Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Caroline Spelman

Wednesday 29th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

Value for money comes from how we take decisions and monitor their impact in the Department, and less from how we structure the budget. We have a commitment to investing 0.7% of our gross national income in international development each year, and we are going to stick to that.

[Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State reassure the House that following the withdrawal of our overseas aid portion given through the EU, the absolute percentage that we spend on the world’s poorest people will be maintained?

[Justine Greening]

This Government came in on a manifesto of maintaining the 0.7% commitment. Under the coalition Government that we led, it was brought in and achieved for the first time. We legislated for it, and we stand by that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Caroline Spelman

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. We had an urgent question earlier this week and the Under-Secretary of State for International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd), set out the research that we are now kicking off. She will also be pleased to hear that Chris Whitty, the DFID chief scientist who led our work on Ebola and helped us to shape our response to it, is currently in Brazil talking to the authorities there to ensure we manage the various risks she sets out.

[Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State commend the work of Tearfund in Bangladesh among women in rural areas, which helps them with business start-ups and works with the Bangladesh Government to provide mobile phone banking to cut out the middle man?

[Justine Greening]

My right hon. Friend mentions a number of very innovative pieces of work. I commend Tearfund for its work. Healthy economies need everybody to be able to be a part of them. That is why women’s economic empowerment matters so much.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Caroline Spelman

Wednesday 3rd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We have advocated very strongly for universal health coverage that truly makes a difference to people and puts them in a position to be able to play a role in helping to develop their country. I assure the hon. Lady that the UK is a strong advocate of that. She is quite right to point out the dramatic progress that has been made in Rwanda. What it shows is that when we make the investment, development happens.

[Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

Given the important role the Prime Minister played on the high-level panel on sustainability, will the Secretary of State tell the House what progress has been made in getting a concrete goal on the food, water and energy nexus?

[Justine Greening]

My right hon. Friend is right to point out the Prime Minister’s pivotal role as a co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s high-level panel. It very much shaped the debate that then happened, which has got us to where we are today. Clearly, the interlocking issues of food security, nutrition and sustainability need to be addressed as part of the new sustainable development goals. One of the main changes that we want to see is sustainability, and the early indications are that we will have a good outcome.

Sustainable Development Goals

Debate between Justine Greening and Caroline Spelman

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I will make some progress. I will go back to the high-level panel report that the Prime Minister was asked to co-chair by Ban Ki-moon, that was published in May 2013. We all recognise that it played a key role in shaping the broader debate around the sustainable development goals. I am talking about the discussions that it outlined and some of the objectives and challenges that it set out for the new post-2015 framework.

[Mrs Spelman]

The UK was one of the first countries to identify sustainable development goals as the best idea around for the outcome of the Rio+20 summit. The presence of our Prime Minister on the high-level panel on sustainability and the vision of the UN Secretary-General brought the millennium development goals and the universal sustainable development goals into one entity.

[Justine Greening]

My right hon. Friend is right, and she speaks from a position of authority. Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr O'Brien), she is well respected, both for her service as a Cabinet Minister and for her tireless work with charities such as Tearfund. She is absolutely right: we were one of the key players that recognised the need to fuse the two agendas, of sustainability and climate change and of tackling poverty, successfully if we were to achieve the goal that my Department works faithfully to achieve of eradicating absolute—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Caroline Spelman

Wednesday 17th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We have a several million pound programme that is focused particularly on so-called social mobilisation. It is about training community workers to go out into communities and talk to people about how they can take practical steps themselves to reduce the risk of catching Ebola. Of course, the work we are doing in putting in place safe burial teams, which are now burying 100% of bodies safely in the main western area zone and 95% across the country, is one of the key ways in which we can stop the infection from spreading further.

[Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

The Secretary of State mentioned the toll on children in Africa—the number of Ebola orphans adding to the huge number of AIDS orphans. Will she join me in encouraging people at Christmas time to make a donation through British charities that work especially among the children of Africa?

[Justine Greening]

I certainly would. Two journalists from the Sunday Mirror accompanied me on my visit, and they are running an important campaign with Street Child, which is seeking to raise money to do precisely what my right hon. Friend suggests. We work with that charity, too, and we will continue to do more.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Caroline Spelman

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

We have put substantial investment into research, which is sensible for understanding what works and making sure that the UK can really be at the forefront of understanding how to use technology to drive development. The hon. Gentleman will remember that the G8 particularly focused on nutrition. Many of our best institutions were involved in that event precisely because of the science and technology expertise that they offer.

[Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

The Secretary of State has done a very good job in putting sustainable development at the heart of her approach to economic development. What steps is the Department taking to promote clean energy in developing countries?

[Justine Greening]

We work hand in hand with the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the international climate fund gives us a resource base with which to help countries develop the sustainable energy system and approach they will need in the years to come. We have a real chance to make sure that we start them off on a firm footing, and that is precisely what we intend to do.