Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help promote gender equality globally.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK remains committed to putting women and girls at the heart of its foreign and development policy. The International Development Strategy includes a UK priority to provide women and girls with the freedom they need to succeed. The FCDO will publish an International Women and Girls Strategy in 2023, setting out how we will use our diplomatic, trade, security and development levers to achieve gender equality.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled UK to donate 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses, published on 11 June 2021, how many and what proportion of those vaccines have been donated as of 20 September 2022.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK made available 100 million doses and donated 85 million doses to over 42 countries by the June 2022 target date. Of these, approximately 76.5 million have been delivered to COVAX, and 9.1 million have been delivered bilaterally. Global vaccine supply now far outstrips demand, so our focus has switched to helping low-income countries reach their national vaccination targets with the vaccines they have available through the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Global Fund potentially not reaching its seventh replenishment target of raising $18 billion; and what assessment she has made of the impact of that future funding on (a) access to harm reduction services and (b) the UK's international development commitments.
Answered by Amanda Milling
Currently no decision has been made on the UK's contribution to the 7th replenishment of the Global Fund. We are reviewing the Global Fund's investment case against the priorities of the UK's International Development Strategy and we encourage all partners to play their part in helping the Global Fund to meet the $18 billion replenishment target. As set out in the International Development Strategy, providing women and girls with the freedom they need to succeed is a priority for the UK. Prevention, including through provision of harm reduction services, is also an important priority for the Global Fund under the new strategy agreed by the Board last year with the full support of the UK.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the percentage of Official Development Assistance allocated to multilateral organisations on the targets set out in the International Development Strategy.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The FCDO is rebalancing its ODA investments from multilateral to bilateral channels to ensure money goes on the key priorities set out in the International Development Strategy: investment, women and girls, humanitarian, climate change, nature and global health. The shift will empower the UK to deliver more aid directly to where it is needed. We will maintain a wide range of partnerships with multilateral organisations, and they will remain key partners for achieving our objectives and tackling global challenges that the UK cannot solve alone.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any technical assistance hold-back as part of the UK's pledge for the Global Fund's seventh replenishment will count as bilateral aid.
Answered by Amanda Milling
Currently no decision has been made on the UK's contribution to the seventh replenishment of the Global Fund. We have also not yet taken a decision on whether or not to continue the technical assistance hold-back which is a percentage of our core funding.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the commitment to restore Official Development Assistance funding to projects supporting women and girls, whether a proportion of those additional resources will contribute to the UK's pledge for the Global Fund's seventh replenishment.
Answered by Amanda Milling
As set out in the International Development Strategy, providing women and girls with the freedom they need to succeed is a priority for the UK. Our investment in the Global Fund includes support for women and girls, for example to address HIV infections in adolescent girls and young women in areas where women are girls are more than twice as likely to acquire HIV than their male peers. This work is funded from our contribution to the Global Fund which is classified as multilateral aid.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
FCDO consultancy spend in 2020-21 was £2.7 million. Total FCO plus DFID spend for years 2019-20, 2018-19, and 2017-18 was £3.0 million, £2.6 million and £1.3 million respectively. Consultancy spend for 2021-22 will be reported in the FCDO's annual report and accounts, which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has plans to publish an updated strategy on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is firmly committed to promoting the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict and has been at the forefront of initiatives in recent years promoting the issue. The UK Government's policy paper on the UK's Approach to Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict was finalised in March 2020 and reaffirms our commitment to the importance of the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The policy paper provides an update to the UK's national strategy on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, launched in March 2010. The 2010 Strategy continues to guide our approach to the protection of civilians.
In addition, the recently launched International Development Strategy commits the UK to protecting the most at risk in situations of conflict and crisis, including civilians.