Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Chris Law, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Chris Law has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Chris Law has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Chris Law has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Recognition of Armenian Genocide Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Tim Loughton (Con)
Import of Products of Forced Labour from Xinjiang (Prohibition) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Brendan O'Hara (SNP)
Tibet (Reciprocal Access) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Tim Loughton (Con)
Arms (Exports and Remote Warfare) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Alyn Smith (SNP)
Tibet (Reciprocal Access) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Tim Loughton (Con)
Armed Forces Representative Body Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Martin Docherty-Hughes (SNP)
The Government does not believe that the creation of new protected characteristics is often the most effective means of achieving positive change and fairer treatment. We will however continue to keep the Equality Act 2010 under review and if there were ever to be a formal review of the legislation, this recommendation could be revisited as part of that.
In this context, we are unable to comment on whether or not legal advice has been received on the specific question of care experience.
At COP26, Parties recognised loss and damage is already impacting lives and livelihoods and agreed to scale-up support. The Glasgow Dialogue was established to discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
In June 2022, at the Bonn Intersessional meeting, the Glasgow Dialogue on loss and damage was launched to discuss the funding arrangements for addressing loss and damage. There will be further dialogues taking place every year to 2024, though these are not formal negotiations.This will continue to be a critical forum to discuss practical ways finance can be scaled up and effectively delivered. I regularly discuss Loss and Damage with international counterparts, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector.
The UK is committed to deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact working with Parties and Civil Society organisations to advance progress through the Glasgow Dialogue and operationalising the Santiago Network.
As the Hon. Gentleman is aware, COP26 was the first COP where a section of the “Cover Decisions” were devoted to Loss and Damage. We agreed a new “Glasgow Dialogue on Loss and Damage”. This Dialogue was formally launched in Bonn last week.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The UK Presidency recognises the disproportionate impact climate change has on women and girls. To achieve our long term climate goals, climate finance must deliver on gender equality, but there is work to be done. As highlighted in our priorities for public finance for COP26, published earlier this year, we are committed to improving the gender-responsiveness of climate finance and ensuring that women have full and meaningful participation in climate policy and action.
The UK has signed up to a range of initiatives to help to encourage gender equality, including to help women have better access to finance and enable them to participate in the transition to a green economy. For instance, our Partnership for Forests (P4F) programme has enabled greater female participation in designing payment-for-ecosystem-services systems in the Amazon that benefited the whole community, giving more involvement in the decision-making and leading to sustainable economic growth. As COP26 Presidency, we are calling on others to take similar steps.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) contract has been structured to ensure that robust Information Security including Cyber Security controls are in place. This has been a fundamental principle from the inception of the procurement. As such the procurement has built measures into the CSPS contract and supporting requirements to ensure that Information Security including Cyber Security is of paramount importance throughout all stages of transition and the contract term. This includes:
CSPS requirements including a robust set of security principles that are up to date with the latest His Majesty's Government (HMG) requirements, specifically no off-shoring of CSPS data, annual IT health checks, a monthly Security Working Group to review and investigate any issues relating to security and ongoing requirement to provide Cabinet Office Digital team, assurance against the Cyber Assessment Framework (GovAssure) standard.
Embedding within the CSPS contract is the requirement to ensure that Capita, and the administration solution, will be subject to a rigorous accreditation process prior to any CSPS data being migrated to their infrastructure.
Enhancements being made to the standard Model Service Contract Security Schedule (2.4) to ensure that the Cabinet Office has the contractual leverage to enforce proactive and reactive controls for cyber and data security.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) procurement was run in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. In accordance with this, strict criteria were applied to the evaluation of all bids submitted. In summary:
All final tender bids submitted were assessed against three criteria, each with an allocated weighting. These areas were Quality (65%), Price (25%) and Social Value (10%).
The Quality aspects of the bid evaluated included: Security, Business Systems, Core Administration, Member & Employer Engagement, Data, Fraud & Finance, Risk & Governance and Transition.
The Social Value aspects of the bid evaluated included: Tackling Economic Inequality, Fighting Climate Change, Equal Opportunity and Wellbeing.
