Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the International Rescue Committee’s report entitled The Shadow Pandemic: Gender-Based Violence amongst Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar; and what steps she is taking to ensure funding for gender-based violence services is (a) maintained and (b) increased in Cox’s Bazar.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Gender-based violence (GBV) continues to be a constant threat in refugee camps, especially to women and girls. The scale of GBV in the Rohingya camps is too high, though still not fully known. As GBV is generally underreported due to stigma and fear, the recorded cases are likely to represent only a small fraction of the overall number. However, an information management system is ensuring vital data is collected and analysed from recorded cases.
We agree with the International Rescue Committee that the international community need to expand GBV programming to address unmet needs, including prevention activities; and that these needs are likely to be exacerbated by COVID-19. The UK is the second largest donor to the Rohingya response, contributing £256 million to-date, and we play a leadership role in ensuring anti-GBV efforts are prioritised. DFID has continuously supported efforts to reduce GBV in Rohingya and also in host communities. UK aid-supported GBV activities are being implemented across 34 camps, in 35 women friendly spaces/integrated women centres, and have helped more than 12,000 individuals receive GBV case management support since 2017.
The UK has provided £11 million to support COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts in the Rohingya camps and surrounding host communities. Part of this funding is focused on ensuring critical gender-based violence and child protection services keep operating for all those who need them. For example, the UK has provided an additional £400,000 to UNFPA for GBV services, including disseminating anti-GBV messaging and anti-GBV activities with adolescent boys and girls during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has plans to undertake a review of the Official Development Assistance it allocates to Burma.
Answered by Nigel Adams
In response to the Rohingya crisis, in 2018 DFID reviewed and reshaped its programme in Myanmar to better focus on meeting the needs of the poorest, the most malnourished and excluded. This includes doing more in conflict-affected areas and with displaced people and refugees. Across Myanmar over 6 million people benefit from UK aid. DFID Myanmar does not provide any direct financial support to the Government of Myanmar and has introduced an enhanced due diligence regime for the private sector, including asking partners to avoid working with military owned companies. Allocations for all programmes are subject to rigorous due diligence and ongoing monitoring to enhance effectiveness and strategic impact.
In 2019, DFID again conducted a full review of its strategy. This review took stock of the changing conflict dynamics across the country, including the increasing conflict in Rakhine state, and the changing political situation in the country in the run up to the anticipated 2020 election. For DFID Myanmar this has reinforced the need to focus on supporting the most vulnerable including finding more durable solutions for Myanmar’s long-term displaced population and helping to strengthen the longer-term foundations for peace, prosperity, inclusion and democracy. In the last two months DFID Myanmar have again reviewed their portfolio given COVID-19. They have prioritised supporting the health and humanitarian response, whilst addressing the possible secondary impacts on the economy, society and conflict. A cross-Whitehall discussion was convened in April to review DFID Myanmar’s plans for responding to COVID-19.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional funding her Department has allocated to tackling the covid-19 pandemic in relation to refugees from Burma in (a) Bangladesh and (b) Thailand.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have allocated over £10 million to support COVID-19 preparedness efforts in the Rohingya camps and surrounding host communities in Bangladesh. This contribution has been allocated from previously announced funding and includes establishing treatment centres; distributing soap and building more handwashing structures; and producing and rolling out a range of communications tools to share vital information, including by reaching vulnerable older people with advice.
A majority of DFID’s activities on the Thai/Myanmar border are now being focused on COVID-19 preparedness and response. On the Thai/Myanmar border, we have provided an additional funding to support the work of The Border Consortium (TBC) across nine of the refugee camps. On the Myanmar side we planning to provide funding of around funding, also through TBC. The funding will be used to carry out COVID-19 awareness activities and messaging in local languages, set up of hand washing facilities, increasing the value of the food vouchers to help households cope with lockdown training front line health workers and topping up civil society emergency response. This will benefit the refugees in Thailand and IDPs in Myanmar.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional Official Development Assistance her Department has allocated to tackling the covid-19 pandemic in relation to internally displaced people in Burma.
Answered by Nigel Adams
DFID is monitoring the spread COVID-19 cases in Myanmar closely and have adapted programmes in response. The primary focus is on the needs of the most vulnerable especially Internally Displaced Peoples and those living in conflict affected areas. The Secretary of State has agreed an additional £10 million in humanitarian funding to reinforce humanitarian support in response to COVID-19. To help prepare the humanitarian response, DFID Myanmar are asking partners to stockpile sufficient food and medicines to ensure needs can be met in the case of future lockdowns and quarantines; rapidly expanding water and sanitation facilities in camps and surrounding villages and treating severely malnourished children. They are also expanding food supplies to support newly vulnerable groups, advocating for access to health services, and supporting social distancing measures, including through aid delivery. DFID are ensuring the protection of the most vulnerable against increased risks of trafficking and violence against women through awareness campaigns.
The UK welcomed the decision of the Government to establish a committee to coordinate the COVID-19 response with the Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs). The ultimate success of the committee will need to be judged on the effectiveness of the Committee in enhancing the response to COVID-19 in ethnic areas, including Rakhine State.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has held with her Burmese counterpart on restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to internally displaced people in the states of (a) Rakhine, (b) Kachin and (c) Shan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
On 1 April, Ambassadors in Yangon, including the UK Ambassador, issued a public call for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and to protect vulnerable internally displaced people from COVID-19. The UK Ambassador and DFID Country Director have actively engaged with the Myanmar Ministers and officials to raise the issue of conflict, access constraints, protection for aid workers, the internet ban and the potential impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable. On 12 May, the UK Ambassador raised the need to ensure that the most vulnerable and hardest to reach in Rakhine were included in the Burmese Government’s “no-one left behind” policy with the Minister for the State Councillor’s Office, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.
