Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the absence in the UN Global Compact for Migration of the UK’s three main objectives as set out in the Prime Minister’s addresses to the UN General Assembly in 2016 and 2017, whether the Government plans to decline to sign that compact at the forthcoming UN meeting in Morocco.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK Government is supportive of the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, both as a step forward in international co-operation to tackle irregular migration and as a framework to help us deliver our commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals.
As a leading voice in the negotiations, the UK Government secured positive outcomes in the final text which clearly support the Prime Minister’s main objectives as set out in her speech to the United Nations General Assembly. This includes a clear differentiation between refugees and migrants; the recognition of a State’s right to control their borders and proposals to help States build capacity in this area; and an explicit acknowledgement of States’ responsibility to accept the return of their nationals who no longer have the right to remain elsewhere.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide in-country training for government officials and others engaged in (1) monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals, and (2) data collection, following United Nations guidelines; and to what extent the Commonwealth could provide this training.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID provides a range of support and training to National Statistics Offices in developing countries to gather, analyse and use a wide range of information, including data relevant to the SDGs. For example, through the UN Statistics Department, we are supporting 20 developing countries to disseminate SDG data through National Reporting Platforms, including technical assistance and training. We are also funding such support through the World Bank, the IMF and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) is also planning to host a meeting of Commonwealth heads of National Statistics Institutes (NSI) later this year. The ONS is proposing including in the agenda a focus on data gaps for global SDG indicators. This will build on publication on 19 March of a report on UK data gaps, including our initial Inclusive Data Action Plan.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps the Government has taken to support meeting the specific targets on (a) violence against women and girls, (b) female genital mutilation and (c) child and early forced marriage within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Rory Stewart
This government is proud of its global leadership on tackling violence against women and girls. Globally, one in three women have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. We cannot and will not tolerate this.
We are supporting the UN and national governments in the challenge to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls, including female genital mutilation (FGM) and child and early forced marriage (CEFM), across a range of interventions, including, but not limited to:
Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, entitled Voices of the hungry, published in April 2016, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) initiate regular annual monitoring of adult and child food insecurity in the UK and (b) determine a precise estimate on which to base action to reduce food poverty.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Food insecurity is a global problem which the United Nations (UN) agreed to confront at the World Food Summit in 1996 and has framed subsequent sustainable development goals. Getting accurate and informative data was the motivation for the ‘Voices of the Hungry’ project. This project has established an annual universal metric to measure lack of access to food and the severity of this in over 150 countries, and help inform UN policy. The Department for International Development has provided financial support to enable the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to take this forward.
The United Kingdom is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and to the data the FAO commissions and manages. There are therefore no plans for the Department of Health to independently monitor food insecurity going forward, or determine a precise estimate on which to base action to reduce food poverty.
The Government is committed to tackling childhood obesity and launched Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action on 18 August. A copy of the plan is attached and is also available at:
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf
Asked by: Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, entitled Voices of the hungry, published in April 2016, whether tackling dietary inequality will be a focus of the forthcoming childhood obesity strategy.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Food insecurity is a global problem which the United Nations (UN) agreed to confront at the World Food Summit in 1996 and has framed subsequent sustainable development goals. Getting accurate and informative data was the motivation for the ‘Voices of the Hungry’ project. This project has established an annual universal metric to measure lack of access to food and the severity of this in over 150 countries, and help inform UN policy. The Department for International Development has provided financial support to enable the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to take this forward.
The United Kingdom is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and to the data the FAO commissions and manages. There are therefore no plans for the Department of Health to independently monitor food insecurity going forward, or determine a precise estimate on which to base action to reduce food poverty.
The Government is committed to tackling childhood obesity and launched Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action on 18 August. A copy of the plan is attached and is also available at:
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that comprehensive data is collected on the situation and needs of older people in developing countries.
Answered by Nick Hurd
DFID recognises the importance to collect disaggregated data that describes the distinct experiences of people across different stages in their lifecycle. We welcome the agreement of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes clear levels of disaggregation by age for relevant indicators, ensuring that countries are able to plan and monitor the impact for elderly people in order to leave no one behind.
We are supporting various programmes to strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems to produce the data that is needed. DFID also recently hosted a multi-stakeholder seminar to raise awareness for the importance of age data disaggregation and to address the technical challenges with age data disaggregation across the lifecycle, and the next steps include developing a DFID data disaggregation action plan.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has made an assessment of the extent to which the single departmental plans for the current Parliament are consistent with the UK's sustainable development aims.
Answered by Oliver Letwin
The UK Government is committed to delivering the sustainable development goals as agreed by the United Nations in 2015. We will be reviewing the consistency of our plans and policies with the Global Goals.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to engage with other countries to develop family planning and sexual and reproductive health indicators to accompany the goals and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Baroness Verma
We welcome the agreement of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes indicators on the extent to which needs for family planning; adolescent birth rate; sexual violence; early marriage; female genital mutilation/cutting; informed sexual and reproductive health decision making; and legal frameworks on access to sexual and reproductive health care and information have been met. As the UNSC has noted, the framework is a practical starting point, and further work will be needed on some of the indicators. The UNSC has asked the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG) to take forward further work on the indicator framework. The IAEG-SDG is composed of member states and includes as observers regional and international organisations and agencies including the UN Regional Commissions. The Office for National Statistics expects to contribute to the development of SDG indicators via the relevant expert groups.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to engage with the UN Regional Commissions to develop family planning and sexual and reproductive health indicators to accompany the goals and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Baroness Verma
We welcome the agreement of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes indicators on the extent to which needs for family planning; adolescent birth rate; sexual violence; early marriage; female genital mutilation/cutting; informed sexual and reproductive health decision making; and legal frameworks on access to sexual and reproductive health care and information have been met. As the UNSC has noted, the framework is a practical starting point, and further work will be needed on some of the indicators. The UNSC has asked the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG) to take forward further work on the indicator framework. The IAEG-SDG is composed of member states and includes as observers regional and international organisations and agencies including the UN Regional Commissions. The Office for National Statistics expects to contribute to the development of SDG indicators via the relevant expert groups.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to engage with the UN Regional Commissions to develop Sustainable Development Goal indicators, and how they intend to involve civil society in that process.
Answered by Baroness Verma
We welcome the agreement of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes indicators on the extent to which needs for family planning; adolescent birth rate; sexual violence; early marriage; female genital mutilation/cutting; informed sexual and reproductive health decision making; and legal frameworks on access to sexual and reproductive health care and information have been met. As the UNSC has noted, the framework is a practical starting point, and further work will be needed on some of the indicators. The UNSC has asked the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG) to take forward further work on the indicator framework. The IAEG-SDG is composed of member states and includes as observers regional and international organisations and agencies including the UN Regional Commissions. The Office for National Statistics expects to contribute to the development of SDG indicators via the relevant expert groups.