Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) economic, and (2) security, assistance they intend to make available to Tunisia in 2020.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
UK-Tunisia relations are close, and the UK is committed to our strong bilateral relationship with Tunisia. We share similar views on many regional and strategic issues and have good security and trade relations. We are increasing our support to help the country develop its economy and address long term challenges like youth unemployment and tackling corruption while maintaining support to help build Tunisia’s capacity to deal with the terrorist threat. In 2019/20, the UK Government’s support is higher than ever providing support to economic development, economic reform and good governance. In the past UK funding has helped support second chance school centres across Tunisia for disadvantaged youth at risk of dropping out of education; train more than 2000 teachers in English Language and core skills development; provide financial support to over 100 entrepreneurs; and train civil servants in delivering key reforms and strategic communications.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 25 March (HL14416), why the Prosperity Fund does not have any projects in Tunisia.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK is working alongside our international partners in Tunisia to support economic reforms to tackle the long term challenges facing the country, including youth unemployment.
We have been increasing our support for these issues through the North Africa Good Governance Fund, through which we will spend over £12m in 2019/20 – more than doubling our support since 2014/15.
The Prosperity Fund is a Fund with 27 multiyear programmes. With £1.2 billion to spend over 7 years the Fund had to prioritise countries and sectors where there is the most potential for inclusive growth and poverty impact; and where UK expertise could make a difference. Tunisia was not considered a priority country for the Fund.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the security, economic and educational situation in Tunisia; and how the UK foreign aid budget together with the Prosperity Fund can further assist that country.
Answered by Lord Bates
Tunisia’s security, economy and education sector are priority areas of co-operation for the UK. The Tunisian economy is growing, although this growth remains fragile and the country needs further support to ensure economic benefits reach all Tunisians. Levels of educational attainment have increased over recent years, but there remains a mismatch between skills and the needs of the private sector which the UK is working to help address. Security in Tunisia has markedly improved since the terrorist attacks of 2015: in particular, the ability of Tunisian authorities to mitigate the threat from terrorism, and to better protect foreign visitors has improved.
We are working directly and through development partners to help Tunisia deal with security threats and to address long-term challenges like youth unemployment. Bilateral spend is mainly channelled through the North Africa Good Governance Fund, with up to £14m allocated for Tunisia in 2019/20 to support economic development, education, and marginalised regions. In 2017, the last year for which figures are available, the UK’s share of multilateral organisations’ total spend in Tunisia was over £30m. The Prosperity Fund does not currently have any projects in Tunisia.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 2 November (HL10899), whether they are cooperating with other countries in their support of the Manjo people in Southern Ethiopia; and whether they intend to raise the social, political and economic marginalisation of the Manjo people at the United Nations.
Answered by Lord Bates
Further to my reply of 2 November, I can confirm that the Civil Society Support Programme through which the UK supported marginalised communities in Ethiopia, including the Manjo, was a multi-donor programme. Contributors alongside DFID for the first phase of the programme were Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Canada and Denmark. The current phase of the programme which will continue to have a focus on marginalised communities including the Manjo will be supported by Ireland, Sweden and Norway.
At this time we believe the Ethiopian government is taking steps to address the challenges which the Manjo and other marginalised groups face, and that continued engagement in-country alongside our international partners is the best course of action. We do not plan to raise the issue in the United Nations at present.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) aid available to, and (2) religious freedoms of, the Manjo peoples living in the Sheka zone of the Southern region of Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Manjo people in Southern Ethiopia have faced long standing social, political and economic marginalisation. Consequently, they have not benefitted equally from Ethiopia’s development gains. Neither have they been able to fully exercise their human rights, including that of religious freedom.
DFID made an assessment of the situation of the Manjo through the first phase of the Civil Society Support Programme (2011-16), to which the UK contributed £14m. The programme supported interventions by local civil society organisations to address the underlying factors that maintain social and religious marginalisation. Community dialogue events sought to change cultural attitudes towards the Manjo. The second phase of the programme will continue to have a focus on marginalised communities, including the Manjo, through grants and strategic government engagement.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what help they can offer to Turkey to assist in the cultural preservation of damaged historical buildings in the Suriçi neighbourhood.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK Government has committed £30 million to help protect and restore cultural heritage in twelve target countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Turkey, through the establishment of the Cultural Protection Fund. The British Council is funding two projects in Diyarbakir province which includes Suriçi. The projects will cover surveys, documentation and condition assessments of buildings in order to allow for appropriate conservation planning in the future.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much UK aid was sent to Myanmar in the latest year for which figures are available; and whether any of that aid was earmarked to help the Rohingya Muslims living in the west, or Roman Catholics living in the east, of that country.
Answered by Lord Bates
In financial year 2015-16, the UK spent £105.3m of overseas development assistance in Burma through its bilateral country programme. No financial aid was provided to the Government of Burma. DFID allocates aid on the basis of need and according to principles that ensure that no-one is discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion or ethnicity. DFID has long been one of the biggest bilateral humanitarian donors in Burma, notably Rakhine State and the east of the country. DFID is currently managing to get humanitarian support to over 100,000 people in Rakhine, including providing assistance in internally displaced people camps outside of northern Rakhine and some limited support in northern Rakhine. We have a large programme funding humanitarian assistance to displaced and conflict-affected people in government and non-government controlled areas of Kachin, northern Shan and south east Burma.