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Written Question
Overseas Aid: Females
Thursday 6th August 2020

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Adolescent Girls' Education and Empowerment programme planned by the Department for International Development will still take place.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

The UK Government remains committed to delivering 12 years of quality education for all girls. Education, particularly girls’ education, will remain a top priority in the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and a priority for the Prime Minister personally. In my role as Special Envoy for Girls’ Education, I am working to accelerate progress towards getting marginalised girls into schools, staying there and staying safe, and benefitting from quality learning. I am working closely with international partners to encourage greater global ambition, coordination, and investment on girls’ education.


Written Question
Gender-based Violence: Older People
Wednesday 22nd July 2020

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in their role as a co-lead of the Action Coalition on gender-based violence to highlight older women’s experiences of gender-based violence; and what plans they have to prioritise collecting data about violence against older women in low- and middle- income countries.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

The UK is committed to working with our Action Coalition co-leads to ensure our joint objectives focus on tackling all forms of violence against women and girls and reaching the most marginalised, including older women.

We recognise that there is a knowledge gap in understanding the different forms, causes, and consequences of violence against older women. To help fill this gap, DFID is investing £6 million to support the UN Women-led flagship programme initiative on gender data – Making Every Woman and Girl Count – and the joint UN Programme on Violence Against Women and Girls data. These programmes are working to improve the production, availability, accessibility and use of quality data and statistics on gender equality and gender-based violence. This includes developing new global methodologies and standards for capturing older women’s experience of violence, including agreeing a minimum set of questions for women over 50 to be added to existing surveys or modules. We will ensure the Action Coalition draws on this learning from Making Every Woman and Girl Count.

DFID’s Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan (March 2019) also sets out our commitment to improve the quality, quantity and availability of inclusive and disaggregated data, including by age, in DFID and across the global system.


Written Question
Yemen: Humanitarian Aid
Tuesday 16th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to support humanitarian relief in Yemen.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Last financial year (2019/20), UK aid helped feed over 650,000 Yemenis every month, treated over 70,000 children for malnutrition and provided over 1 million people with improved water supply and basic sanitation.

Minister Cleverly announced the UK’s new pledge of £160 million in humanitarian funding for Yemen in the 2020/21 financial year at the Yemen Pledging Conference on 2 June. This pledge makes us the third largest donor to Yemen in the world this year and takes our total commitment to Yemen to nearly £1 billion since the conflict began.


Written Question
Yemen: Humanitarian Aid
Tuesday 16th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to take steps through the United Nations to support the delivery of humanitarian aid in Yemen.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Minister Cleverly announced on 2 June at the UN’s Yemen Pledging Conference that the UK will be providing £160 million to the UN’s 2020 Yemen appeal this financial year (2020/21) to help respond to Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. We remain committed to supporting the UN to deliver vital humanitarian assistance across Yemen in order to alleviate suffering and meet the needs of millions of vulnerable Yemenis.

Ministers and officials continue to engage closely with other donors and the UN to ensure a coordinated international approach to the current excessive restrictions on humanitarian access, particularly in Houthi held areas. We welcome recent steps taken by the Houthis to improve humanitarian access but are clear that more progress is needed, or humanitarian organisations will be unable to continue delivering vital assistance.


Written Question
Yemen: Humanitarian Aid
Tuesday 16th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

According to the UN, Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the entire population, over 24 million people, requiring some form of humanitarian assistance. More than 20 million people in Yemen do not have reliable access to food and almost 10 million people face extreme food shortages.

We are concerned that the outbreak of COVID-19 in Yemen is already exacerbating this devastating humanitarian situation.

DFID modelling estimates that over 100,000 Yemenis are now likely to have been infected by COVID-19. With only half of Yemen’s health facilities currently functional, we are extremely concerned by the capacity of the Yemen’s healthcare system to respond.

Ultimately, a political settlement is the only way to properly address the worsening humanitarian crisis. We therefore strongly encourage all parties to engage with Special Envoy Martin Griffiths to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Older People
Tuesday 7th April 2020

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage (1) UN agencies, (2) partner governments, and (3) development actors, to prioritise the needs of older people most at risk from COVID-19.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

We recognise that older people, people with pre-existing conditions, people with disabilities and those with complex needs are disproportionately impacted, and at more serious risk of severe complications, due to COVID-19. The UK has so far pledged £544 million of aid to tackle this global pandemic.

This includes support to UN agencies such as Unicef, the World Health Organisation and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Our support will enable humanitarian actors to work with in-country governments and other stakeholders to plan an inclusive response to the crisis, one which takes into account the needs of older people, women and girls and people with disabilities.

