Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent representations she has made to the Bangladesh Government to give UK humanitarian agencies access to Bangladesh to support displaced Rohingya people.
Answered by Alistair Burt
On the Secretary of state’s recent visit to Bangladesh in November 2017, she discussed the issue of NGO access to provide support to displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh with the UN and partners in Dhaka. The issue was raised with the government of Bangladesh by FCO Ministers on their joint visit last September, and is raised regularly with the government by officials from the British High Commission in Bangladesh.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) women and (b) all people in Bangladesh affected by Cyclone Roanu.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
To mitigate the effects of Cyclone Roanu the UK is helping to provide an immediate package of relief assistance to benefit approximately 27,000 people across Bhola, Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali and Laxmipur districts. Of this number at least 13,500 or 50% are women.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help people in Bangladesh build resilience against future extreme weather events in (a) Chittagong and (b) Bangladesh.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Since 2010 the United Kingdom, through DFID, has made significant investments totalling almost £38 million to enhance Bangladesh’s resilience to future extreme weather events - including in Chittagong.
Across Bangladesh approximately 3 million people have benefitted from community-level risk reduction initiatives. In Chittagong efforts have focussed on enhancing resilience to cyclone and storm surges. UK funding has also helped to plant 65,000 trees across Chittagong district as part of re-forestry activities to help stabilise soil and reduce the impact of coastal flooding.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department plans to allocate to assist developing countries in tackling tax evasion in each of the next three years.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK is one of the leading international donors on tax and development and contributes considerable resources to build tax capacity in developing countries including to tackle tax evasion. Through the Addis Tax Initiative, DFID has committed to doubling its financial support for tax by 2020.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to encourage UK companies to sign up to the Bangladesh Safety Accord.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has repeatedly called for companies to take responsibility for the working conditions of all those that make their clothes. This has included the Westminster Debate on 30 April, repeat Ministerial visits to Bangladesh, communications around the Rana Plaza anniversary, and numerous meetings with retailers and buyers.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department is working with the Department for Energy and Climate Change to ensure that official development assistance funding provided for international climate projects is prioritised in policies aimed at reducing poverty.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK’s International Climate Fund is jointly managed by DFID, DECC and Defra and has already directly supported 15 million people to cope with effects of climate change and given 2.6 million people improved access to clean energy.
The new UK Aid Strategy brings together the Government’s poverty reduction objectives with a commitment to tackle some of today’s biggest global challenges, including climate change. Tackling climate change and promoting sustainable development are two sides of the same coin – we cannot achieve one without the other.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to ensure that official development assistance funding is prioritised for poverty reduction projects.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government published a new UK Aid Strategy (UK aid: tackling global challenges in the national interest) in November. The Strategy brings together the Government’s poverty reduction objectives with a commitment to tackle some of today’s biggest global challenges such as mass migration and global climate change. The Government will shape its Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending according to four strategic objectives, all of which support poverty reduction and are aligned with the UK national interest. The Government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income on international development, and strong UK leadership on the Global Goals, signals the UK’s intent to eradicate poverty in our lifetime.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the official development assistance budget was given to the International Climate Fund in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Details of the International Climate Fund (ICF) as a proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) are set out below for 2012-2014. Figures for 2015 have not yet been published.
total net ODA | total ICF | percentage | |
2012 | 8,802 | 488.15 | 5.5% |
2013 | 11,424 | 769.01 | 6.7% |
2014 | 11,726 | 880.11 | 7.5% |
NOTES:
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support economic growth in the Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID is promoting private sector development which contributes to state and peacebuilding in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by supporting fiscal sustainability, and reducing unemployment and poverty. DFID’s focus is on increasing growth and employment in key sectors, such as manufacturing, tourism, IT, and agriculture. Our support is channelled through the Palestinian Market Development Programme which seeks to improve the competitiveness of the Palestinian private sector, and through our support to the Office of the Quartet which attempts to make it easier to trade by removing movement and access restrictions.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on the levels of malnutrition in camps for internally displaced Rohingya in Rakhine State, Burma; and what aid the UK Government is providing to those camps.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
According to Save the Children, the level of acute and chronic malnutrition in the camps is poor. The most recent reports state that acute malnutrition was between 8.5% and 11.8% in the different camp areas, and stunting up to 52%.
DFID is providing funding for treatment of severe acute and chronic malnutrition, as well as funding for water and sanitation work that helps to prevent malnutrition. Over 126,000 internally displaced and conflict affected people in Rakhine benefit from our support to water and sanitation and nutrition.
DFID is one of the largest bilateral humanitarian donors in Rakhine, and has provided over £18 million since 2012.