Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled International women and girls strategy 2023 to 2030, published on 8 March 2023, what steps his Department is taking with (a) girls and (b) boys across the world to (i) prevent and (ii) tackle gender-based violence.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Ending gender-based violence (GBV) is a priority for the UK and is a core pillar of the FCDO's International Women and Girls Strategy. We are investing up to £67.5 million in the What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale programme, the first global programme scaling up proven approaches to prevent GBV. Through the programme we will work with girls and boys, for example in schools, to shift attitudes and behaviours and promote healthy relationships. We are also working with girls and boys through the UN Global Programme to End Child Marriage, which engages adolescents across 12 countries in meaningful community dialogues on gender equality and the rights of adolescent girls.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to embed support and advocacy for pregnant girls and teenage mothers into the UK’s global education priorities.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO is committed to addressing barriers to education. Through the UK-led Girls' Education Challenge (GEC), over 64,000 girls excluded from school due to becoming mothers are now in education. In 2022, the GEC conducted research with pregnant girls and adolescent mothers and then published the findings, setting out how to support them to thrive in school. This includes listening to the girls, reducing financial barriers to education, strengthening systems to support these girls to complete their education and ensuring policies actively encourage their participation. In this way we can ensure these girls can continue to receive a quality education.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the oral Answer by the Minister of State (Development and Africa) of 31 January 2023, Official Report, column 203, what the evidential basis is for the statement that more than a third of all development programmes now contain disability-inclusive activities; and with reference to the Written Statement of 30 March 2023, FCDO Programme Allocations, HCWS705, whether he plans that that figure will be maintained in 2023-24.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As at the end of 2021, almost 35 per cent of FCDO development programmes contained deliberate disability-inclusive activities.
FCDO development programme teams are required to make an assessment of whether each programme undertakes deliberate disability-inclusive activities. The assessment is based on the criteria laid out in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) disability inclusion policy marker handbook.
We have committed to tracking the number of programmes marked as containing disability-inclusive activities in the disability inclusion and rights strategy 2022-2023, published in February 2022.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish a list of the disability-inclusive activities in each of his Department’s development programmes in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The level to which FCDO development programme teams and implementing partners record and track specific disability-inclusive activities varies according to the scale of those activities. However, it would be disproportionately burdensome for partners and programme teams to collect information about individual disability-inclusive activities centrally.
The disability-inclusion policy marker for each FCDO development programme is publicly available through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) creditor reporting system (CRS).
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 30 March 2023 entitled FCDO Programme Allocations, HCWS705, whether each programme reviewed during the revision process was subject to an equalities impact assessment.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Officials across the FCDO's global network accounted for equality issues in their programme allocation proposals for the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. These analyses were aggregated into an overall Equality Impact Assessment that FCDO Ministers used in their revision, adjustment, and finalisation of FCDO programme allocations.
The Minister for Development will provide this Equality Impact Assessment to the International Development Committee in July, when FCDO publishes its country allocations in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of the number of Water Action Agenda pledges that the UK Government has made in response to Water Action Agenda agreed at the UN 2023 Water Conference in March 2023 compared with (a) Germany, (b) France and (c) the US.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK played a leading role at the UN Water conference, calling for stronger leadership, governance, increased finance for water, and embedding water across all sectors. The UK is working through partners who have submitted transformative initiatives through the Water Action Agenda, including the Fair Water Footprints, The Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) Water Tracker, and Resilient Water Accelerator initiatives. The UK also announced £18.5 million in new support to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene systems. The Water Action Agenda provides a platform to improve alignment and coordination globally on solutions to the water crisis. We are working closely with international partners, including the US and EU Member States, to drive forward coordination and transformation in water security.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Water Action Agenda agreed at the UN 2023 Water Conference in March 2023, how many of the Water Action Agenda pledges the UK Government has committed to; and how much funding the UK Government has allocated towards delivering those commitments in each of the next five financial years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK played a leading role at the UN Water conference, calling for stronger leadership, governance, increased finance for water, and embedding water across all sectors. As co-chair of the interactive dialogue on water for health, Lord Goldsmith announced £18.5 million in new support to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene systems in up to five countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Lord Goldsmith also announced seed funding for a £38 million water security programme. This includes support to the Fair Water Footprints, The Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) Water Tracker, and Resilient Water Accelerator initiatives. These initiatives are part of the Water Action Agenda.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help address concerns raised by the UN Human Rights Council on lack of accountability for human rights abuses in Hong Kong; and whether he plans to raise those issues with visiting Hong Kong officials in April 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary set out in a statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 27 February, we have been clear on the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong. We urge China to implement the recommendations in last year's UN Human Rights Committee report on Hong Kong and to uphold the Sino-British Joint Declaration. We will continue to raise the violation of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, China's imposition of the National Security Law and ongoing non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration with Hong Kong and Mainland China officials. The Foreign Secretary last did so with former foreign minister Wang Yi on 20 February.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the value was of British International Investment’s (BII) revaluations for its (a) total investment portfolio and (b) intermediated fund investments in each of the last 10 years for which data are available; and what the value was of BII’s largest individual (i) negative and (ii) positive revaluation in each of the last 10 years for which data are available.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
British International Investment (BII) is a long-term patient investor investing across developing countries. The regions where BII invests are often subject to significant macro-economic challenges and financial volatility. In isolated years market conditions and events may significantly impact on the value of individual companies and BII's portfolio is subject to significant fluctuation in value. BII publishes the value of its portfolio and its portfolio return in its Annual Review and each Annual Review is available on BII's website.
For the past ten years, the value of i) BII's total portfolio (all of investments that BII holds); and ii) BII's investments through intermediated funds only is as follows:
Year | Portfolio value - all investments (end of year) | Funds value only (end of year) | Returns value (for the year) (%) USD - total portfolio |
2011 | $3,017m | $3,017m | -4.4% |
2012 | $3,585m | $3,504m | 14.2% |
2013 | $4,146m | $3,715m | 7.3% |
2014 | $4,557m | $3,979m | 11.4% |
2015 | $4,420m | $3,088m | -0.9% |
2016 | $4,740m | $2,665m | 5.2% |
2017 | $5,324m | $2,757m | 7.8% |
2018 | $5,531m | $2,529m | -2.6% |
2019 | $6,273m | $2,511m | -2.1% |
2020 | $7,059m | $2,484m | -0.9% |
2021 | $8,142m | $2,832m | 10.8% |
For the past ten years, the value of BII's largest individual (i) negative and (ii) positive individual investment level valuation changes are as follows:
Year | Largest individual positive valuation change (end of year) | Largest individual negative valuation change (end of year) |
2011 | $53.7m | $-42.7m |
2012 | $96.7m | $-10.6m |
2013 | $165.7m | $-23.2m |
2014 | $111.1m | $-9.5m |
2015 | $97.6m | $-121.1m |
2016 | $51.8m | $-51.1m |
2017 | $94.7m | $-81.0m |
2018 | $39.3m | $-61.2m |
2019 | $24.4m | $-97.0m |
2020 | $46.7m | $-43.6m |
2021 | $126.9m | $-48.2m |
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the target to spend 80 per cent of Official Development Aid on gender equality will meet Gender Equality (a) marker 1 or (b) marker 2.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO's new International Women and Girls Strategy commits to at least 80% of FCDO's bilateral aid programmes having a focus on gender equality by 2030, using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) gender equality markers, marked as significant (1) or principal (2).