We have also developed specific practical guidance to ensure our country offices around the world, working closely with partner governments, prioritise the needs of vulnerable groups, including older people. We are also working with actors across the development sector to ensure inclusion is built into the response from the very start. The pandemic is fast-moving, but we are committed to supporting the UN system, partner countries and the wider development community to reach those most vulnerable.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Older People
Tuesday 7th April 2020

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the work of the World Health Organisation prioritises the health needs of older people in lower- and middle-income countries as part of its response to COVID-19.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

We recognise that older people, people with disabilities, people with pre-existing conditions, and those with complex needs are disproportionately impacted and at more serious risk of severe complications and fatality due to COVID-19. The UK is at the forefront of the global response to COVID-19 and has, to date, committed up to £544 million of aid to tackle this global pandemic.

As part of this, the UK is providing £10 million to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) Emergency Flash Appeal. We are working with all of our humanitarian partners to ensure that the most vulnerable, including older people and people with disabilities are reached and supported.

Our funding to the WHO is supporting countries to prepare for and respond to COVID-19. This includes through its Operational Planning Guidelines on public health measures, which outline specific considerations to be given to particularly marginalised groups, including older people. The WHO has also published specific tailored guidance on people with disabilities.


Written Question
Developing Countries: Females
Monday 8th July 2019

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how (1) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and (2) the Department for International Development, systematically include older women in their (a) work with widows, and (b) wider approach to economic empowerment, across their programmes.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

Gender equality is a top priority for the UK. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development work together to achieve the best development and diplomatic impact for women and girls, including older women.

Better data and understanding of the situation of older women is essential for tackling the poverty and discrimination they face. DFID is investing in improving collection and use of disaggregated data (by sex, age and disability) to enable us to empower and include those who are too often invisible or face additional barriers to escaping poverty, such as older people. For example, we have led the way on the Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan and worked with others to improve the international development system on disaggregated and inclusive data.

Social protection mechanisms can play a crucial part in supporting economic empowerment, as such DFID is enabling the empowerment of older women through social protection programmes, including in Uganda, where UKaid is supporting expanded social protection for older people.

The UK is committed to shining a spotlight on the vulnerabilities of widows globally, including raising awareness of the multiple discrimination and abuse often faced by older widows. In Ghana, UKaid is securing lives of dignity for elderly widows banished from their communities due to ‘witchcraft’ accusations and working with traditional authorities to condemn violence, social exclusion and abuse towards widows. At the Commission on the Status of Women in March, the UK helped secure the first ever UN-level recognition of the need to invest in adequate measures to protect and support widows.


Written Question
Developing Countries: Nutrition
Wednesday 15th May 2019

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage investments in nutrition under the World Bank's Human Capital Project in order to (1) reduce rates of stunting, and (2) promote economic growth worldwide.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

We use our position on the World Bank Board, as the leading contributor to the International Development Association (IDA), to push for increased, high-quality World Bank investments in nutrition. For example, we worked with the World Bank as they designed the Human Capital Project to ensure the inclusion of nutrition as one of the Human Capital Index’s key indicators. We expect the Index and Project to have a positive impact on nutrition indicators and consequent impact on economic development.

We have been advocating for the next IDA replenishment (IDA19) to increase support to human capital, including nutrition, across its key priorities, such as gender and fragility, conflict and violence. Under the current replenishment (IDA18), IDA plans to reach 180 to 200 million people with basic nutrition services, as a result of its growing portfolio of IDA investments in nutrition.

We also work closely with the Bank as a partner in encouraging others to invest. To this end, we co-hosted a high-level event in 2017 alongside the World Bank Group to encourage the international community to make new commitments to nutrition. We are also working with the Bank on substantive preparations for the Tokyo Global Nutrition Summit 2020 which will be a critical moment to secure new global commitments to tackling malnutrition through to 2030.


Written Question
Developing Countries: Nutrition
Wednesday 15th May 2019

Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make representations for nutrition to be prioritised during discussions ahead of the replenishment of IDA19 of the International Development Association.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

We use our position on the World Bank Board, as the leading contributor to the International Development Association (IDA), to push for increased, high-quality World Bank investments in nutrition. For example, we worked with the World Bank as they designed the Human Capital Project to ensure the inclusion of nutrition as one of the Human Capital Index’s key indicators. We expect the Index and Project to have a positive impact on nutrition indicators and consequent impact on economic development.

We have been advocating for the next IDA replenishment (IDA19) to increase support to human capital, including nutrition, across its key priorities, such as gender and fragility, conflict and violence. Under the current replenishment (IDA18), IDA plans to reach 180 to 200 million people with basic nutrition services, as a result of its growing portfolio of IDA investments in nutrition.

We also work closely with the Bank as a partner in encouraging others to invest. To this end, we co-hosted a high-level event in 2017 alongside the World Bank Group to encourage the international community to make new commitments to nutrition. We are also working with the Bank on substantive preparations for the Tokyo Global Nutrition Summit 2020 which will be a critical moment to secure new global commitments to tackling malnutrition through to 2030.