Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support and (b) help ensure provision of (i) medicines and (ii) other supplies to persecuted Christian communities during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is using our foreign aid budget and British expertise to stop the spread of the global coronavirus outbreak, find a vaccine and save lives around the world, including in the UK. So far £764 million of UK aid has been pledged to help end this pandemic as quickly as possible.
As a leading donor to the COVID-19 global response and one of the biggest humanitarian donors globally, we are working with our partners to ensure essential commodities and services are provided to those who need it the most, in line with international humanitarian principles. Through our support to the UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan, we have particularly advocated to ensure assistance reaches the most marginalised and vulnerable people, including religious minorities, who will be the worst affected by this crisis.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure that Official Development Assistance provided to the Palestinian Authority does not end up funding terrorist activities.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
DFID has robust measures in place to ensure UK Aid reaches its intended beneficiaries. UK aid to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA’s) health and education sectors 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. The bank account is only used for UK aid. Independent auditors check that the money paid out from the special bank account only went to the vetted individuals after every disbursement.
UK’s financial aid to support the PA’s water and energy sectors will be channelled through The World Bank Partnership for Infrastructure Development in the West Bank and Gaza Multi Donor Trust Fund. UK aid will flow from the trust fund to dedicated accounts that will be managed by the PA in accordance with rules established by the World Bank, and be subject to the review of external financial auditors to provide assurance that the expenditure of funds was only on agreed programme activities.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much Official Development Assistance her Department has allocated to South Africa in each of the last two years; and how much (ODA) her Department plans to allocate to that country in the next two years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
DFID’s bilateral development programme in South Africa ended in 2015. Since that time DFID has focused on providing some limited technical assistance and establishing a regional and global development partnership with South Africa. The development programmes focus on peace and security and climate change.
DFID spent £3.6 million and £4.8 million on such support in 2017 and 2018 respectively, with £5.4 million allocated for 2019/20. Plans for 2020/21 have not been finalised.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which countries her Department has stopped allocating Official Development Assistance to in the last 12 months.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
UK aid aims to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and the Government's objectives as set out in the 2015 UK Aid Strategy. The latest published statistics for UK aid spend (Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid spend 2017) show the Department for International Development did not cease to spend Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2017 in any country which received ODA in the previous year (2016). Country-specific data for 2018 will be published in the autumn.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps she is taking to promote trade for development.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
My Department is working with the Department for International Trade to ensure our trade policy benefits developing countries as well as the UK. We aim to deliver continuity in our trading arrangements with developing countries as we leave the EU, provide support to help countries trade, and explore options to expand our relationships in the future.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is taking steps to assist with the mapping and disposal of World War Two-era mines in the Tobruk and El-Alamein regions; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The package of UK support to Libya announced in August 2017 includes £1 million this year to fund demining training and education across the country and increase the capacity of Libyan authorities to deal with explosive hazards. The UK has supported demining in Egypt since 2006 through multilateral funding along with other donors including Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the US. The projects have funded clearance of 130,446 acres of land around El Alamein, provision of artificial limbs for 479 land mine victims, and three mine risk education campaigns benefiting 160,000 individuals. The UK has previously provided maps of minefield locations to the Egyptian authorities. The UK currently has no programmes specifically targeting WWII ordnance in the Tobruk or El-Alamein regions.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is taking steps to assist with the mapping and disposal of World War Two-era mines in the Tobruk and El-Alamein regions; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The package of UK support to Libya announced in August 2017 includes £1 million this year to fund demining training and education across the country and increase the capacity of Libyan authorities to deal with explosive hazards. The UK has supported demining in Egypt since 2006 through multilateral funding along with other donors including Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the US. The projects have funded clearance of 130,446 acres of land around El Alamein, provision of artificial limbs for 479 land mine victims, and three mine risk education campaigns benefiting 160,000 individuals. The UK has previously provided maps of minefield locations to the Egyptian authorities. The UK currently has no programmes specifically targeting WWII ordnance in the Tobruk or El-Alamein regions.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department awarded any development contracts to the Ministry of Defence in 2016-17; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
No development contracts were awarded by DFID to the Ministry of Defence in 2016-17.
DFID do not issue contracts to other government departments but will use other aid instruments and forms of agreement when working together.
A breakdown of official UK spend on international development by government department can be found in the annual Statistics on International Development publication.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department provides to the charity Voluntary Service Overseas.
Answered by Alistair Burt
For the current financial year (2017/18), Voluntary Service Overseas is set to receive a total income of £47,846,000 from DFID for implementing programme work. The two largest programmes that VSO deliver are International Citizen Service (ICS) (£26,570,000) and Volunteering for Development (V4D) (£17,000,000). ICS enables around 6,000 young people per year to contribute to poverty reduction through 12 week projects overseas, which builds their awareness of poverty issues and their personal skills, enabling them to contribute as active citizens when they return to the UK. V4D mobilises around 1,300 mid to late career professionals per year from the health, education and business sectors to volunteer overseas on long term placements. This work improves poor people’s access to basic services and builds new partnerships for a Global Britain.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve the image of the UK in countries with predominantly Muslim populations.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Department for International Development works in many countries with predominantly Muslim populations such as Syria, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Wherever possible we highlight that this assistance is from the UK. When people see UK aid supplies arriving in their village or refugee camp – proudly marked with the Union flag – they know that Britain leads the way in tackling extreme poverty.