Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on developing a debt-relief plan for developing countries.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government is deeply concerned about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public finances of low-income developing countries. In this time of crisis, it is vital that creditors work together to ensure that servicing debts does not prevent countries protecting their citizens and economies.
The UK, alongside the G20 and the Paris Club of official creditors, has committed to a temporary suspension of debt service repayments from the poorest countries. This official sector effort could provide up to $12 billion of additional fiscal space until the end of the year, allowing countries to redirect finances towards mitigating the health and economic impacts of COVID-19.
In the future, some countries, especially those entering the crisis with significant debt vulnerabilities may require debt relief. If debts do require restructuring or reduction, this will need to be done evenly amongst creditors, including non-Paris Club G20 creditors and the private sector. The G20 initiative provides more time to assess countries’ debt positions and explore possible solutions with other stakeholders whilst, importantly, freeing up resources to allow countries to respond to the crisis.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to help tackle the economic effects of covid-19 on local economies in developing countries.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is actively supporting the poorest countries and most vulnerable people at a time when the secondary economic impacts of COVID-19 are running ahead of the health impacts in many countries.
First, we are supporting countries to free up the fiscal space that they need to reorient spending to responding to the crisis. The UK has made a leading contribution of up to £150 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, to fund the poorest countries’ debt repayments to the IMF. The UK and other G20 countries have also committed to suspend debt service payments for International Development Association-eligible and the UN Least Developed Countries until the end of 2020, providing up to $12 billion of additional fiscal space. We are also providing advisory support to countries covering economic policy and their broader response, including trade-offs associated with containment measures.
Second, we are working with the International Financial Institutions to make additional resources available. We have committed to doubling our existing £2.2bn loan to the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, to support concessional financing for the poorest countries. The UK also pushed early for a capital increase of the World Bank in 2018 and, thanks to these efforts, the World Bank Group has been in a position to respond rapidly to this crisis, making $160bn of financing available over 15 months.
Third, at a time when many investors are retreating from these markets, CDC, the UK’s Development Finance Institution,?is committed to investing patiently and working alongside other Development Finance Institutions to help companies access the finance they need and to protect supply chains and jobs overseas.
Fourth, the UK is also committed to directly supporting the most vulnerable people affected by the economic fallout of COVID-19. We are currently supporting social protection and/or humanitarian cash transfer programmes in 35 countries, in addition to wider support through multilateral institutions.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what financial support she is allocating to international NGOs to adapt pre-existing humanitarian assistance and food supply programmes to ensure continuity during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton
To date, the UK has committed £744 million to support global efforts to combat COVID-19. The UK is at the forefront of supporting those in need of humanitarian assistance and we are actively working with international partners to better track, monitor and respond to the impact of COVID-19 on food security for the most vulnerable. NGOs are a critical partner in meeting this huge challenge of tackling the virus. In addition to new and reallocated direct funding to NGOs, much of the UN’s work will be delivered on the ground by NGOs and the UK’s funding to the UN agencies will support these efforts.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help support the informal economy in developing countries during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Duddridge
DFID currently supports social protection and/or humanitarian cash transfer programmes in 35 countries, enabling the most vulnerable people - including those who work in the informal sector - to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19.
Beyond social protection, other DFID programmes are being adapted to support informal sector workers in response to COVID-19. For example, we are supporting the Kampala Capital City Authority with emergency provisions to assist the most vulnerable in the city, including providing shelter to vendors in the informal markets.
We have supported the Multilateral Development Banks to provide much-needed working capital for small businesses and supply chains, which informal workers depend on in developing countries.? This includes $8 billion of fast-tracked support from the International Finance Cooperation.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to engage with (a) international NGOs and (b) UK charities on their response to the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton
DFID is committed to working with and alongside international NGOs and UK charities to meet the challenges posed to both the UK and internationally by COVID-19. DFID is taking forward a structured approach to engagement with UK and international Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), incorporating strategic and technical discussions to help inform the sector’s response to the pandemic. Specifically, Baroness Sugg has chaired two round table discussions with the Chief Executive Officers from key CSOs on 3 April and the 1 May to update the sector on DFID’s COVID-19 response to date, engage with concerns across the sector, and explore how to mitigate the threats posed by COVID-19 to sector resilience.
