Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps the Foreign Secretary has taken to ensure full and unfettered humanitarian access to civilians in Yemen.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to improve humanitarian access in Yemen. We call on all parties to immediately end restrictions on aid agencies and comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 by allowing safe, rapid, and unhindered access for the humanitarian response.
The Foreign Secretary raised this issue on 1 July in a joint article with the Foreign Ministers of Germany and Sweden, highlighting the need for obstacles to the delivery of aid to be removed.
We welcome recent steps taken by the Houthis to improve humanitarian access but are clear that more progress is needed or humanitarian organisations will be unable to continue delivering vital assistance.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what urgent steps they intend to take with their international partners to try to avert the risk of catastrophic human suffering in Yemen.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is extremely concerned by the devastating humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which remains the largest in the world. This situation is now being compounded by the rapid spread of COVID-19, with UK-funded modelling estimating that Yemen has already had over 1 million infections.
In response, we are promptly disbursing funding from our new £160 million commitment for this financial year (2020/21), to help the UN tackle the spread of COVID-19 in Yemen and address the humanitarian crisis. We have already disbursed 32% of this funding and expect to have disbursed over 50% by the end of July.
We are encouraging other international donors to urgently provide funding to the UN humanitarian response, ahead of Yemen’s expected COVID-19 peak in late July. We are also engaging with Yemeni authorities to encourage them to implement measures to suppress infection, allow access for international staff and COVID-19 supplies and protect the health system.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they have provided for the International Organisation for Migration and International Committee of the Red Cross operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina following the influx of migrants into the country since 2016.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK is a long-standing supporter of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), reflecting our shared commitment to ensuring that UK aid reaches the most marginalised. Across 2016 and 2017, the UK contributed in excess of £100m to IOM and £300m to the ICRC in support of their work with those affected by humanitarian crises. It is not possible to disaggregate the amount of this funding utilised in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2016.
The Department for International Development has also committed to provide IOM with an annual contribution of £6m, and ICRC with £63m core unearmarked funding (up to 2021). This funding will enable both IOM and the ICRC to continue their critical work with some of the world’s most vulnerable, as well as ambitious system-wide improvements to deliver the greatest possible impact for those most in need.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what elements of the Department for International Development's Safety, Support and Solutions Programme for Refugees and Migrants in Europe and the Mediterranean have been focused on supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina in managing the impact of migration affecting the country since 2016.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID’s Safety, Support and Solution programme has not included funding to support Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of the United States following the announcement that the US government will no longer fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; and whether they intend to continue to provide funding to that Agency.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK remains unequivocally committed to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The US has consistently been UNRWA’s single largest donor. When the US announced their intention to withhold a planned disbursement to UNRWA in January, we were sympathetic to their concerns over the need for a broader donor base for UNRWA, but made clear to them that we did not consider a sudden cut in planned funding was the right way to address this. My officials and I continue to raise this with our US counterparts.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of refugees who will be affected by the decision of the government of the United States to withdraw funding for the UN Relief Works Agency; and what specific services and aid they expect will be affected.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) provides essential services to over 5 million Palestinian refugees across the region. My officials are working closely with UNRWA, the United States and other European Union partners to understand risks to UNRWA’s sustainability and how to maintain continuity of key services such as education and health for Palestinian refugees. The UK is concerned at the impact on UNRWA’s activities whenever unexpected reductions or delays in predicted donor disbursements occur and are liaising with UNRWA on their plans for service continuity. UNRWA has publically stated their determination to continue services in all their fields of operations.