A specific area of concern is the safety of humanitarian workers. In particular, the UK was extremely concerned by the death of a WHO driver who was shot on 20 April while transporting COVID-19 samples. On 23 April, I sent my condolences to the family of the WHO staff member and raised the need for a ceasefire in Rakhine as well as for aid workers to have access and protection. DFID will continue to work with the UN, International Committee of the Red Cross, INGO’s and civil society partners to ensure humanitarian support is provided to those who are vulnerable and most at risk, including Internally Displaces Peoples across Myanmar.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much and what proportion of Official Development Assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has been allocated to Rohingya community organisations in refugee camps.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Given the scale of the UK support to the Rohingya crisis, it is more effective to channel our funding through a limited number of organisations, both UN and NGOs. Our partners work with and consult thousands of Rohingya volunteers, including community organisations, women, and youth-led groups, on the COVID-19 response and in the delivery of critical services and programmes. There are, nevertheless, examples of DFID funding to community organisations such as the BRAC University Centre for Peace, which supports newly emergent Rohingya community organisations in the camps.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is providing to Burma in relation to the parliamentary elections to be held in November 2020 in that country.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government continues to support the ongoing democratic transition in Myanmar. Having committed £7.1 million between June 2019 to July 2021 to election support. The major focus is on raising public awareness and encouraging participation in the election, with emphasis on marginalised groups and the youth – aware of the fact that there are approximately 5 million people voting for the first time in 2020. The support also aims to support civil society initiatives, including local monitoring of elections.
Around 20% of this assistance is in the form of technical assistance and advice provided by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to the Union Electoral Commission (UEC) to enable them to effectively change laws and procedures to align with international and regional best practices, and to provide the training that will allow the UEC to work towards more credible, fair, open and inclusive elections. This support is enabling open and constructive dialogues between UEC, civil society and political parties during the critical period prior to the 2020 elections.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the humanitarian needs of the Rohingya refugees reportedly trapped on fishing trawlers in the Bay of Bengal; and what representations she has made to the Governments of Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand on providing safe refuge for those refugees.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We continue to monitor the extremely concerning reports of hundreds of Rohingya still at sea and reports of failure to disembark vessels in distress. All men, women and children on board are potentially in serious peril. We are working with UN partners, including the International Organisation for Migration and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to provide live-saving action where possible and in particular if they are brought to shore.
The Minister for South Asia, Lord Ahmad, has raised this with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister and with the Bangladesh High Commissioner in London. In addition, the British High Commission in Dhaka have raised this issue with the Government of Bangladesh. Officials from the British Embassy in Bangkok have discussed with the Thai government the importance of the provision of humanitarian assistance to Rohingyas aboard vessels that enter Thai waters, including in the last week. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about the situation of the Rohingya community with the former Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah on 11 February. Our High Commission in Kuala Lumpur has also subsequently continued raised our concerns about the Rohingya community with the Malaysian Government before the COVID-19 crisis. We continue to urge the Governments of Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and other governments in the region to assist boats carrying Rohingya refugees to land. The UK is committed to protecting the Rohingya community, some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of paragraph 8 of the National Audit Office report entitled, Improving the lives of women and girls overseas, published on 29 April 2020.
Answered by Wendy Morton
As acknowledged by the National Audit Office, DFID’s ambition on gender equality is high, evidence-based and widely welcomed by experts on the issue.
The development of the Strategic Vision for gender equality was informed by extensive and active consultation, taking place over 12 months. External stakeholders, including academics, civil societies and country offices were a key part of this process. For example, DFID’s Chief Scientific Adviser chaired an expert roundtable, and DFID hosted a Ministerial-led event with BOND and the Gender and Development Network, which was attended by representatives of 60-70 Civil Society Organisations.
Importantly, framing our gender equality ambition as a strategic vision has allowed DFID country offices and partners to work flexibly and adapt their work to local circumstances as informed by local expertise, in line with the Strategic Vision. We’ve had great success with this approach. DFID Sudan’s trailblazing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) programme helped to reduce social acceptance of FGM in the country by an estimated 18% in two years. It is now being adopted by the African Union to support efforts to end FGM across the continent.
We continue to be in regular and close contact with DFID country offices and civil society. DFID has also engaged directly with key women’s funds and women’s rights organisations. Evidence from these sources is now informing our response to the coronavirus crisis. This includes providing £10 million of UK aid to the United Nations Population Fund and £20 million to the UN Children’s Fund to scale up protection and support services for women and girls.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of paragraph 9 of the National Audit Office report entitled, Improving the lives of women and girls overseas, published on 29 April 2020.
Answered by Wendy Morton
DFID is proud of its impact on gender equality, but is not complacent. We welcome the scrutiny of the National Audit Office (NAO) and we are considering this recommendation to further strengthen transparency and accountability on this important agenda.
The NAO rightly recognises the Department’s work to promote girls’ education, challenge child marriage, end female genital mutilation and tackle sexual violence around the world.
DFID’s Strategic Vision for Gender Equality provides a single framework to guide all decisions about DFID and cross-government policies, strategies and funding commitments relating to gender equality. Different areas of work have their own plans which are updated regularly as the global and national contexts change. DFID reviews progress across all its gender equality work, spanning all seven areas of the Strategic Vision, every six months and sets out priority actions for the next six months. This assessment of progress is presented to DFID’s Gender Equality Delivery Board, chaired at a Director level within DFID.
This approach has enabled DFID to be flexible and adaptive. It can direct its support to wherever it is needed most at any given time, including critical support to women and girls during the coronavirus crisis. It also allows flexibility to adapt to local circumstances and work with local expertise, in line with the Strategic Vision.