Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase collaboration with (a) French, (b) German and (c) US overseas development agencies.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Our recent White Paper sets out the importance we place on partnerships to support development. The UK has longstanding and close development relationships with France, Germany and the USA. We are strengthening our partnerships through bilateral Strategic Development Dialogues, held with France in October 2023, Germany and the US in February and March 2024 respectively. They allow in-depth exchange at senior levels, and are designed to strengthen collaboration and identify joint areas of action.
Strategic Development Dialogues are underpinned by regular engagement overseas and between capitals at official and Ministerial levels. I personally met Minister Zacharopoulou at COP28, spoke with Minister Keul in February and met USAID Administrator Samantha Power in Washington in April.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his Asian Pacific counterparts on climate change mitigation measures.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Climate change remains a central focus of our diplomatic relations. The FCDO ministerial team have and will continue to engage with counterparts in the Asia Pacific including those most vulnerable to climate change and essential to the green transition. In March, the Foreign Secretary discussed climate change with the Australian Foreign Minister at AUKMIN (the Australia-UK Ministerial Meeting) and launched the UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) Country Fund in Thailand, worth up to £6 million. The region includes key partners like Australia, whom we work with through the UNFCCC as members of the Umbrella Group; developing countries we are supporting with their climate transitions (such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where we are leading JETPs - Just Energy Transition Partnerships); major emitters such as China and India; and the Pacific Island Countries, who are uniquely vulnerable to climate impacts and a strong moral voice on climate.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions has he had with partners in West Africa on partnerships relating to climate mitigation.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a strong supporter of climate action in West Africa, helping countries transition to a low carbon economy and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Africa Regional Climate and Nature Programme (ARCAN) is a regional programme of up to £250 million over 6 years which aims to build resilience to climate change, tackle nature and biodiversity loss and catalyse energy transition in Sub-Saharan Africa. I [Minister Mitchell] have engaged with a range of West African partners and led the UK delegation at the African Climate Summit in Nairobi in September 2023, and COP28 in Dubai in December 2023. During a visit to Accra in January 2024 I met Secretary General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), President Nasheed, and discussed priorities for the CVF and its Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) his Ethiopian counterpart and (b) other international partners on ensuring the adequacy of access for humanitarian deliveries in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to providing support to the most vulnerable and those in desperate need in Ethiopia. We have already increased our humanitarian support this financial year to £74 million. Almost 1.9 million people benefit from UK-supported programmes in Amhara, although access is currently limited. The UK is continuing to provide support where possible and consistently raises humanitarian access with the government of Ethiopia. Most recently Minister Mitchell met the Ethiopian Foreign Minister Taye on 17 April at the Ethiopian high-level pledging conference in Geneva, where the government committed to reforms to improve humanitarian operations in Ethiopia. At the conference, which was co-hosted by the UK, international partners successfully raised $610 million to meet humanitarian needs in Ethiopia, including in Amhara.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the total cost to the public purse was of hosting the Preventing Sexual Violence summit in November 2022 at the Elizabeth II centre.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) International Conference, hosted by the former Foreign Secretary and Lord Ahmad on 28-29 November 2022 was a key opportunity to turn the dial on the global response to conflict-related sexual violence. Over 1,000 delegates attended, including survivors, civil society, multilateral partners, and representatives from at least 57 countries. 53 countries endorsed the Political Declaration made at the conference, with 42 countries making concrete national commitments. The total cost of delivering this conference was approximately £4.2 million, which was under the original budget.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much overseas development aid has been paid by his Department (a) directly and (b) indirectly to consultancies in each year since 2019.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many and what proportion of development projects were delivered through in-country contracts in each year since 2019.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The information requested is not held centrally by the Department and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much development funding has been paid (a) directly and (b) indirectly to consultancies in each year since 2019.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the cost to the public purse was of each international summit held in the UK since 2019.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. The budget for international summits are often held by different departments and therefore FCDO would not necessarily hold or record the complete costs for all summits.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the average cost was to host an international summit in the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested information is not centrally held and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.