Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she taking to ensure that aid is targeted at the most vulnerable regardless of their faith; and what criteria her Department applies to ensure that religious minorities are not discriminated against.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government works to ensure that UK overseas aid is targeted at the most vulnerable and that religious minorities are not discriminated against. The UK is committed to delivering its aid according to internationally recognised humanitarian principles. These principles ensure that humanitarian assistance is delivered to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity. The UK is firmly committed to the protection of religious minorities, and regularly challenges our partners to demonstrate that they are doing all they can to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people, including those from religious minorities.
DFID undertakes interdisciplinary analysis of a country’s politics, society, state and economy to identify the most significant problems that hinder development and the main entry points and opportunities to create change. There is a strong emphasis on how politics, security, and demographics interact with economic growth and human development to ensure that aid is targeted at the most vulnerable.
Vulnerable religious minority groups will experience crises such as COVID-19 outbreaks differently. Crises are likely to reinforce their marginalised position in society, their experience of discrimination, violence and stigma, and further limit their access to essential support and services. For this reason, guidance was circulated across DFID highlighting that inclusion must be central to our response and that the specific contexts and needs of vulnerable religious communities and other vulnerable groups should be taken into account when developing practical programmes of assistance.
On 8 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for Human Rights, hosted a roundtable to hear from faith leaders and faith-based development organisations about the specific challenges minority faith communities were facing during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effect of nutrition on preventing deaths of children under the age of five years; and what steps he is taking to integrate nutrition into his Department's health programme through measurable indicators and outcomes.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Malnutrition is the underlying cause of 45% of child deaths. Addressing malnutrition is therefore key for ending preventable deaths, and we have recently announced a renewed commitment to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children by 2030.
The UK championed nutrition as a core aspect of universal health coverage at the high-level meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
We are prioritising the integration of highly cost-effective nutrition services, such as breastfeeding promotion and treatment for child wasting, into our health programmes in a range of countries. We are also promoting the inclusion of indicators to track nutrition outcomes.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure its programmes on girls’ education integrate nutrition objectives.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Government is a global leader on girls’ education. Helping poor countries provide 12 years of good quality education, particularly for girls, is a top priority for this Government.
We know that in order for children to learn, they need the right nutrients. When children get all the basic nutrients they need in the first 1,000 days of life, they do better in school and earn more as adults.
DFID’s 2018 education policy commits us to delivering early education and nutrition interventions together where possible. We are pursuing this by building the evidence base through the new ‘Thrive’ early childhood development research programme and through investments in early education in Rwanda and our funding to the Global Partnership for Education.
DFID also funds the Girls’ Education Challenge, the largest global fund dedicated to girls’ education. It is supporting up to 1.5 million girls across 17 countries, and a number of these projects are also delivering joint education and nutrition interventions. For example, the Making Ghanaian Girls Great, Girls’ Education Challenge project in Ghana is supporting marginalised girls with nutrition training on locally available food to ensure they have balanced diets.
The UK Government is a global leader on nutrition; we have reached 60.3 million people with nutrition services in 25 countries since 2015.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will offer her Department's expertise to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to help it enhance its country-specific strategies to promote the right to freedom of religion or belief.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Defending the right to freedom of religion or belief remains a top priority for this Government.
Ministers and officials from DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly discuss strategies and approaches to supporting this universal human right.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to support programmes to tackle discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in educational systems in (a) Nigeria and (b) Pakistan; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK Government is committed to equal treatment and equality of opportunity. The Equality Act of 2010, under Section 149, requires that all public bodies, including DFID, consider the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations when making policy decisions and delivering programmes. The Act covers a number of protected characteristics, including religion. In both Nigeria and Pakistan, we have professional education advisers who design and monitor our programmes carefully. We work to build inclusive education systems in these countries, which makes a positive contribution to the lives of millions of children.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to increase investment in decentralised renewable energy to benefit the world's poorest people.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK Government is playing a leading role in improving energy access in developing countries. DFID has a range of programmes which are working with developing countries to ensure renewable energy markets work effectively as well as supporting energy businesses to grow, and providing consumers with access to funding to buy solar goods. For example, our Energy Access Ventures programme is investing in off-grid electric and we are delivering green mini-grid solutions across Africa.
Through the UK Government’s Energy Africa campaign we are working with solar firms to help them access the finance they need to expand their businesses, create jobs and help reach millions of people in Africa without electricity access.