Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what effect UK overseas development assistance has had on levels of female genital mutilation over the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Today a girl is about one-third less likely to be cut than 30 years ago, but UNICEF estimates that at least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The UK leads the world in our support to the Africa-led movement to end FGM. Since 2013, our programmes have enabled 8,000 communities, representing 24 million people, to pledge to abandon FGM, and over 3 million girls to receive FGM protection and care services.
We know, however, that more needs to be done and in 2018 we announced a further £50 million UK aid package – the biggest single investment worldwide to date by any international donor – to tackle this issue across the most-affected countries in Africa.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what effect UK overseas development assistance has had on the take up of primary education over the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The UK is a leader in global education. Between 2000 and 2018, the global number of children out of primary school dropped from 100 million to 59 million. The biggest proportion of bilateral UK Aid education spend (35%) is for basic education and between 2015 and 2019 UK Aid supported 14.3 million children to gain a decent education, including at least 5.8 million girls.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effect of UK overseas development assistance on levels of maternal mortality in the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The global Maternal Mortality Ratio has declined on average by 2.9% every year since 2000. More specifically, this ratio reduced from 274 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2007 to 211 in 2017.
This result is due to countries’ own investments as well as those from the entire development community, to which DFID is a major contributor. Using internationally agreed methods, we estimate that DFID has spent approximately £1 billion per year on reproductive, maternal newborn and child health between 2013/14 – 2016/17. DFID has contributed to reduced maternal mortality through our bilateral and central health programmes that focus on strengthening health systems (e.g. through health worker training, drugs and equipment). We also support the development of global and national policies. We have led the world on increasing access to family planning and remain a champion on these issues. We recently announced a renewed commitment to end preventable deaths of mothers and newborns by 2030.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effect of UK overseas development assistance on levels of contraception prevalence in the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
In 2019, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among all women of reproductive age in the 69 Family Planning 2020 movement focus countries was 34.8%, compared to 32.5% in 2012. This represent 46 million additional users of modern methods of family planning – of which we estimate 13.2 million has been reached by DFID programmes, with rapid increases in Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Chad – relative to what was expected in 2012.
Global adolescent fertility rates have reduced from 48 births per 1,000 adolescent girls in 2007, to 42 births per 1,000 adolescent girls in 2017. These results are due to countries’ own investments as well as investments from the entire development community.
The UK leads the world in our long-term support for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including for family planning. At UNGA this September, the Secretary of State reiterated our commitment to SRHR and announced a new £600m Reproductive Health Supplies programme running from 2020 to 2025, that will give over 20 million women and girls access to family planning per year. We are the second largest bilateral donor for family planning in developing countries and work through our country level and central programmes. These programmes provide access to family planning services, support an increase in demand for contraception and help countries to develop their own programmes. We have also led global family planning advocacy networks such as FP2020.
At the Family Planning Summit in 2017, we committed to increasing the focus on reaching adolescents in our programmes.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effect of UK overseas development assistance on reducing adolescent birth rates in the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
In 2019, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among all women of reproductive age in the 69 Family Planning 2020 movement focus countries was 34.8%, compared to 32.5% in 2012. This represent 46 million additional users of modern methods of family planning – of which we estimate 13.2 million has been reached by DFID programmes, with rapid increases in Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Chad – relative to what was expected in 2012.
Global adolescent fertility rates have reduced from 48 births per 1,000 adolescent girls in 2007, to 42 births per 1,000 adolescent girls in 2017. These results are due to countries’ own investments as well as investments from the entire development community.
The UK leads the world in our long-term support for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including for family planning. At UNGA this September, the Secretary of State reiterated our commitment to SRHR and announced a new £600m Reproductive Health Supplies programme running from 2020 to 2025, that will give over 20 million women and girls access to family planning per year. We are the second largest bilateral donor for family planning in developing countries and work through our country level and central programmes. These programmes provide access to family planning services, support an increase in demand for contraception and help countries to develop their own programmes. We have also led global family planning advocacy networks such as FP2020.
At the Family Planning Summit in 2017, we committed to increasing the focus on reaching adolescents in our programmes.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional resources her Department has provided to the humanitarian relief operations in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In response to the £50 million United Nations flash appeal for the Kasais in April 2017, the UK has committed £4.65 million of new funding for emergency lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the Kasais. Taking into account broader humanitarian support to DRC, the total UK humanitarian support to the Kasais to more than £7.7 million. The UK also provides support to healthcare, WASH and education activities in the region.