To ensure that the evaluation of all bids was fair, proportionate and met the criteria for best value for money, strict moderation protocols were implemented to ensure that consensus was agreed on the outcomes.
As a part of UK membership to the Open Government Partnership, government and civil society work together to develop a National Action Plan every two years. Due to COVID-19 related resource constraints, not all commitment areas identified through the co-creation process could be developed in full, including Aid Transparency. However, as set out in the plan, we will look to explore this theme further as engagement continues into 2022.
If all parties agree to explore this topic following discussion at an upcoming multi-stakeholder forum, a discrete working group will be convened to develop a commitment. A timeline will then be published.
As a part of UK membership to the Open Government Partnership, government and civil society work together to develop a National Action Plan every two years. Due to COVID-19 related resource constraints, not all commitment areas identified through the co-creation process could be developed in full, including Aid Transparency. However, as set out in the plan, we will look to explore this theme further as engagement continues into 2022.
If all parties agree to explore this topic following discussion at an upcoming multi-stakeholder forum, a discrete working group will be convened to develop a commitment. A timeline will then be published.
The Cabinet Office supports the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which has overall policy oversight for the Sustainable Development Goals, on domestic coordination and implementation by embedding Sustainable Development Goals into the Planning and Performance Framework. Outcome Delivery Plans were published for all government departments on 15 July 2021. These plans highlight how each department will support the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals for the financial year 21-22. Departments continue to report on performance against these plans as part of the financial year 21-22 Annual Reports and Accounts process.
All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including with regard to international humanitarian law.
All licences are kept under careful and continual review and the Government is able to amend, suspend, refuse or revoke licences as circumstances require.
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade receives legal advice as appropriate, on all matters related to import and export licensing, as part of advice from officials.
Any legal advice received is subject to legal professional privilege and as such we do not comment on legal advice that may or may not have been sought or received.
The Government takes threats posed by digitally manipulated content extremely seriously.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce is leading the Government's response, working with DSIT and others to protect the integrity of our democratic processes.
We are working with international partners to tackle this shared challenge and to ensure that social media platforms have the right processes in place to respond. The Online Safety Act puts requirements on platforms to remove illegal mis/dis information - including where it is AI generated.
The Government expects all businesses in the UK to respect human rights and the environment throughout their operations, in line with the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises. The Modern Slavery Act requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more, to set out the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Financial penalties will be introduced through primary legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to increase compliance.
We have also introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.
The Government expects all businesses in the UK to respect human rights and the environment throughout their operations, in line with the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises. The Modern Slavery Act requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more, to set out the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Financial penalties will be introduced through primary legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to increase compliance.
We have also introduced world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.
If a heat network customer has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide a £400 support for energy bills. Eligibility, timescales and method of delivery will be announced shortly.
If a heat network customer has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide a £400 support for energy bills. Eligibility and timescales will be announced shortly.
If a household on a communal heating system has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, they may be eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. Further details have been recently announced on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vital-help-with-energy-bills-on-the-way-for-millions-more-homes-across-great-britain-and-northern-ireland.
BEIS ODA Funds must act in compliance with the International Development Act (IDA) 2002. The primary purpose of the IDA requires that spend will help reduce poverty overseas. In parallel to ensuring my Department’s ODA spend is compatible with the IDA, the spend must be in line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) rules on ODA. BEIS officials work in close contact with counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to ensure that all of our ODA spending meets this primary purpose requirement, and is accurately accounted for through the annual Statistics on International Development (SID) reporting process (published every April on gov.uk). All programmes employ relevant and robust mechanisms through programme design and implementation to ensure their primary development purpose is met.
All Government Departments with responsibility for spending Official Development Assistance took part in a cross-government process, led by my Rt. Hon. Friend the First Secretary of State, to review in detail how ODA is allocated between key priorities - recognising the difficult economic circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 2nd December last year, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Chair of the International Development Committee setting out the Strategic Framework for UK ODA, which details the UK’s foreign aid spending priorities. In line with these priorities, he confirmed each Department’s total ODA settlement on 26th January.
