Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the need for humanitarian assistance in Burundi and the potential role of the churches in meeting the needs of Burundian refugees and internally displaced persons.
Answered by Baroness Verma
The UK is gravely concerned about the ongoing political and human rights crisis in Burundi. Reported abuses by security forces against civilians are deplorable. All allegations should be investigated and those responsible held accountable. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights pointed at increasing signs of ethnic targeting which is very concerning and is being monitored. DFID is coordinating closely with the Foreign Office on the situation as well as with international partners including the African Union.
The humanitarian situation in Burundi itself is not critical at this stage, but it remains fragile and will deteriorate as long as the political crisis continues. DFID will continue to assess whether humanitarian assistance is required within the country. At the same time, our teams in Tanzania, Rwanda, the DRC and Uganda, are working hard providing humanitarian support to Burundian refugees. The UK has committed £18.15 million for the refugee response being led by UN agencies, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), and international NGOs. This funding includes £14.25 million to support refugees in Tanzania, and £3.9 million to support refugees in Rwanda. We are keeping our funding levels under constant review according to need. We have deployed a humanitarian adviser to the region to support the regional refugee response and we have provided technical support, in the form of secondment of experts, to support UN agencies working in Burundi. This includes support to the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) to strengthen humanitarian coordination in Burundi.
DFID recognises that churches and faith groups can have great legitimacy and a wide reach, and therefore can make an important contribution to both refugees and internally displaced persons.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UN World Food Programme's decision to reduce assistance provided to 1.6 million Syrians in refugee camps owing to budgetary constraints.
Answered by Baroness Verma
The UK has a proud record of leadership on the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, having pledged a total of £1 billion. The UK has provided over £169 million to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) since the start of the crisis.
WFP, like all our partners, is under intense pressure to respond to massive needs in the region and has had to make some tough choices. The UK strongly supports WFP’s efforts to target the most vulnerable in this crisis, particularly women and children. The UK is closely monitoring the situation across the region, alongside other key donors, to understand how this reduction in support will impact the lives of Syrian refugees.
The UK does not lobby other donors on behalf of any specific agency, but to focus their attention and their resources on supporting the overall Syria crisis response. The UK is by far the largest bilateral donor in Europe, and second only to the United States, to the Syria crisis. However the UK, the US and the European Union cannot do this alone and other donors must do more to support the needs of millions of Syrians across the region.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to increase the United Kingdom's contribution to the UN World Food Programme in response to the refugee crisis in Syria.
Answered by Baroness Verma
The UK has a proud record of leadership on the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, having pledged a total of £1 billion. The UK has provided over £169 million to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) since the start of the crisis.
WFP, like all our partners, is under intense pressure to respond to massive needs in the region and has had to make some tough choices. The UK strongly supports WFP’s efforts to target the most vulnerable in this crisis, particularly women and children. The UK is closely monitoring the situation across the region, alongside other key donors, to understand how this reduction in support will impact the lives of Syrian refugees.
The UK does not lobby other donors on behalf of any specific agency, but to focus their attention and their resources on supporting the overall Syria crisis response. The UK is by far the largest bilateral donor in Europe, and second only to the United States, to the Syria crisis. However the UK, the US and the European Union cannot do this alone and other donors must do more to support the needs of millions of Syrians across the region.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the European Union, the United States of America and other development partners, about the funding of the UN World Food Programme in the light of budgetary pressures ensuing from the refugee crisis in Syria.
Answered by Baroness Verma
The UK has a proud record of leadership on the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, having pledged a total of £1 billion. The UK has provided over £169 million to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) since the start of the crisis.
WFP, like all our partners, is under intense pressure to respond to massive needs in the region and has had to make some tough choices. The UK strongly supports WFP’s efforts to target the most vulnerable in this crisis, particularly women and children. The UK is closely monitoring the situation across the region, alongside other key donors, to understand how this reduction in support will impact the lives of Syrian refugees.
The UK does not lobby other donors on behalf of any specific agency, but to focus their attention and their resources on supporting the overall Syria crisis response. The UK is by far the largest bilateral donor in Europe, and second only to the United States, to the Syria crisis. However the UK, the US and the European Union cannot do this alone and other donors must do more to support the needs of millions of Syrians across the region.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of ebola on the economy of Sierra Leone and its implication for the share of the United Kingdom Official Development Assistance that country will receive in the current, and next, financial year.
