Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding his Department has allocated to programmes supporting the payment of living wages in global value chains; and whether that funding is supporting workers in the cocoa sector.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
DFID is investing more than £1.2 billion in bilateral agriculture programmes, many of which support smallholders in global value chains, including cocoa. DFID does not categorise its programme spend according to the nature of different value chains given the significant additional burden this would place on projects if the data was to be robust.
DFID is a founding member of the Living Income Community of Practice and is partnering with the UN Foundation, CARE, and the Fourth Sector Group, to explore how we can encourage the growth of more “for benefit” businesses in the cocoa supply chain. It also supports the Ethical Trade Initiative to improve worker’s rights in global supply chains. This includes working with companies to improve the application of human rights and providing direct remediation of labour rights violations for vulnerable workers.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's Economic Development Strategy, what steps he is taking to track progress towards the achievement of living incomes in developing countries.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
DFID tracks progress on living incomes for the poor through global progress against the targets under Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) – to deliver sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. DFID measures the contribution its projects make by reporting on the “Number of people supported to have raised incomes and better jobs or livelihoods”. This includes beneficiaries who we have supported to raise their income, which alone amounted to 2.2 million people between 2015/16 and 2018/19.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to programmes supporting the payment of living wages in global value chains; and whether this funding is supporting workers in the cocoa sector.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's Economic Development Strategy, what steps she is taking to track progress towards the achievement of living incomes in developing countries.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the humanitarian situation on the US-Mexico border.
Answered by Rory Stewart
I share the hon Gentleman’s concerns about the reports of poor conditions and overcrowding in US detention facilities on the border with Mexico.
I very much welcome the steps already taken by the Administration and Congress to address these issues, including the emergency funding signed off by the President on 1 July.
These are difficult issues, and the UK has also struggled sometimes to get this right.
But we very much encourage our US friends to continue to work to improve the conditions in these facilities.
I have seen the excellent work the US has done around the world to promote human rights, and so it is important that they uphold these standards as they continue to tackle the situation at the US-Mexico border.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Gaza’s humanitarian situation is deeply concerning, as I saw during my visit in May. Hospitals are facing drug shortages, electricity availability is 4-5 hours a day, and water is polluted. UK funding is supporting 11 hospitals by providing medicines and equipment, and helping the 2 million Gazans access clean, safe water.