Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 20 February (HL5245), what steps they are taking to encourage faith-based organisations in Iraq to access UK funding through the UN-managed Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund.

UK officials in Iraq regularly meet with humanitarian organisations and direct them towards the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund (IHPF) to access funding. DFID does not differentiate in its approach between faith-based organisations and secular organisations, and supports the approach of the IHPF to provide funding to those best placed to provide assistance to those most in need. DFID officials in London meet quarterly with a working group of non-governmental organisation representatives to discuss Iraq, including many from faith-based organisations. The discussions regularly cover any concerns or questions that organisations have about access to IHPF funding.