Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to allocate additional funding to the COVAX facility in 2022.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. We are among the largest donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million, which leveraged $1 billion from other donors through match funding in 2020. This support to COVAX has been critical in supplying COVID-19 vaccines to over 120 countries and economies. The Prime Minister has also committed to sharing the majority of any surplus vaccines with COVAX.
The UK is committed to our G7 Presidency championing equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to help the world fight COVID-19, and build back better from this pandemic. We are engaging, including with our G7 partners, on COVAX's approach for 2022, and beyond, and continue to advocate for further financial contributions to COVAX to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when the Government plans to begin sharing surplus covid-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX facility in 2021.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the multilateral mechanism set up to support international co-operation on vaccines, and to ensure that the most vulnerable countries have access, COVAX remains best-placed to allocate any surplus doses that the UK may have where they are most needed, and will be most effective. However, it is too early to determine how many doses of the vaccines that the UK has ordered will not be needed for the UK population. This is under constant review.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to make representations to the Government of Israel on the demolition or seizure of at least 114 EU-funded structures provided as humanitarian assistance to Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK is concerned by the continued demolitions of Palestinian property and infrastructure by Israeli authorities. In all but the most exceptional of circumstances demolitions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The practice causes unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and is harmful to the peace process.
The UK regularly raises demolitions with the Government of Israel. I raised my concerns about demolitions of Palestinian and humanitarian structures with the Israeli Ambassador on 29 October 2020, and the UK Ambassador to Israel outlined the UK's position to the Israeli Authorities in Jerusalem on the same day. UK senior officials raised demolitions with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 10 November 2020. The UK also urged the Government of Israel to end demolitions of property in the West Bank at the UN Security council on 21 December 2020. UK officials from the British Consulate in Jerusalem have made regular visits to areas at risk of demolition and eviction to reiterate UK support for those communities, including to Khan al Ahmar on 20 November, Givat Hamatos on 22 October, the South Hebron Hills on 19 October, and Ras al Tin on 16 October. We are focused on preventing demolitions from happening in the first place through our legal aid programme, which supports Bedouin communities and Palestinians facing demolition or home eviction in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We continue to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms for zoning, planning and permitting in Area C for the benefit of the Palestinian population, including by facilitating local Palestinian participation in such processes.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to tackle the (a) increase in the demolition of Palestinian property and (b) subsequent displacement of 524 Palestinian children in 2020.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK is concerned by the continued demolitions of Palestinian property and infrastructure by Israeli authorities. In all but the most exceptional of circumstances demolitions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The practice causes unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and is harmful to the peace process.
The UK regularly raises demolitions with the Government of Israel. I raised my concerns about demolitions of Palestinian and humanitarian structures with the Israeli Ambassador on 29 October 2020, and the UK Ambassador to Israel outlined the UK's position to the Israeli Authorities in Jerusalem on the same day. UK senior officials raised demolitions with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 10 November 2020. The UK also urged the Government of Israel to end demolitions of property in the West Bank at the UN Security council on 21 December 2020. UK officials from the British Consulate in Jerusalem have made regular visits to areas at risk of demolition and eviction to reiterate UK support for those communities, including to Khan al Ahmar on 20 November, Givat Hamatos on 22 October, the South Hebron Hills on 19 October, and Ras al Tin on 16 October. We are focused on preventing demolitions from happening in the first place through our legal aid programme, which supports Bedouin communities and Palestinians facing demolition or home eviction in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We continue to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms for zoning, planning and permitting in Area C for the benefit of the Palestinian population, including by facilitating local Palestinian participation in such processes.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Gaza’s healthcare system during a period of increased cases of covid-19 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK remains concerned about the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza and the impact of COVID-19 on an already fragile healthcare system. Recognising the severity of the situation, we were one of the first donors to provide funding to support the health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We have provided £1.25 million funding (the World Health Organisation with £630,000 and the United Nations Children's Fund with £620,000) to purchase and co-ordinate delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline health workers and scale up laboratory testing capacity - mainly in Gaza.
In addition, we are providing £2.5 million to the World Food Programme to provide food and cash assistance for the most vulnerable Palestinians to help alleviate the humanitarian situation. We have also contributed £1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's Emergency Appeal in the OPTs which will help provide emergency food to over one million food-insecure refugees in Gaza.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on levels of food insecurity in Gaza.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK remains concerned about the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza, compounded by the impact of COVID-19.
We recognise the importance of tackling food insecurity. To support, we are providing £2.5 million to the World Food Programme to provide food and cash assistance to the most vulnerable Palestinians. We have also contributed £1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's Emergency Appeal in the Occupied Palestinian Territories which will help provide emergency food to over one million food-insecure refugees in Gaza.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the gap in oxygen supply for covid-19 patients in Gaza.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We remain concerned about the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, especially in Gaza. We welcome the recent 30% increase in hospital beds for patients suffering critical and severe cases, and the recent procurement by World Health Organisation of two additional oxygen generators. The UK continues to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2020 to Question 124769 and with reference to the cessation of polymerase chain reaction covid-19 testing in Gaza on 6 December 2020, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) testing and (b) control of covid-19 in the Gaza Strip.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We remain concerned about the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. We are aware of the temporary cessation of COVID-19 testing in Gaza on 6th December and welcome reports from the World Health Organisation that further testing kits arrived in Gaza on 7th December and testing resumed.
We have already delivered vital support to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Occupied Palestinian Territories through £1.25 million in funding (World Health Organisation with £630,000 and United Nations Children's Fund with £620,000). This funding helped to provide over 20,000 testing kits, mainly in Gaza.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the needs of people with disabilities in the occupied Palestinian territory during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Disability inclusion is an important issue for the FCDO, and the Ministerial team remains committed to embedding it across all our work, including as we respond to the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
The UK is committed to supporting people with disabilities across our programmes in the OPTs. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, we have approved additional programming to strengthen disability inclusion across Palestinian society, which aims to ensure people with disabilities (PwD) are accounted for in the COVID-19 crisis response through reviewing laws, regulations, HR policies and bylaws in public sector to analyse barriers to PwDs' participation in decision making. This will be followed by an advocacy campaign targeting the gaps identified in the analysis. We also engage frequently with the Israelis on issues affecting ordinary Palestinians, including the impact of COVID-19.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the protection and fulfilment of the rights of people with disabilities in the occupied Palestinian territory throughout the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Disability inclusion is an important issue for the FCDO, and the Ministerial team remains committed to embedding it across all our work, including as we respond to the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
The UK is committed to supporting people with disabilities across our programmes in the OPTs. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, we have approved additional programming to strengthen disability inclusion across Palestinian society, which aims to ensure people with disabilities (PwD) are accounted for in the COVID-19 crisis response through reviewing laws, regulations, HR policies and bylaws in public sector to analyse barriers to PwDs' participation in decision making. This will be followed by an advocacy campaign targeting the gaps identified in the analysis. We also engage frequently with the Israelis on issues affecting ordinary Palestinians, including the impact of COVID-19.