Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking with international partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in response to the Ebola outbreak, to ensure (1) safe and dignified burials, (2) infection prevention and control, (3) community engagement and accountability, including risk communication, (4) psychosocial support, and (5) national society development.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK has supported the response to the ongoing outbreak of Ebola in the DRC from the very start. Our financial support to the WHO, other UN partners and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) covers the whole range of response activities, including safe and dignified burials, infection prevention and control, community engagement and accountability, psychosocial support – particularly to survivors, and broader health systems strengthening. The Secretary of State for International Development has approved the deployment of UK-funded experts into the UN system to help boost these activities. In addition, our funding through IFRC will help to strengthen the capacity of the National Red Cross Society which is composed of networks of local volunteers.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their most recent assessment of the number of (1) cases reported, and (2) deaths, as a result of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; what assessment they have made of the factors contributing to the spread of that virus; and what assistance they are providing to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to increase preparedness in provinces and health zones adjacent to the affected areas and in neighbouring countries.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
As of 9 June, there have been 2,056 Ebola cases in the DRC, 1,962 of which are confirmed and 94 are probable. There have been 1,384 deaths. However, actual numbers are likely to be higher given ongoing difficulty in undertaking response activities and the high proportion of community deaths. A number of factors are contributing to the spread of the virus, ranging from insecurity and access challenges, to community mistrust.
The Minister for Africa recently announced new UK aid funding to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support their work during this response. IFRC’s appeal includes safe and dignified burials and preparedness in provinces adjacent to the affected areas. Moreover, the UK has been the leading donor for regional preparedness, supporting neighbouring countries to prepare for potential cases.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they will provide to the government of Pakistan to help incentivise parents from marginalised religious minorities to send their children to school, following reports that many such parents view school as a waste of time owing to the lack of opportunities in higher education.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
DFID education programmes support a range of interventions to improve equity and inclusion in education, targeting the most marginalised communities, including religious minorities. This includes providing secondary and higher education scholarships to help incentivise parents from marginalised communities to send their children to school. In Punjab, scholarships have been provided to over 50,000 girls from poor families that reside in the most remote and marginalized districts of Punjab, some with a significant population of minority groups. Since 2010, DFID’s skills Development Programme has trained over 332,000 poor and vulnerable people to improve their employment prospects. This includes more than 3,800 people from religious minorities. The programme aims to provide training to a further 5,000 people from religious minorities by 2021.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the call by the Foundation Human Rights for Eritreans for the EU to cease funding aid projects in Eritrea that involve the use of national service conscripts; and whether any UK aid is directed through those programmes.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government is broadly supportive of the EU’s efforts to engage with Eritrea, and to create opportunities for greater engagement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, including through increasing development assistance where possible. We share concerns about human rights, particularly regarding Eritrea’s use of national service. However, it is clear that key elements of development cooperation in Eritrea, including recent cooperation on road building, will not be taken forward without the use of national service labour. We have therefore pressed the EU for enhanced efforts to ensure safeguards are in place. The EU has confirmed that the project implementer will monitor and assess whether workers are receiving an appropriate salary, and that basic health and safety standards are applied. Alongside those immediate measures, we, and the EU, will continue to encourage reform of the Eritrean national service system.
Around 15% of all EU development funds, including those used for projects in Eritrea, are attributable to UK ODA. We are also providing a €3m direct contribution to the Horn of Africa programmes of the EU Trust Fund for Africa, whose programming includes the EU’s €20m road building project in Eritrea.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that modules which promote freedom of religion or belief and religious tolerance are included in all future Department for International Development capacity building programmes in Pakistan.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
All DFID programmes in Pakistan, including capacity building programmes, support the poorest and most excluded people and communities regardless of race, religion, social background or nationality. The promotion of Freedom of Religious belief and religious tolerance is an important aspect of this approach. Since 2010, DFID’s skills Development Programme has trained over 332,000 poor and vulnerable people to improve their employment prospects, including people from religious minorities. We regularly raise the importance of religious tolerance at senior levels with the Government of Pakistan.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what training they provide to (1) Pakistani minority groups, and (2) non-governmental organisations, on how to organise, campaign, and lobby for minority groups; and what steps they are taking in response to the restrictions of civil society space in Pakistan.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government has consistently expressed our concern over the closure of civil society space in Pakistan at all levels of Government. Whilst we do not specifically train minority groups or non-governmental organisations on how to organise, campaign and lobby, we will continue to support civil society by lobbying the Government of Pakistan to pursue a fair and transparent process for INGO registration.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Department for International Development (1) supports marginalised religious communities, and (2) evaluates the success of existing projects, without disaggregating data by religion or target religious groups.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK is firmly committed to protecting ethnic and religious minorities. Development and humanitarian assistance is provided on the basis of need, irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity. With the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, DFID supports marginalised religious communities: internationally in multilateral fora; by raising individual cases of persecution bilaterally; by highlighting discriminatory legislation and practices; and by funding targeted project work in many different countries. Where relevant, data is disaggregated by religion when projects are evaluated.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) ensure that schools in Pakistan, supported by the Department for International Development, do not use textbooks with content that stigmatises religious minorities, and (2) encourage provincial governments in Pakistan to work with religious minority groups to remove such content.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Inclusion and respect for minority communities forms an integral part of our provincial and national education programmes in Pakistan. Through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Education Support Programme (KESP) and the Punjab Education Support Programme II (PESP II), DFID has also provided technical assistance to provincial governments to revise the school curriculum and remove discriminatory content from textbooks. Other work to promote tolerance and interfaith harmony includes: training nearly 100,000 teachers in KP and Punjab in equity and inclusion; funding the Alif Ailaan education campaign which focusses on religious minorities; and engaging with education civil society organisations to champion issues of inclusion and raise these with government.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 29 May (HL15755), whether they are including religion as a baseline indicator of vulnerability to modern slavery and human trafficking, especially faith-targeted human trafficking; and whether their AAWAZ II programme will include religion in its monitoring and evaluation.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The AAWAZ II programme will target marginalised communities from a range of disadvantaged backgrounds, including those from religious minorities who are at risk from modern slavery and human trafficking. As part of AAWAZ II’s design, studies which assess factors of vulnerability to modern slavery have been commissioned. These studies will determine which indicators will be included in the programme’s monitoring and evaluation system.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the criteria used to determine which communities in Pakistan are "marginalised" and therefore vulnerable to human trafficking and modern slavery for the purposes of their foreign aid programmes.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government ensures our development assistance targets the poorest and most marginalised people in Pakistan. DFID Pakistan’s targeting strategies are informed by context analysis and baseline assessments which seek to identify poor and marginalised communities, and target those most in need. DFID Pakistan is in the process of gathering information to determine which communities are most vulnerable to modern slavery to inform future interventions.