We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners to manage the Financial Year 2021/22 ODA allocations. UKRI have written to their award holders to set out the process for reviewing ODA funding next year, and to explore options for individual programmes. (Full details have been published on the UKRI website). Ongoing GCRF and Newton Fund programme activity will be prioritised according to the Strategic Framework for UK ODA priorities.
This winter (2020/21), around 1 million Pension Credit Guarantee Credit recipients will receive the rebate automatically on their energy bills, as a result of data matching between the Department for Work and Pensions and participating energy suppliers. A further 200,000 low income pensioners, who meet some of the eligibility criteria, will receive a letter from Government encouraging them to claim via a dedicated helpline if they meet the remaining criteria. Of these, over 45,000 have claimed a rebate through calling the helpline so far.
To make sure that all eligible pensioners claim the support to which they are rightly entitled, in 2020 Government ran a nationwide 12-week campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit, and launched a new online claim service, which improves access.
In addition to the Core Group, over 1.1 million vulnerable and low income households will also receive a Warm Home Discount rebate through the Broader Group, which is administered by energy suppliers.
To help vulnerable energy customers during the pandemic, Government negotiated a Voluntary Agreement with energy suppliers, to support customers impacted by COVID-19 who may be struggling with their energy bills and help to keep them on supply. Additionally, the Energy Price Cap has continued to protect around 15 million households on default and prepayment meter tariffs. Government also operates other schemes, such as the Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payment, which help vulnerable households with their winter energy costs.
Following the joint consultation paper, the Department held two calls for evidence relating to the protection of small business when buying goods and services. As a result, it has decided not to intervene in the contractual relations agreed between businesses outside of certain sectors such as groceries and pubs. The second call for evidence led to the establishment of the Small Business Commissioner by the Department.
The UK is fully committed to implementing and facilitating the implementation of the enhanced UNFCCC Gender Action Plan agreed at COP25, both domestically and internationally. We welcome the steps taken so far by Parties, non-Party stakeholders and the UNFCCC Secretariat to centre gender equality in climate action. We continue to call on all countries to implement the Gender Action Plan and to develop gender-responsive climate policies, plans, strategies and actions.
We recognise the impact of climate change on women and girls, in particular those from the global south or indigenous communities. The UK is committed to providing sufficient space for key constituencies, including women and girls from these communities, to participate and express their views. For example, through the UK-funded Climate Ambition Support Alliance, we are supporting the ECBI (European Capacity Building Initiative) ‘Women Negotiator Mentoring Initiative.’ This initiative will help to level the playing field in international climate negotiations, not only in terms of developed and developing countries, but also between men and women.
More broadly, the UK is committed to championing diversity and inclusivity throughout our COP26 Presidency. Our network of leaders, diplomatic representatives and expert voices reflect this in all of their work. We are also working with a diverse group of "Friends of COP" - leading world figures who are sharing their expertise for a successful summit.
Through our Presidency of COP26, we will support all to be active agents of change in addressing climate and environment issues. We will champion women, indigenous people and other key groups roles as decision-makers, educators and climate leaders in order to deliver effective, long-term solutions to climate change. For example, through the UK-funded Climate Ambition Support Alliance, we are supporting the ECBI (European Capacity Building Initiative) ‘Women Negotiator Mentoring Initiative.’ This initiative will help to level the playing field in international climate negotiations, not only in terms of developed and developing countries, but also between men and women.
The UK is also fully committed to implementing and facilitating the implementation of the Gender Action Plan agreed at COP25, both domestically and internationally. We recognise that the Gender Action Plan is a valuable tool in addressing the differentiated impacts of climate change and continue to call on all countries to develop gender-responsive climate policies, plans, strategies and actions.
The Government defines key workers as those whose work are critical to the Coronavirus response. This includes those who work in the health and social care sectors, as well as in education and childcare, transport, food and delivery, utilities, communications, public safety, and the Government.
