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.

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.