Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that cuts to Official Development Assistance have had on research projects concerning dengue fever in the UK.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK Government, through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, have made significant investments in global health research for novel health technologies and implementation research to combat diseases of poverty, including HIV, TB and malaria as well as Neglected Tropical Diseases. The FCDO has not supported direct research on dengue fever although it is addressed indirectly through our health systems research programmes and our support to technology development programmes such as the Liverpool based Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC).
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support women’s access to contraceptive services in South Africa.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Women's empowerment and gender equity are top priorities for the UK Government in South Africa, including through work on skills and youth employment, and tackling gender based violence. While the UK does not currently provide support to women's access to contraceptive services in South Africa, 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, across 17 African countries.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to support (1) maternal health, and (2) family planning provision, for (a) those in Ukraine, and (b) those who are now refugees, in light of Russia's invasion of that country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has now committed £395 million in aid to the current crisis. This includes £220 million of humanitarian assistance which will be used to save lives, and protect vulnerable people inside Ukraine and in neighbouring countries. This funding will help aid agencies respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation by providing access to basic necessities and medical supplies. UK Government humanitarian experts have also deployed to the region to support those fleeing the violence in Ukraine. The UK has matched pound for pound the public's first £25 million for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, which has now surpassed £130 million. Donating will help DEC charities provide food, water, shelter and healthcare to refugees and displaced families.
To date, we have contributed £3.5 million to provide medical supplies to Ukraine. Five commercial flights with supplies have been sent plus a further shipment on a military flight. We are preparing another five flights over the next week and we are working with Department of Health and Social Care and Devolved Administrations to identify and prepare supplies which meet the most pressing needs with a focus on pharmaceuticals.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the Stabilization Unit Independent Review of the Defence Engagement Programme for the financial year 2015–16.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A search of FCDO and MOD records has not returned any documents matching this description.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of UK aid funding for mine action.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is one of the leading supporters of mine action across the world. Our current Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP2, running from 2018-2022) has helped to raise standards across the global demining sector through its effective and innovative approach. Under GMAP2, the UK has cleared and confirmed safe 435.2 million square metres of land, the equivalent of over 60,952 football pitches, and has delivered risk education messages to over 3.7 million people in communities affected by mines. GMAP2 has as a consequence contributed to broader HMG development goals such as stabilisation, education, jobs and food security in poor and fragile countries across the world.
The FCDO is currently working on the design of a new Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP3), which will replace GMAP2 during 2022. We are committed to continually improving the effectiveness of our aid funding for mine action, and are drawing on lessons learned from GMAP2.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support Angola to become landmine free under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is a leading donor in supporting Angola's commitment to be landmine free by 2025. The UK's current Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP2, 2018-22) has, as of September 2021, cleared and confirmed safe over 27 million square metres of land in Angola (the equivalent of 3,784 football pitches) and provided 95,004 people with risk education.
The Global Mine Action Programme 3 (GMAP3) is due to replace GMAP2 during 2022. It will involve landmine clearance and risk education to help keep affected communities safe, and build capacity development for national authorities to help them manage landmine contamination. We are in the process of finalising individual country allocations, and will make a statement as soon as this is complete.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure developing countries affected by loss and damage due to climate change are not pushed further into debt.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to identifying new and additional sources of finance for loss and damage due to climate change in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess the level of need for loss and damage due to climate change in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to establish a process to discuss finance for loss and damage due to climate change in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to assist developing countries avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
As COP26 Presidency, the UK will work with the incoming Egyptian Presidency for COP27 and UNFCCC Subsidiary Body Chairs to follow up on the actions set out in the COP26 Decision text. This includes the Glasgow Dialogue which will discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. As Presidency we will also be supporting the process to operationalise the Santiago Network, which will catalyse and deliver technical support to enable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change.
We are also taking action through our International Climate Finance (ICF) - which will total £11.6 billion over the next 5 years, with an extra £1bn in if fiscal conditions allow - as well as through broader humanitarian assistance. Between 2016 and 2019, the UK spent £2 billion of ICF on adaptation and investments in areas needed to address loss and damage, including around £202 million on humanitarian assistance directly linked to climate change and building resilience to it, and £115 million on financial protection and risk management.