Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of Official Development Assistance was allocated to the World Health Organisation in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Around 1.3% of UK Official Development Assistance was delivered through the World Health Organisation in 2018 calendar year (latest period for which figures are available).
This reflects that WHO is a primarily technical and policy-focused agency and is one, important, aspect of the UK’s operational delivery of health and humanitarian programmes.
This percentage is likely to be higher for 2020 onwards due to the UK’s significant additional contribution to WHO for the COVID-19 response (an additional £75 million committed specifically for COVID-19 on top of existing programming, for 2020).
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
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 in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I provided on 17 November to question number 52717.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all children complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education by 2020.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK Government is committed to ensuring all children are able to complete a full cycle of quality education. Between 2011 and 2015 DFID supported over 11 million children into primary and lower secondary school (7.5 million children in countries considered fragile), and training 380,000 teachers through our multilateral partners. In 2015, the UK again committed to support a further 11 million children in the poorest countries to gain a decent education by 2020.
DFID is also supporting up to one million of the world’s poorest girls through DFID’s Girls Education Challenge (GEC). In July, DFID co-hosted the first, hugely successful Girls’ Education Forum in London and announced a further £100 million through the GEC to continue this support and help an additional 175,000 of the poorest, most marginalised adolescent girls in the world to get a decent education.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to assist Christian refugees in Syria who are being persecuted.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The Government have been clear in condemning the horrific attacks on religious communities by violent extremists including ISIL. All UK funded assistance is distributed on the basis of need to ensure civilians are not discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, or ethnicity. We prioritise reaching the most vulnerable people across Syria, including Christians and those who have suffered from such violence. DFID continues to work with the UN and the international community to ensure all minorities’ rights are protected and our aid reaches those in greatest need.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department's overseas aid budget is allocated to green energy projects in 2015-16.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
The UK supports low carbon development though the International Climate Fund to help the poorest countries boost their economies and tackle poverty. Overall, the ICF makes up 7% of the UK aid budget.
Of the total ICF budget 55% has been allocated to climate mitigation programmes, which are predominately related to clean energy, as well as energy efficiency and related activities.
DFID will coordinate and scale up efforts to deliver energy to the 1.2 billion people worldwide with no access to electricity, with a particular focus on the more than 660 million people in Africa without access.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to ensure that the UK continues to lead responses to humanitarian emergencies and help countries at risk better prepare for potential natural disasters.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK will continue to lead responses to humanitarian emergencies, responding rapidly to save lives, as we did recently in Nepal. Preparing for disasters is critical and the UK will push globally for more to be done, including at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016.