Overseas Aid: Coronavirus

(asked on 5th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations around the world, including (1) women, (2) refugees and, (3) migrants.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 19th May 2020

To date, the UK has committed £744 million in the international fight against COVID-19. We are a key contributor to the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan, which is supporting the most vulnerable, including women and girls, refugees and migrants.

New UK funding to the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) and other partners will help install hand-washing stations and isolation and treatment centres in refugee camps, provide protection and education services for forcibly displaced children, and increase access to clean water for displaced people living in areas of armed conflict.

The UK is also providing significant support to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to help make sure life-saving family planning, HIV drugs and equipment needed to care for the survivors of sexual assault can get to the most vulnerable in developing countries. Further support to UNICEF and the Education Cannot Wait initiative will ensure disadvantaged children do not get left behind and deliver protection services for children and women affected by violence.

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