deterioration in the situation with even more people in need over the coming months.
At the same time, the UN's ability to respond is severely constrained by a short fall of over one billion in funding this year. The UK will continue to urge other donors on the need to urgently provide funding to the UN. Donors should pledge more and disburse quickly ahead of Yemen’s expected COVID-19 peak of late July.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of her Department’s funding to UN agencies for the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan will be allocated to (a) local, (b) national and (c) international NGOs; and what her assessment is of the speed with which that funding will reach those NGOS.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
DFID welcomes the vital role that NGOs continue to play in service delivery through multilaterals and we are pleased that, following our lobbying,UN agencies are seeking to simplify their processes for NGO partners, to ensure funding reaches them more swiftly. Given the global nature of this pandemic, as part of the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, UK funding to UN appeals is pooled with that of other donors, and is therefore not earmarked for any specific implementing partner, whether they are local, national or international NGOs. Instead, the UN’s global presence ensures it is best placed to determine needs in-country and identify the most appropriate delivery partner on a country by country basis.
Country Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) are providing flexible funding to a broad range of humanitarian partners to deliver a holistic response to COVID-19 and other needs. Approximately 64% of the total funding will be granted to NGOs, directly and through sub-grants. In 2019 CBPFs distributed 26% of these funds directly to local and national NGOs.
It is anticipated that all funding received from both the UK Government and other donors will be fully utilised by 31 December 2020, in line with the current appeal. DFID will be working with the UN and DFID’s country offices to increasingly better understand and track flows to NGOs in-country. Given the important role that NGOs and civil society organisations can play in tackling COVID-19, the implementing UN agencies have undertaken a review of their existing procedures related to partnership management and issued additional internal guidance to simplify and expedite collaboration where appropriate, in order to speed up the response.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations her Department has made to UN agencies on the provision of accurate figures on the (a) timeliness and (b) volume of funding from her Department that is reaching NGO front-line responders.
Answered by Nigel Adams
My officials continue to liaise with UN partners on all aspects of its COVID-19 response, including their work with NGOs and civil society organisations.
DFID welcomes the vital role that NGOs will continue to play in service delivery through multilaterals. UN agencies have undertaken a review of their existing procedures related to partnership management and issued additional internal guidance to simplify and expedite collaboration where appropriate. We will be working with the UN and DFID’s country offices to increasingly better understand and track eventual flows to NGOs in-country.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the eligibility of UK INGOs to receive emergency funding from the £750 million covid-19 charity support package; and if she will establish a Stabilisation Fund to provide urgent financial support to INGOs to cover their core organisational costs during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton
DFID has been in touch with HM Treasury to confirm that the £750 million support package is for UK-based charities focussing on the domestic response to COVID-19. However, civil society organisations (CSOs) are key partners for DFID in our response to COVID-19 and we have pledged new funding specifically for civil society, including UK-based CSOs, to support the response. This includes funding which will be allocated through the Rapid Response Facility, significant funding through the DFID Unilever COVID-19 Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition and £55 million allocated to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to protect and assist some of the people most vulnerable to COVID-19 and their impacts, such as those affected by armed conflict. In addition, International Non-Government Organisations will receive funding through multilateral organisations as downstream partners as part of the UK’s response. As DFID’s country network adapts programming to respond to COVID-19, country teams are considering how they can do this through partners, including through CSOs. For example, in Sudan and Nepal, preparedness and response plans will support both UN and CSO operations.
We are working flexibly with existing civil society partners to respond to the pandemic, maintain delivery of essential programmes and manage the impacts on organisations and staff. DFID is also offering support to all suppliers, including civil society, in line with the provisions of the Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Note and associated guidance for grants, which allows for relief on services and goods provided in the UK, to DFID aid programmes as a last resort and on a case-by-case basis for DFID contracts and grants. UK-based CSOs are also eligible for the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. We are not currently considering a specific civil society sector resilience fund or loans to CSOs.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her department is taking to (a) provide new and additional funding and (b) support local actors in Yemen to respond to the covid-19 pandemic with (i) public health promotion, (ii) livelihoods assistance and (iii) increasing food security.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK has already announced £744 million of aid to support the global efforts to combat the outbreak of COVID-19, including helping developing countries like Yemen to rapidly identify and care for patients with symptoms.
In response to COVID-19, we continue to support the United Nations Children Fund, who are working with Yemen’s Ministry of Health to strengthen the country’s health care capacity. We are also engaging closely with the World Food Programme and the Yemen Social Fund for Development, to bring forward funding to tackle food insecurity and increase livelihoods assistance.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic UNFPA Global Response Plan, what steps her Department is taking to (a) work with the United Nations Population Fund to secure the supply of reproductive health products and (b) ensure that women and girls in developing countries continue to have access to (i) contraception and (ii) safe abortion throughout the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Women and girls will be significantly impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. As UNFPA’s largest donor and a key advocate of the empowerment of women and girls including their sexual and reproductive health and rights, DFID is working closely with UNFPA to ensure continued access to reproductive health products and services.
Through the UK’s existing support to UNFPA, including the UNFPA Supplies programme (£425 million between 2020-2025) the UK is providing high quality family planning and essential life-saving maternal health medicines to those in need, including commodities required for post-abortion care and medical abortions where it is legal.
Recognising the needs of women and girls impacted by COVID-19, DFID has also committed £10 million of UK emergency funding to UNFPA through the Global Humanitarian Response Plan. This funding will help maintain the supply of reproductive health commodities, including contraception, to ensure continued access for women and girls. Furthermore, the funding will maintain access for women and girls to life-saving sexual and reproductive health services as well as gender-based violence services for those in need.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy announced by the Prime Minister on 26 February 2020, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department retains decision making responsibility for Official Development Assistance with a primary objective of poverty alleviation.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Prime Minister appointed separate Secretaries of State for the Foreign Office and DFID in the recent reshuffle.
The Integrated Review will be a wholesale reassessment of the UK’s foreign, defence, security and development policy. DFID is closely involved in the Review’s work. We are clear that tackling global poverty is in the UK’s interest and is the right thing to do.
A range of departments across Whitehall undertake ODA programming, with DFID support and guidance, but most UK ODA is still spent by DFID. All UK ODA is spent in accordance with the rules set by the OECD DAC and the UK’s International Development Act 2002. As outlined in the Conservative manifesto, this Government will continue to be a champion of the rules-based international system. Where the UK has considered the international aid rules to be outdated, we have led the way in working with others to push for reforms. Ensuring the rules remain fit for purpose is an ongoing commitment.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Integrated Review of foreign policy, defence, security and international development, announced by the Prime Minister on 26 February 2020, whether her Department plans to consult (a) civil society and (b) the communities that Official Development Assistance is designed to support as part of that review.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy is the deepest review of its kind since the end of the Cold War. We will utilise expertise from both inside and outside government for the review, ensuring the best minds feed into its conclusions and challenge traditional Whitehall assumptions and thinking as needed.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2020 to Question 4779 on UK Africa Investment Summit, if she will publish the amount of funding allocated from Official Development Assistance to cover the costs of the UK Africa Investment Summit 2020 by the Easter 2020 recess.
Answered by James Duddridge
It is the government’s intention to publish full details of the costs of the UK-Africa Investment Summit. They will be published as part of the Department for International Development’s annual accounts in July, 2020.