Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of spending in the Palestinian Territories by the UN Relief and Works Agency to which her Department contributes funds; and how her Department measures that effectiveness.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK’s contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) Programme Budget is based on the Agency meeting rigorous performance indicators. In the last financial year we assessed that UNRWA performed well against our indicators, as measured through annual review processes. The annual review is publically available on DFID’s Development Tracker. The UK has engaged closely with UNRWA on the development of a Medium Term Strategy for 2016-21 to help UNRWA deliver its mandate. This is supported through our technical assistance to UNRWA’s department of Internal Oversight. We engage with other donors and host countries on value for money at a high level through the UNRWA Advisory Commission and Sub-Committee.
DFID has due diligence assessment processes to provide assurance over the expenditure of our funds, and DFID’s Occupied Palestinian Territories spending is subject to regular auditing by DFID’s Internal Audit Department and the UK National Audit Office. In the last five years, UNRWA has also been reviewed by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the UK International Development Committee. The UK is a long-term supporter of UNRWA, which provides basic services, including basic healthcare, to over 800,000 Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and 1.3 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the value of the Government's funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency has been in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The amount of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in each calendar year since 2013 is given in the table below. This data is published each year in the Statistics for International Development (SID) publication. Figures for 2017 will be released next year.
The UK remains firmly committed to supporting UNRWA and Palestinian refugees across the Middle East and we have so far provided around £50 million in the 2017/18 financial year.
(£ millions) | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Bilateral ODA through Multilateral | 18.4 | 29.1 | 30.0 | 21.0 |
Core Multilateral ODA | 22.9 | 36.6 | 34.0 | 33.4 |
Total UK ODA to UNRWA | 41.4 | 65.7 | 64.0 | 54.4 |
Source: Statistics for International Development 2013-2016
ODA figures are produced only on a calendar year basis in line with the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, Development Assistance Committee definitions.
Bilateral ODA through multilateral is funding to multilateral organisations for specific programmes or for specific countries. Core multilateral ODA describes un-earmarked funds from national governments which are pooled with other donors’ funding and disbursed as part of the core budget of the multilateral organisation.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what safeguards her Department has in place to ensure that international development funding to the Palestinian Authority is not used for the payment of terror salaries or associated purposes.
Answered by Alistair Burt
UK financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority is provided through a European Union mechanism. It pays for vetted West Bank health and education public servants. The EU mechanism uses a pre- and post-verification system which validates that the funds transferred into a dedicated sub-account for UKaid and spent on the salaries of eligible beneficiaries on a vetted list. The PA payroll is checked by independent auditors, and payments made to all eligible beneficiaries are traced through the verification process.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much development funding was provided by her Department to the Palestinian Authority in each of the last five financial years; what organisations were so funded; and what the objectives of that funding were.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK provides direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance and Planning to contribute to the salaries of vetted public servants. A breakdown of funding by financial years is below:
Beneficiary | Purpose | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 |
Ministry of Finance and Planning | For financial years 2012/13 – 2015/16, UK funding contributed to public servants salaries through the EU PEGASE mechanism. In 2016/17 UK funding was specifically earmarked for West Bank health and education public servants salaries. | £34.1 million | £41.6 million | £22 million | £24.8 million | £25 million |
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the victims of human trafficking and exploitation in Libya.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing assistance to refugees and migrants at risk of trafficking and exploitation in Libya. So far this year, DFID has supported more than 20,000 emergency interventions such as healthcare, psychosocial support, hygiene kits and safe shelter. The UK Government is also assisting vulnerable migrants with voluntary returns from Libya – so far our support has helped more than 1,200 individuals to return home.
The UK government continues to support the Libyan authorities to tackle smuggling and organised immigration crime. We also continue to press for refugees and migrants in Libya to be treated in accordance with international norms and standards.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department provides to projects intended to foster coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID will provide up to £3 million over three years to fund a co-existence or “people-to-people” programme. This UK support will help Israelis and Palestinians work together to achieve tangible improvements in their lives and build understanding between people on both sides of the conflict.