Answered by Baroness Northover
The Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone occurred alongside a steep fall in iron ore prices and these two crises together prompted a sharp drop in Sierra Leone’s economic activity. All of Sierra Leone’s economic sectors have been affected by these crises, including agriculture upon which more than 60% of the population depend for their livelihoods.
So far the UK has committed £325 million to eradicating the disease in Sierra Leone and the UK priority is to get to zero cases as soon as possible and prevent any new outbreaks in Sierra Leone. However, in parallel the UK is working with the Government of Sierra Leone on longer term economic recovery.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what grants have been made to ecumenical organisations or faith-based developmental bodies to promote inter-faith dialogue or community cohesion in conflict-affected areas in each of the last three accounting periods for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Northover
DFID does not centrally maintain grants made to faith based organisations against this criteria. However, at the country office level, DFID has provided funding to faith based organisations to support efforts to reduce and prevent violence where religious tensions impact on conflict dynamics. For example, DFID’s Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) is working to support efforts to reduce and prevent violence. In areas such as Plateau and Kaduna States where religious tensions impact on conflict dynamics, NSRP is supporting both Catholic Justice and Peace Networks and Muslim organisations to work together to address conflict issues and build links across divided communities.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential for joint working between the Department for International Development and the British Council; how much Official Development Assistance has been applied for that purpose in each of the last five years; and how much is expected to be expended in the period covered by the current Spending Review.
Answered by Baroness Northover
We primarily engage British Council through contractual relationships. DFID will continue to develop its relationship with the British Council where they have been selected as the lead supplier after fair competition.
Official Development Assistance has been disbursed through the British Council in recent years as follows:
2009/10 - £15.7m
2010/11 - £33.4m
2011/12 - £13.1m
2012/13 - £14.5m
2013/14 - £14.5m.
We expect to disburse £10.8m in the remainder of this spending review.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have for the promotion of scientific innovation in the developing world in combatting infectious life-threatening diseases.
Answered by Baroness Northover
The UK is the second largest government supporter of research to promote scientific innovation to develop new health technologies to combat infectious life-threatening diseases in the developing world. In August 2013 the Government announced support for a number of product development partnerships, with funding scheduled to continue until 2018[1] . The Government is also providing support (awarded in 2010) for the Meningitis Vaccine Development Programme, a product development partnership.
In addition the UK Government supports the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), a partnership between European Member States and African Countries which plays a leading role facilitating innovative research and development for new health technologies for diseases of the developing world.
[1]. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dfid-invests-to-save-millions-from-deadly-diseases.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the European Union on the promotion of scientific research in Africa (1) generally, and (2) in relation to infectious diseases.
Answered by Baroness Northover
The UK regularly engages with the European Union on the promotion of scientific research in Africa, including in relation to infectious diseases. Cooperation on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) is embedded in the Joint Africa EU Strategy (JAES), agreed by Heads of State in 2007. Under the JAES, the EU and Africa engage in an STI partnership, governed by an EU-Africa senior officials high-level policy dialogue (HLPD). Through the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS), a group of 14 UK government departments and research funders, the UK plays a particularly active role in the HLPD Bureau, the body that implements the recommendations of HLPD. The HLPD and its Bureau is currently engaged, with UK support, in promoting an EU-Africa roadmap for STI cooperation in food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture. In addition, the EU has established the Pan Africa programme as a funding instrument to support the JAES and DFID officials are involved in regular discussions on the management of this fund. The funds from this programme support cooperation on a number of priority areas including research cooperation and improved higher education.
The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP) was established in 2003, to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines and other health technologies. EDCTP brings together countries in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, to pool resources and skills, to effectively co-ordinate and implement clinical research and to build research capacity in Africa. The UK is a leading bilateral investor in the EDCTP and has worked actively to promote its work; the UK is currently Chair of the European Economic Interest Group (representing European Member States) and the overall General Assembly.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of investment in (1) health system strengthening, and (2) public health, in the developing world.
Answered by Baroness Northover
There is no internationally recognised methodology for calculating investment in either health systems strengthening or public health.
Estimates of the need for investment in health systems in developing countries and the adequacy of resources available have been made. Most recently, the Commission on Investing in Health estimated that around an additional $15 billion per annum would be required between 2016 and 2025 to strengthen health systems in developing countries.