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Written Question
India: Development Aid
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has reassessed its policy on the provision of official development assistance to India, in the context of the Indian Government's spending on space exploration.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

India's space exploration programme, including its recent moon landing, makes a valuable contribution to the international scientific community.

The British Government stopped providing traditional development aid to India in 2015.

Most UK funding to India is now in the form of business investments which help India reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. These investments have the dual aims of supporting development and backing private enterprises with the potential to be commercially viable so that the British Government can then reinvest in India or elsewhere.


Written Question
India: Spaceflight
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has reassessed its position on providing aid to India in the context of Indian government spending on space exploration.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

India's space exploration programme, including its recent moon landing, makes a valuable contribution to the international scientific community.

The British Government stopped providing traditional development aid to India in 2015.

Most UK funding to India is now in the form of business investments which help India reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. These investments have the dual aims of supporting development and backing private enterprises with the potential to be commercially viable so that the British Government can then reinvest in India or elsewhere.


Written Question
Uganda: Development Aid
Thursday 29th September 2022

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) safeguards and (b) reporting mechanisms are in place to monitor the spending of UK Overseas Development Assistance in relation to tackling hunger in Northern Uganda.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

The UK provides humanitarian assistance in the Karamoja region and to refugee and refugee-hosting populations throughout Uganda through the 'Building Resilience and an Effective Emergency Refugee Response' (BRAER) programme. In financial year 2021-22, the programme helped to provide 1.3 million people with humanitarian assistance, including relieving hunger and treating malnutrition among women and children. The programme's effectiveness is assessed, and its spending monitored, through regular field visits, feedback from beneficiaries, FCDO scrutiny of implementing partners' financial reports, annual audits and annual programme reviews - the latter are published online at https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-205206/documents.


Written Question
Uganda: Development Aid
Thursday 29th September 2022

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK funded aid projects to help relieve hunger in Uganda.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

The UK provides humanitarian assistance in the Karamoja region and to refugee and refugee-hosting populations throughout Uganda through the 'Building Resilience and an Effective Emergency Refugee Response' (BRAER) programme. In financial year 2021-22, the programme helped to provide 1.3 million people with humanitarian assistance, including relieving hunger and treating malnutrition among women and children. The programme's effectiveness is assessed, and its spending monitored, through regular field visits, feedback from beneficiaries, FCDO scrutiny of implementing partners' financial reports, annual audits and annual programme reviews - the latter are published online at https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-205206/documents.


Written Question
Development Aid
Thursday 29th September 2022

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Expanding Social Protection Programme Phase II project.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

The UK has supported the development of Uganda's social protection system for the last ten years, working closely with the Government of the Republic of Ireland and the Government of Uganda, most recently through the Expanding Social Protection Programme Phase II (ESP II). This has established a Senior Citizens' Grant (SCG) which is currently benefitting over 350,000 Ugandans over 80 (60% of whom are women). The Government of Uganda has been fully funding the SCG since July 2021, and the ESP II programme will close later this year. The programme's effectiveness is assessed through annual programme reviews, which are published at https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-204861/documents.


Written Question
Uganda: Maternal Mortality
Tuesday 19th July 2022

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the maternal mortality rate in Uganda.

Answered by Vicky Ford

Support for reducing maternal mortality in Uganda is provided through the World Bank's Uganda Reproductive Maternal and Child Health Services Improvement Project (URMCHIP). The project is co-financed by the International Development Association, to which the UK has been contributing over £1 billion annually. The project aims to increase the availability of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health care services countrywide. The UK is also helping to provide access to family planning commodities and building health systems capacity to deliver family planning services.


Written Question
East Africa: Non-Governmental Organisations
Tuesday 12th July 2022

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take steps to provide further support and flexible funding to local NGOs in East Africa whose recipients have been affected by drought in that region.

Answered by Vicky Ford

The UK is a major humanitarian donor to countries in East Africa. We will provide at least £156 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa in financial year 2022/2023. to help support communities affected by conflict, drought, flooding and other pressures. We will continue to work with NGOs. In Ethiopia in 2021 the UK provided US$18 million to the UN's Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF). The EHF mechanism supported a range of international and Ethiopian NGOs, disbursing US$23 million to the latter. Similarly, the UK-funded 'Building Resilient Communities in Somalia' programme has supported a number of Somali NGOs alongside international civil society organisations.


Written Question
Tigray: Armed Conflict
Tuesday 15th June 2021

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 27 May 2021 to Question 6268 on Tigray: Armed Conflict, what the timescale is for deployment of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts to Tigray.

Answered by James Duddridge

The UK is appalled by reports of atrocities including widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by different armed groups in Tigray. As stated in response to question 6268, we are currently identifying personnel from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts who can deploy to the region to strengthen justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. We do not have a fixed date for deployment yet. COVID-19 restrictions and the conflict environment are practicalities that have to be factored in, but we are working to deploy as soon as possible.

The UK is supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN agencies, specialised NGOs and 9 civil society partners to provide adequate essential services to survivors. We currently contribute to the UNICEF, International Red Crescent and national Ethiopian Red Cross response supporting a total of 545 survivors (542 females and 3 males) with case management services.


Written Question
Tigray: Overseas Aid
Thursday 27th May 2021

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance has been allocated to programmes based in the Tigray; and for what purposes that funding has been allocated.

Answered by James Duddridge

The UK provided £241 million of bilateral Official Development Assistance in 2020/21. The UK made the decision in November 2020 to pause financial aid payments to the Government of Ethiopia destined for Tigray but we continue to provide support to people in Tigray via UN and NGO partners. £22 million has been allocated to the humanitarian response in Tigray to support those in need.

UK-funded partners such as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and International Committee of the Red Cross are providing food, shelter, water and healthcare in challenging circumstances. The UK is in the process of allocating budgets for programmes this financial year. As we do this, we will continue to review and adapt to the context.

The UK is also supporting civil society partners in Tigray to deliver gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health response, which includes helping rape survivors. Final budgets are under review but we are also planning to support the documentation and investigation of such crimes.


Written Question
Tigray: Overseas Aid
Thursday 27th May 2021

Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance the UK has allocated for the current financial year to help victims of rape and torture in Tigray.

Answered by James Duddridge

The UK provided £241 million of bilateral Official Development Assistance in 2020/21. The UK made the decision in November 2020 to pause financial aid payments to the Government of Ethiopia destined for Tigray but we continue to provide support to people in Tigray via UN and NGO partners. £22 million has been allocated to the humanitarian response in Tigray to support those in need.

UK-funded partners such as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and International Committee of the Red Cross are providing food, shelter, water and healthcare in challenging circumstances. The UK is in the process of allocating budgets for programmes this financial year. As we do this, we will continue to review and adapt to the context.

The UK is also supporting civil society partners in Tigray to deliver gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health response, which includes helping rape survivors. Final budgets are under review but we are also planning to support the documentation and investigation of such crimes.