To assist retention, schools will provide essential support to the most vulnerable children and the children of those identified as key workers.
In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care is enhancing the capacity and flexible deployment of staff across essential services, for example:
By protecting the employment rights of NHS volunteers.
The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the UK’s games sector. As part of a wider package to support the growth of the creative industries, the government has committed to an £8 million expansion of the UK Games Fund. The UK Games Fund will continue to provide valuable support to early-stage games development and talented graduates throughout the UK. In addition, the Video Games Tax Relief continues to make the UK one of the leading destinations in the world for making video games.
We are not seeking to take forward a proposal for a new Video Games Investment Fund. We welcome continued discussions with the games industry on how best to support a thriving UK games sector.
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
In developing the Care Experience chapter of Stable Homes: Built on Love, the department held two roundtable discussions with organisations representing the care sector. The organisations were:
To enable the most robust and constructive exchange of views possible, these conversations were held in confidence.
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
In developing the Care Experience chapter of Stable Homes: Built on Love, the department held two roundtable discussions with organisations representing the care sector. The organisations were:
To enable the most robust and constructive exchange of views possible, these conversations were held in confidence.
The department has sought the views and advice from a range of stakeholders, including the National Implementation Board, local authorities, sector organisations and sector charities in developing ‘Stable Homes: Built on Love’, the government’s implementation strategy and consultation for reforming children’s social care. The department has also sought the views of care-experienced young people in developing our response. We will continue to engage during and after the consultation.
On the Care Experience chapter, as well as regular informal engagement with key stakeholders, the department held two roundtable discussions with around 20 organisations representing the care sector. The department participated in over 10 discussion sessions facilitated by charities with care-experienced children and young people. Some of these conversations included discussion of the review’s recommendation to make care experience a protected characteristic. The department’s engagement has not shown a consensus for making care experience a protected characteristic, as some fear it would add to the stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced people.
To tackle stigma and discrimination, the department is prioritising extending strengthened corporate parenting responsibilities to all government departments and relevant public bodies. By amending the corporate parenting principles, we will ensure that policies and services that affect care-experienced young people take account of the challenges they face, remove barriers, and provide opportunities for them to thrive.
The department will hold a public consultation on the detail of these proposals in late 2023.
The department has sought the views and advice from a range of stakeholders, including the National Implementation Board, local authorities, sector organisations and sector charities in developing ‘Stable Homes: Built on Love’, the government’s implementation strategy and consultation for reforming children’s social care. The department has also sought the views of care-experienced young people in developing our response. We will continue to engage during and after the consultation.
On the Care Experience chapter, as well as regular informal engagement with key stakeholders, the department held two roundtable discussions with around 20 organisations representing the care sector. The department participated in over 10 discussion sessions facilitated by charities with care-experienced children and young people. Some of these conversations included discussion of the review’s recommendation to make care experience a protected characteristic. The department’s engagement has not shown a consensus for making care experience a protected characteristic, as some fear it would add to the stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced people.
To tackle stigma and discrimination, the department is prioritising extending strengthened corporate parenting responsibilities to all government departments and relevant public bodies. By amending the corporate parenting principles, we will ensure that policies and services that affect care-experienced young people take account of the challenges they face, remove barriers, and provide opportunities for them to thrive.
The department will hold a public consultation on the detail of these proposals in late 2023.
The department has sought the views and advice from a range of stakeholders, including the National Implementation Board, local authorities, sector organisations and sector charities in developing ‘Stable Homes: Built on Love’, the government’s implementation strategy and consultation for reforming children’s social care. The department has also sought the views of care-experienced young people in developing our response. We will continue to engage during and after the consultation.
On the Care Experience chapter, as well as regular informal engagement with key stakeholders, the department held two roundtable discussions with around 20 organisations representing the care sector. The department participated in over 10 discussion sessions facilitated by charities with care-experienced children and young people. Some of these conversations included discussion of the review’s recommendation to make care experience a protected characteristic. The department’s engagement has not shown a consensus for making care experience a protected characteristic, as some fear it would add to the stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced people.
