Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to raise the importance at multilateral level of water, sanitation and hygiene in responding to the covid-19 pandemic in developing countries.

Alongside our own bilateral programme funding, DFID seeks to influence multilateral organisations to improve the quality of water, sanitation and hygiene in the international COVID-19 response. We have funded a hub at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to provide evidence and advice to all partners including multilateral organisations on hygiene elements of the COVID-19 response. DFID provides funding to the Public Health Department of the World Health Organisation to provide international technical leadership on the response. We announced funding to UNICEF’s COVID-19 appeal, and DFID is a founding member of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership, which convenes parties including multilaterals on COVID-19 action. I recently spoke on a panel with the World Bank, UNICEF and African Development Bank on the importance water, sanitation and hygiene in the international COVID-19 response.