Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of the UK's annual aid budget was spent on direct food aid globally in 2015.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In 2015 over £300 million of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) delivered by DFID was directed towards food aid. A further £200 million was delivered through multi-lateral organisations that work in humanitarian response to tackle poverty and hunger and £80 million directed towards Basic Nutrition programmes and Food Aid for Livestock.
In addition in 2015 over £600 million was spent on Material Relief for humanitarian responses, which includes cash transfers. This provides flexible assistance to those struggling in humanitarian crises, enabling them to buy food and meet the medical and shelter needs of themselves and their dependents.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the implications are for her policies on her Department's assistance for the training of teachers in the developing world to meet 2030 educational targets of UNESCOs Policy Paper 19 of April 2015, The challenge of teacher shortage and quality.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
We welcome the educational targets of UNESCO's Policy Paper. Well trained, motivated and empowered teachers are central to a quality education and this is where we are focusing our efforts; in the period 2011 – 2015 we helped to train 380,000 teachers and improve the effectiveness of teacher development. Through our ongoing bilateral education programmes and support to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), we assist 65 developing countries to develop and finance education sector plans for teacher training.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much government funding is provided for climate action in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Over the last five years, the UK Government has provided £3.87 billion for climate action in developing countries. This has, amongst other things, supported 21 million people to cope with the effects of climate change and helped 6.6 million people access clean energy.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on meeting the target of committing 0.7 per cent of national income to international aid.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK has met the international commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income on Official Development Assistance in recent years and we will continue to do so
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department is using international aid to tackle poverty in Rwanda.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID Rwanda’s 2011-2016 Operational Plan (OP) supports the Government of Rwanda’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2 (EDPRS2 2013-2017/18). In 2014/15 DFID will spend around £67 million supporting delivery of basic services, in particular education and social protection; private sector and economic development; and the strengthening of domestic accountability and Rwandan civil society.
By 2016, DFID support will seek to help 723,600 of the poorest people in Rwanda to get a job, or financial support to meet their basic needs; 44,200 children to complete basic education and ensure it is of a quality which enables them to pass their national exam at the age of 14; 4.7 million land parcels to be registered as legally owned, allowing owners to be able to invest in it to raise their incomes; and help 1.8 million people to have a greater say in their own development and to hold decision-makers to account.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department is using international aid to increase the literacy rate amongst women in Nigeria.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK has a number of development programmes in Nigeria which will seek to increase the literacy rate amongst girls and women. The Girls’ Education Project aims to improve basic education for 1 million girls in Northern Nigeria where 7 out of 10 women cannot read at all. Another programme, Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises, supports 18,000 young mothers and out-of-school-girls to increase their access to basic literacy and numeracy, including financial literacy.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department is using international aid to tackle the water shortage in Bangladesh.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK government is providing up to £23.5 million over five years (2012-17) through the South Asia Water Governance Programme to facilitate regional collaboration over shared rivers in South Asia, including in Bangladesh, in order to address challenges around water resource management, development and climate change.
The UK Government is also supporting a multi-country study (including Bangladesh) on groundwater resilience to climate change and abstraction in the Indo-Gangetic basin. The study is being undertaken by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in association with several local partners.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on the situation between the government of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan Hutu rebels.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
It is vital that progress is made towards ensuring all armed groups no longer pose a threat in DRC. We welcome the government of DRC’s announcement that military action against the FDLR (the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) has begun. However, we are keen to see meaningful action on the ground.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional support her Department is providing for Royal Navy personnel assisting with the aftermath of the Caribbean tsunami.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The Royal Navy is not responding to a tsunami in the Caribbean.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of financial aid provided to Argentina.
Answered by Justine Greening
DFID does not provide financial aid to Argentina.