To tackle stigma and discrimination, the department is prioritising extending strengthened corporate parenting responsibilities to all government departments and relevant public bodies. By amending the corporate parenting principles, we will ensure that policies and services that affect care-experienced young people take account of the challenges they face, remove barriers, and provide opportunities for them to thrive.
The department will hold a public consultation on the detail of these proposals in late 2023.
Yemen remains a key priority for the UK Government. The UK’s £160 million pledge made at the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Pledging Conference on June 2nd was the third largest by any country and brings our total commitment to Yemen to nearly £1 billion since the conflict started in 2015. The UK remains committed to honouring this pledge and supporting various multilateral agencies operating in Yemen.
Our funding will help UN agencies provide support to at least 300,000 vulnerable people each month to help them buy food and household essentials, treat 40,000 children for malnutrition and provide 1 million people with improved water supply and basic sanitation.
The UK is committed to spending 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance, which is enshrined in law. This means the aid budget increases when the UK economy grows and decreases if the economy shrinks.
Given the expected fall in GNI this year, aid spending is under review across all departments. No decision has been taken and we are considering the full range of our work.
The 2020 Aid Transparency Index was launched on 24 June and DFID remains ‘very good’ and the 2nd best bilateral donor, and the FCO has improved performance, moving into the ‘fair’ category for the first time and scoring above average for the non-specialised ministries (foreign/defence/trade) assessed. DFID and FCO both lost points because they were unable to provide sufficiently forward-looking budget forecasts due to the limitations of the current Spending Review settlement, which will be addressed in future assessments.
The UK is globally recognised for its expertise and transparency in aid spending. The new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will continue to benefit from that expert knowledge as it delivers aid programmes to some of the world’s poorest people.
We are committed to improving transparency of aid globally and maintaining our high standards for overseas spending.?We will continue to be accountable to parliament and to taxpayers for how we spend UK aid, and to mandate our partners to be transparent.
All government departments are working through how their plans need to change in light of the risk of a recession this year. No decision has been taken, but we are considering the full range of our work. It is absolutely in Britain’s interest to use ODA to make the world a healthier, safer and more prosperous place, either through tackling coronavirus, providing humanitarian aid in crises or helping girls get a quality education.
Ensuring 12 years of quality education for all girls remains a UK priority. As the effects of the COVID-19 crisis play out, the impact on girls’ education is becoming increasingly clear. The UK’s response to the pandemic aims to tackle the preventative measures to girls returning to education by mitigating short term risks by focussing on safety, nutrition, wellbeing and learning whilst schools are closed; and supporting countries to protect and maintain education budgets in the longer term.
DFID is adapting its bilateral education programmes in 18 countries. The Global Partnership for Education, to which the UK is the largest donor, is flexing over £200 million to support education sector stability in response to the pandemic. The UK has also announced £20 million for UNICEF’s crisis appeal, which includes education, and a further £5 million to the Education Cannot Wait fund to support emergency education in fragile contexts.
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 and civil society organisations 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.
We are maximising the UK’s efforts to tackle COVID-19 by adapting and scaling up existing programmes where they can respond to the crisis. In country, we are working quickly to pivot our programming to support the COVID-19 response, reinforcing health, humanitarian, social protection or economic support programmes.
The UK Government has a zero-tolerance policy to the diversion of UK aid funds and seeks to minimise the risks, to ensure our life-saving assistance (such as food, clean water and medical support) reaches those vulnerable Yemenis who need it most.
We do this by only channelling our support through organisations with a strong record of delivering and monitoring assistance, such as UN agencies and international NGOs. We also subject our partners to rigorous due diligence processes and regular reviews (including independent third-party verification of delivery).
We also continue to actively call on the Houthis and all parties to the conflict to immediately end all restrictions on aid agencies and comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 by allowing safe, rapid, and unhindered access for the humanitarian response and commercial supplies.
To date, the UK has committed £744 million of UK Aid to support global efforts to combat COVID-19. We are working with all our international partners to ensure aid is effectively distributed to vulnerable countries.
