Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to help support the Occupied Palestinian Territories' response to the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low in Gaza and the West Bank, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an increase in COVID-19 cases is poor, including the low availability of PPE and ventilators. The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK has pledged £764 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19. We have delivered additional vital support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by providing funding to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. I also recently announced £20 million in new funding, which will help the Palestinian Authority support its health workers who have been on the frontline battling coronavirus.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the capacity of Gaza’s health system to respond effectively to the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low in Gaza and the West Bank, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an increase in COVID-19 cases is poor, including the low availability of PPE and ventilators. The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK has pledged £764 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19. We have delivered additional vital support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by providing funding to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. I also recently announced £20 million in new funding, which will help the Palestinian Authority support its health workers who have been on the frontline battling coronavirus.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the availability of (a) testing kits, (b) personal protective equipment and (c) hygiene supplies necessary to contain the covid-19 pandemic in Gaza.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low in Gaza and the West Bank, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an increase in COVID-19 cases is poor, including the low availability of PPE and ventilators. The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK has pledged £764 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19. We have delivered additional vital support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by providing funding to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. I also recently announced £20 million in new funding, which will help the Palestinian Authority support its health workers who have been on the frontline battling coronavirus.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to help prevent the spread of covid-19 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low in Gaza and the West Bank, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an increase in COVID-19 cases is poor, including the low availability of PPE and ventilators. The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK has pledged £764 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19. We have delivered additional vital support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by providing funding to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. I also recently announced £20 million in new funding, which will help the Palestinian Authority support its health workers who have been on the frontline battling coronavirus.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the uses of aid funding her Department has provided to Palestine.
Answered by Alistair Burt
UK aid in the OPTs supports the protection of the most vulnerable, economic growth and job creation, and the delivery of essential services. DFID have also provided a rapid and flexible response to emerging humanitarian crises in the OPTs. Our support to the International Committee of the Red Cross has provided emergency health care assistance to aid Gaza’s burdened health system. DFID’s support to UNICEF has helped address critical water and sanitation needs for 2 million Gazans.
DFID funding to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) is subject to the rigorous controls that are applied to all UK aid, including annual reviews, evaluation reports, and independent financial audits of programme spending. This information is triangulated with reporting from suppliers and programme partners, and through field visits. DFID implements a robust monitoring and evaluation system to ensure that UK aid reaches the intended beneficiaries and achieves the best development outcomes, with a strong focus on ensuring value for money for the UK taxpayer. Information relating to monitoring and evaluation processes in the OPTs is stored in accordance with DFID guidelines.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department monitors the use of aid that it provides to the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Direct UK financial aid to the Palestinian Authority is channelled through the EU Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE). Our money goes into a special, dedicated bank account before being paid to vetted health and education public servants in the West Bank. The bank account is only used for UK aid. Independent auditors check that the money paid out from the special bank account only went to the vetted individuals after every disbursement. Audits also include spot checks and field visits.
DFID will also help the Palestinian water and electricity authorities to increase sustainable supplies, particularly in Gaza. Through The World Bank Partnership for Infrastructure Development in the West Bank and Gaza Multi Donor Trust Fund, UK aid will flow from the trust fund to dedicated accounts that will be managed in accordance with robust rules established by the World Bank. DFID will monitor this support through independent financial audits of project spending and through regular programme updates provided by the World Bank.
DFID funding to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) is subject to the rigorous controls that are applied to all UK aid, including annual reviews, evaluation reports, and independent financial audits of programme spending. This information is triangulated with reporting from suppliers and programme partners, and through field visits.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much Official Development Assistance was allocated to programmes run by (a) non-governmental organisations, (b) other private bodies, (c) charities and (d) international organisations in India in 2017-2018.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Official Statistics for International Development track bilateral official development assistance (ODA) expenditure through the following channels; donor governments, multilateral organisations, non-governmental organisations, recipient governments, the private sector and other.
In India, during calendar year 2017, £1.5m of bilateral ODA was spent through multilateral organisations, £4.4m through non-governmental organisations and £22m through private bodies. Additional information is available in the Statistics for International Development, published on 29 November 2018. Figures for total UK attributed share of multilateral core funding for 2017 are not yet available.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the ability of Ethiopia to maintain its polio vaccine programme after the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in that country has ended.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Ethiopia was declared polio-free in 2014 and current estimates report that 76% of children in Ethiopia are receiving three doses of polio vaccine. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is supporting Ethiopia with technical assistance to strengthen surveillance systems and with supplementary immunisation campaigns to mitigate the risk of importation from neighbouring countries that are experiencing outbreaks.
It is a key priority for the UK that countries are supported to transition polio funded assets to the national government and partner organisations after GPEI sunsets upon global eradication. Part of the UK’s funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) is conditional on this being met.
Ethiopia has a costed polio transition plan in place and the UK will continue to monitor WHO’s support to Ethiopia for implementing this plan. The UK is also providing financial and technical support to strengthen Ethiopia’s health system to ensure the country remains polio free.