DFID has pledged new funding specifically for civil society, including UK-based CSOs, to support the response. This includes £20 million, the majority of which will be allocated through the Rapid Response Facility, and significant funding through the DFID Unilever COVID-19 Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition. In addition, INGOs will receive funding through multilateral organisations as downstream partners as part of the UK’s response.
DFID is offering support to suppliers and partners where this is appropriate, in line with the UK government position and will apply 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.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will publish the monitoring and evaluation framework her Department is using to assess the efficacy of UK overseas aid in tackling the spread of covid-19.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK has so far pledged £744 million of UK aid to end the coronavirus pandemic as quickly as possible: tracking the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of that spend is essential.
We have a strong, coordinated monitoring, evaluation and learning system to ensure accountability for decision making and resource allocation to these priorities. This will also ensure DFID and other government departments learn from and use evidence to improve current and future responses to crises in developing contexts. This is part of DFID’s overall approach to ensuring that our investments in tackling COVID-19 are driven by the best evidence and latest scientific advances.
As programmes adapt and mobilise to tackle the impact of COVID-19, so too will our monitoring, evaluation, and learning approach and framework. The COVID-19 response will draw on the systems and expertise we already have on monitoring, evaluation and learning. Our existing Evaluation Strategy, the key points of which were published in the Evaluation Annual Report 18-19, will direct our monitoring, evaluation and learning response to COVID-19 interventions. This Strategy enables DFID to use the best evidence tools for learning and improving throughout our programmes, as well as prioritising investment in rigorous central evaluations in the most strategic areas.
DFID’s overarching results indicators under the Single Departmental Plan are public. We will also publish information on our monitoring, evaluation and learning approach to COVID-19 as part of our Evaluation Annual Report.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which (a) international NGOs and (b) UK charities have been allocated funding from the public purse to tackle the spread of covid-19; and how much funding each of those organisations has received.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK has so far pledged up to £744 million of UK aid to support the global effort to combat COVID-19. As part of this package, we are providing funding for a range of international NGOs, including UK charities, in particular through the Rapid Response Facility. We expect to make announcements on the detailed allocations and successful Rapid Response Facility partners in due course.
DFID is also adapting its programmes across our country network to respond to COVID-19 and we have committed significant new funding through the multilateral system - we expect NGOs to play a key role in delivery through both these channels but are not able to give an exact breakdown given that, in many cases, funding will go indirectly to NGOs through partners such as the UN. In addition, extra funding has also been allocated to NGOs through the DFID Unilever COVID-19 Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what criteria were used to select the 15 countries which are eligible for Rapid Response Facility (RRF) funding.
Answered by Wendy Morton
DFID launched a call under the Rapid Response Facility to support the preparedness, mitigation and response to COVID-19 among vulnerable populations. The fifteen countries selected were prioritised on the basis of need, vulnerability, and risk.
DFID is also adapting its programmes across its country network to respond to COVID-19 and has also committed significant funding through the multilateral system to ensure our support reaches the most vulnerable.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK donations to multilateral organisations has been spent on (a) personal protective equipment, (b) testing and (c) water, sanitation and hygiene during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK has so far committed £744 million of aid to the global fight against COVID-19. Along with other donors we are supporting UN agencies, the Red Cross and NGOs to respond to COVID-19 in developing countries. This includes helping the world’s poorest countries in a range of ways including accessing critical medical supplies. By supporting developing countries to properly respond to COVID-19, the UK is helping end the global pandemic sooner and prevent future waves of infection coming to the UK.
As part of our overall package, up to £318 million will support finding a vaccine, new drugs, therapeutics and research and development for COVID-19.
The UK government is also working with Unilever to fund a global hygiene programme, with £50 million of support from DFID, to urgently tackle the spread of COVID-19. It will reach up to a billion people worldwide, raising awareness and changing behaviour, to make sure people are washing their hands with soap regularly and disinfecting surfaces. The programme will also provide over 20 million hygiene products in the developing world, including in areas where there is little or no sanitation. This is in addition to our many existing projects on water, sanitation and hygiene.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 climate change adaptation projects in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Department for International Development (DFID) spent £482 million in 2016, £371 million in 2017 and £522 million in 2018 on climate change adaptation projects as part of its share of UK international climate finance. 2019 figures are not yet available.
The UK has committed to spend £5.8 billion on international climate finance from the Official Development Assistance budgets of DFID, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) over the period 2016-17 to 2020-21. DFID’s share is £3.6 billion over the same period. The UK aims to achieve a balance between projects to tackle climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation.