Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many nurses joined the Nursing and Midwife Council Register from countries graded by the World Health Organisation as having fewer nurses than the global median in the most recent year for which figures are available
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses, midwives, and nursing associates in the United Kingdom. The following table shows the number of nurses, midwives, and nursing associates joining the NMC’s register from each country with fewer nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people than the global median in the year ending 31 March 2022.
Bahrain 4
Bangladesh 1
Barbados 18
Belize 17
Cameroon 17
China 6
Colombia 3
Egypt 13
Eswatini 9
Ethiopia 1
Gambia 12
India 9,769
Iran 19
Iraq 1
Jamaica 115
Jordan 12
Kenya 461
Lebanon 20
Lesotho 18
Malawi 7
Malaysia 20
Namibia 11
Nepal 210
Niger 1
Nigeria 3,010
Pakistan 112
Saint Lucia 13
Sri Lanka 14
Tanzania 1
Tunisia 1
Turkey 2
Uganda 30
Zambia 57
Zimbabwe 913
Notes:
1. The World Health Organization publishes a measure of the number of nurses per 10,000 population. The median for their measure, unweighted by countries population is 35.07 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population.
2. Countries below the median level of nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population where there were no joiners to the NMC register are excluded.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support reproductive health in Africa.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As outlined in the recent International Development Strategy, the UK is strongly committed to "empowering women and girls, unlocking the agency and power of all people" by "driving progress on universal, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights". The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) supports a broad range of programmes, including on maternal and child health, family planning and HIV and AIDS. Since taking up position of Minister for Africa in September I have visited clinics offering Reproductive Health Services in Senegal, Tanzania, Malawi and Sierra Leone and had the opportunity to hear first hand from women, medical staff and community leaders of the transformational impact these services are having on women and their families.
The UK has supported 9.5 million women and girls to use modern methods of contraception since 2018 through the Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme, which now works across 17 African countries. This £260 million programme delivers voluntary family planning services and reproductive health and rights, with a focus on reaching those most in need - young people, women living in extreme poverty and people with disabilities. It has averted 45,080 maternal deaths, 5.9 million unsafe abortions and 16.5 million unintended pregnancies.
The UK also plays a vital role in strengthening countries' own ability to deliver life-saving maternal, reproductive and child health services through the Global Financing and Reproductive Health Supplies programmes, and our support to FP2030 and UNAIDs.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of UK budget reductions to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (a) on global polio eradication and (b) recent outbreaks of polio in (i) Malawi and (ii) Mozambique.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK remains committed to polio eradication, and supports the work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), to which we have provided £1.38 billion since 1995. The GPEI have led efforts that have eradicated wild polio from all but two countries, with last year reporting just six cases of wild polio virus; by far the lowest ever recorded. GPEI have now vaccinated 13 million children in Malawi, Mozambique and neighbouring countries. This recent importation of cases to Africa shows the importance of retaining high levels of childhood immunisation, which is why the UK remains the largest donor to Gavi's core mission. In addition to our support at a global level to GPEI, the UK is a strong partner to the Malawi and Mozambique health sectors, including through our health systems strengthening programmes, which have components aimed at building preparedness and response to health shocks such as disease outbreaks and supporting the provision of childhood vaccines.
The difficult economic situation has meant that we have had to reduce the aid budget, including for programmes such as GPEI. We will return to spending 0.7% of our Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance as soon as the fiscal situation allows.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any of British International Investment’s $100 million commitment to Afreximbank through a risk sharing guarantee programme made in 2018 has been used to support Afreximbank loans to the Reserve Bank of Malawi, the government of Malawi or any other Malawi state-owned bodies.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In 2018, British International Investment (BII) made a commitment of $100 million to Afreximbank in the form of a risk sharing guarantee programme to promote trade across Africa. The facility aims to provide working capital to medium and large businesses in sub-Saharan Africa countries by enabling banks to increase their risk appetite.
BII's support of Afreximbank has not involved any loans or credit facilities to the Reserve Bank of Malawi or Government of Malawi or Malawi state-owned bodies.
Trade finance - typically provided by banks and other financial institutions - is crucial to the success of a developing economy. Through services such as letters of credit for importers and guarantees for exporters, trade finance facilitates transactions, allowing businesses in developing countries to buy and sell goods more easily. BII's partnerships with confirming banks such as Afreximbank mean more trade finance products can be offered to businesses in Africa and South Asia.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of cancelling the debt of (a) Mozambique and (b) other countries in southern Africa that have been heavily impacted by tropical storm Ana.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We recognise the significant impact of Storm Ana on Mozambique. It is clear that other countries, including Malawi and Madagascar, have also been severely affected.
If affected countries are facing significant debt vulnerabilities, they can – if eligible – request a treatment under the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI. This was agreed by the UK, along with the G20 and Paris Club, to help deliver a long-term, sustainable approach for supporting low-income countries to tackle their debt vulnerabilities
For countries that make a request to the Common Framework, treatments can include both the reprofiling of debt or a full restructuring, which, depending on need, may entail debt cancellation. This should enable more efficient, equitable, and effective case-by-case restructurings, allowing low-income countries requesting debt treatment to benefit from a transparent and responsive approach.
In addition to this, the UK is exploring the development of innovative debt instruments that could provide automatic fiscal space in the event of a significant weather event or other natural disaster, to help increase the long-term climate resilience of vulnerable countries. The UK is actively calling for creditors and debtors to explore the introduction of these climate-resilient debt instruments.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support her Department is providing to communities in Malawi affected by Tropical Storm Ana.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Tropical storm Ana recently caused extensive damage to a densely populated and already food insecure part of Malawi. Earlier this month Tropical Storm Gombe affected many of the same areas. I spoke to President Chakwera on 2 February to express my condolences.
The UK has given financial support to the multi-donor 'Start Fund'. This helped address the immediate needs of over 20,000 storm victims in the worst-hit districts, providing cash, food and clean water. FCDO Malawi's Building Resilience and Adapting to Climate Change programme also works in flood-affected districts, providing longer-term support for recovery including cash, agricultural support and infrastructure.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that Africa remains free of circulating wild-type poliovirus following the discovery of a case in Malawi in February 2022.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As part of the response to this the recently detected case in Malawi, Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) will vaccinate 22 million children across 4 countries to boost population immunity and prevent the spread of the virus. They are also increasing surveillance capacity in the region to detect any further cases. In addition to our longstanding support at a global level to GPEI, the UK is a strong partner to the Malawi Health Sector, including through our health systems strengthening programme which has a component aimed at building preparedness and response to health shocks such as disease outbreaks.
We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and will work with GPEI, the Malawi Ministry of Health and partners on the ground to ensure a timely and thorough response to this outbreak and we await the findings of the investigation into this case.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2021 to Question 85317, which other 15 countries the UK supports bilaterally for foundational learning.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Our 2021 Girls' Education Action Plan set out the UK Government's commitment to improve basic education and focus on foundational learning for all. This is reflected in our bilateral programmes globally, which work to improve teaching, strengthen systems and support the most marginalised children, especially girls. This includes bilateral programmes to improve basic education in Pakistan, Lebanon, Tanzania, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, DRC, Myanmar, Jordan, Syria, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Kenya and Afghanistan.
We are shining a spotlight on the learning crisis internationally and improving ways of working at the country level by building a new Coalition on Learning with likeminded partners to emphasise the urgency of getting children's learning on track after two years of school closures. We are calling on all governments to keep schools open and to scale up efforts to get girls into school, assess children's learning levels and support children to catch up on learning by prioritising the basics.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the health and humanitarian situation in Malawi.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK delivers a substantial package of support to Malawi; we are proud to have been one of their biggest partners in responding to the challenges of COVID-19, and we are delivering aid programmes focused on strengthening systems so that the country is better equipped to respond to future shocks. This includes partnering with the Government of Malawi in upgrading health facilities, and providing cost-free access to health services, especially in remote areas.
Tropical storm Ana recently caused extensive damage to a densely populated and already food insecure part of Malawi. I spoke to President Chakwera on 2 February to express my condolences. In response to the storm, the UK is providing financial support to the multi-donor 'Start Fund' to help address the immediate needs of over 20,000 storm victims in the worst-hit districts in Malawi. This support includes cash, food, and support with accessing clean water.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2021 to Question 85319, in addition to the EQUIP-T programme, which other UK bilateral education programmes have achieved improvements to learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy at scale.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Improving learning outcomes is a priority for UK AID, and we are working bilaterally and with international partners to help education systems improve learning at scale, especially for most marginalised children.
Having competent, creative and well-supported teachers is one of the most impactful and cost-effective ways to get girls' learning. In Ghana, our bilateral programme has supported the Government's Teacher Education Policy reforms, making teaching a degree profession for the first time and putting in place new National Teaching Standards. To date, these nation-wide reforms have improved teaching practices of 70,000 student teachers and 1,500 teacher educators. In northern Nigeria, the UK has been working in partnership with State Governments, British Council, Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund to ensure schools are 'teaching at the right level'. This proven cost-effective remedial strategy provides dedicated time for children to master basic skills, alongside regular assessment of students' progress. This approach is now being replicated across several States in northern Nigeria. In Malawi, the UK is supporting the government's reform of the primary school maths curriculum; developing new teaching and learning materials; training all teachers nationwide; and establishing ongoing school-based support. This will benefit over 3.2 million students and over 40,000 teachers nationwide.
We are also working with like-minded partners internationally to ensure better use of education evidence and learning data. Our new Global Education What Works Hub is supporting the generation and use of evidence to understand what education interventions work in what contexts, and how these can be scaled effectively to deliver learning at scale for all.