The UK is a key contributor to the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP), which focuses on humanitarian access, through securing the continuity of the supply chains for essential commodities and services, and supporting the most vulnerable, including protecting and assisting refugees, Internally Displaced Peoples, migrants and host communities.
We are co-leading work with Italy through the G7 to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable countries. A large part of this work is to ensure unhindered humanitarian access for vulnerable populations, and to make sure the global response is prioritising the most in need.
We are also using diplomatic channels to ensure that international humanitarian law and global commitments regarding the rights and protection of refugees and access to asylum are upheld in this crisis.
The UK is extremely concerned that Houthi restrictions and interference in the delivery of humanitarian assistance is now forcing humanitarian agencies, such as the World Food Programme, to scale back their assistance in northern Yemen. In line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2451, we are calling on all parties to facilitate unhindered access for humanitarian actors and agencies and ensure that humanitarian workers are able to conduct their work safely and without harm.
Ministers and officials continue to engage closely with other donors and humanitarian agencies to ensure a coordinated international approach on how we adjust the way we all give aid, to ensure it gets to those in need.
As reported by the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, in his UN Security Council briefing of Monday 16 April, UN agencies estimate that they need more than $900 million to enable them to continue their operations in Yemen until July.
On Thursday 23 April, DFID’s acting Permanent Secretary discussed ways of improving humanitarian funding levels in Yemen with Mark Lowcock.
The Secretary of State also discussed Yemen funding with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme on Friday 17 April and UK officials remain in close contact with other major donors such as Saudi Arabia, the US and Germany.
The UK has, so far, pledged £744 million of UK aid to help end the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as possible. This includes a package of £200 million to support UK charities and international organisations to help prevent infections and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in developing countries, including maintaining essential health services.
DFID recognises strong and resilient health systems are vital to national and global health security and helping to protect the world from health threats, including COVID-19, and to maintaining the delivery of essential health services.
Through our multilateral partnerships, and our regional and national programmes, we support developing countries to make their health systems stronger and more resilient, and prepared to detect, prevent and respond to health threats, such as COVID-19.
There must be an explicit and visible consideration of, and support to, women and girls across DFID’s response to COVID-19. DFID has committed an additional £10 million to the United Nation’s Population Fund COVID-19 response to strengthen health systems to deliver sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services, support supply chains for lifesaving commodities and deliver community engagement activities. We also recently committed £20 million to the UN Children’s Fund to help keep children in developing countries safe and learning throughout the crisis. DFID has also launched a call for proposals under our Rapid Response Facility, which required all projects to mainstream gender, protection and safeguarding.
DFID is flexing existing programmes to ensure we can better respond to the specific impacts women and girls are facing as a result of COVID-19. For example, the Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme is our flagship women’s sexual and reproductive health programme and provides lifesaving services to women in 27 countries around the world. WISH is finding innovative ways to keep delivering desperately-needed services and supplies during this pandemic, while also supporting efforts to stop the spread of the disease.
As Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s largest donor, the UK fully supports the Gavi 5.0 strategy for 2021-2015 to ‘leave no one behind with immunisation’. The UK has committed £1.65 billion, the equivalent of £330 million per year, to support Gavi’s goal to immunise a further 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives.
The UK is hosting the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June, which will bring countries together to raise the funds required to save millions of lives. The Gavi replenishment period is vital to raise at least $7.4 billion to fund Gavi’s investment case for its next five years of work (2021-2025).
Gavi’s strategy for the next five years was approved by the Gavi Board in June 2019, with a focus on equity and increasing vaccination coverage to unreached and under-immunised children. Gavi is adapting its strategy to support countries’ responses to the impacts of COVID-19 on routine immunisation.
The Secretary of State announced the UK’s support to Gavi in Parliament on Wednesday 29 April. Our pledge of £1.65 billion to Gavi over the next five years. will immunise up to 75 million children against vaccine preventable diseases, strengthen health systems, build resilience against coronavirus and other diseases and support global access to any future coronavirus vaccine.