Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which research partner has been selected by her Department for the People for Peaceful Change programme.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
DFID has agreed that Search for Common Ground (SFCG) should select the research partner through a closed selection process because the processes involved in an open competition would place sensitive information about existing programme activities into the public domain. Our risk assessment indicates that this information could be used to target future programme activities, individual participants, or local staff involved in the management of the programme, and so we took this decision in order to uphold the aid principle to do no harm.
DFID received the bids from SFCG on 17 March 2019, and the evaluation panel comprehensively reviewed the bids and concluded that they did not sufficiently address the scope of work required for the People for Peaceful Change research piece. DFID is currently in the middle of agreeing an alternative option to effectively deliver a comprehensive and robust research element to this programme. We will release an interim update on the research piece to update MPs by the end of April.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What recent assessment she has made of the effect of reductions in US funding for coexistence projects in Israel and Palestine on peace efforts in that region.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID is concerned by the potential impact of funding reductions in the OPTs, including in the people-to-people sector. Ultimately, the only way for lasting coexistence is through a negotiated two-state solution. DFID remains committed to supporting this through our people-to-people programme and wider support in the economic and human development sectors.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the salaries of Palestinian Authority (PA) employees paid by her Department will be reduced as a result of the the announcement by the PA Minister of Finance that the salaries of public employees will be partial following the ending of US support to the PA.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is concerned about the effects of US and Israeli cuts to the PA’s budget on both the PA’s ability to deliver essential services to Palestinians and on the prospects for peace and stability in the region. The Palestinian Ministry of Finance and Planning has not published details of the planned reductions in wages announced last month. DFID officials will engage with the PA to assess the implications for PEGASE beneficiaries. The UK continues to support a stable PA which can act as an effective partner for peace with Israel through financial assistance to the health and education sectors to exclusively support the salaries of vetted public servants in the West Bank.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2019 to Question 209284 on Palestinians: Schools, whether her Department has commissioned the study into the new Palestinian textbooks.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK government is deeply concerned about the findings of the IMPACT-se report into the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) new curriculum and it remains a priority for the Department for International Development (DFID) to commission an independent review of the PA’s textbooks. Our timeline for the textbook review remains unchanged. We expect to be able to announce our partners in the review and the start of work on this project shortly. We cannot yet provide further information owing to ongoing commercial discussions, but we will inform interested parliamentarians as soon as possible. In the interim, we are continuing to raise our concerns about incitement in education, which I did personally at a meeting with the Palestinian Education Minister in January 2019.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), what discussions her Department has had with the PA on the assertion broadcast on 14 December 2018 on official PA TV, that Jews (a) expose their fangs whenever they get the chance and (b) are always plotting against humanity.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK strongly condemns any language or actions that could stir up hatred and prejudice. The UK regularly raises allegations of incitement and antisemitism with the PA at senior levels. I did this most recently in my meeting with PA Minister for Education Sabri Saidam on 21 January 2019. We will continue to press the PA to uphold their commitment to promote peace and tolerance.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), what discussions her Department has had with the PA on the assertion broadcast on 4 November 2018 on official PA TV, that Jews knew only to make money, trade, weave plots, corruption, and such.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK strongly condemns any language or actions that could stir up hatred and prejudice. The UK regularly raises allegations of incitement and antisemitism with the PA at senior levels. I did this most recently in my meeting with PA Minister for Education Sabri Saidam on 21 January 2019. We will continue to press the PA to uphold their commitment to promote peace and tolerance.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2019 to Question 211628, what assessment her Department has made of the PA Minister of Education's assertion on 22 January, as reported by al-Watan, that the minister stressed the ministry’s and all the Palestinian people’s rejection to the attack on the national Palestinian curriculum lead by the Zionist lobby.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is committed to working with the Palestinian Authority (PA) to ensure that the pilot Palestinian curriculum is consistent with the PA’s commitment to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to take action against incitement to violence. The UK will conduct an independent review into allegations of incitement in textbooks, with findings to be published by September 2019. I personally discussed the content of the pilot Palestinian curriculum with Palestinian Authority (PA) Education Minister Sabri Saidam earlier this year. Minister Saidam has committed to engage constructively with the findings of the textbook review, and to consider its recommendations.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), what discussions her Department has had with the PA on the assertion broadcast on 10 April 2018 on official PA TV, that the Holocaust was a lie.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK strongly condemns any language or actions that could stir up hatred and prejudice. The UK regularly raises allegations of incitement and antisemitism with the PA at senior levels. I did this most recently in my meeting with PA Minister for Education Sabri Saidam on 21 January 2019. We will continue to press the PA to uphold their commitment to promote peace and tolerance.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2019 to Question 209284 on Palestinians: Schools, and with reference to the meeting between the Minister of State and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister for Education in the week beginning 21 January, what steps the PA Minister plans to take to address UK Government concerns on the Palestinian curriculum.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK Government is concerned by allegations of incitement in the Palestinian Authority (PA) curriculum, and Minister of State Alistair Burt raised these issues with the PA Minister for Education again, on 21 January 2019. The PA Minister confirmed that he was willing to take into account the findings of an expert textbook review. This review remains a priority for DFID and will be completed by September 2019.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the business case for her Department's Programme 300667 entitled Supporting Economic Empowerment and Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the statement by PwC that it was not required to consider whether funds had been transferred to persons implicated in terrorism, whether she plans to alter the terms of engagement for the auditors of this programme.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and robust controls against the diversion of aid to ensure that funds are used only for their intended purpose. These include due diligence assessments of our partners, mapping of funds through the delivery chain, regular programme monitoring and annual audits.
DFID’s programme Supporting Economic Empowerment and Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (SEED OPTs) has several components, working on trade facilitation and customs, water and energy, and helping the PA and Israel to abide by their obligations under the Paris Protocol. Work with the Palestinian Authority in the 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. Through this framework, funds 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.
Alongside a range of other safeguards, all components will be subject to financial audits. The terms of reference of the audits will vary depending on the component, however all independent financial audits provide assurance to DFID that the expenditure of funds will only be on agreed programme activities. The overall DFID OPTs portfolio is also subject to the regular audit cycle of DFID’s Internal Audit Department and the National Audit Office.