Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that health facilities in countries affected by ebola are strengthened to ensure that they can prevent or contain a future outbreak.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The UK has committed £240m over two years in support of the Government of Sierra Leone’s Ebola Recovery Strategy, including major investment in health. Our interventions will aim to increase the capacity of district and national structures to identify and respond swiftly to future outbreaks of Ebola or other communicable diseases. We will build on the surveillance, command and control systems established during the response.
In Liberia, DFID has committed £6 million to the Health Sector Pool Fund over two years, to support access to safe, quality health services. The UK indirectly supports Guinea’s recovery through its contributions to WHO and other multilateral organisations. Globally, DFID and the Department of Health are seeking greater commitment from countries to implement the International Health Regulations, the internationally-agreed framework for national systems to prevent and respond to public health crises.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help developing countries to meet UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 on good health and wellbeing and to promote universal health coverage.
Answered by Justine Greening
DFID will continue to invest in health and support countries to meet SDG goal 3 and its universal health coverage target, guided by the Government’s International Development manifesto commitments. These include to: save 1.4m children’s lives by 2020, by immunising 76m children against killer diseases; lead a major new global programme to accelerate the development of vaccines and drugs to eliminate the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, while investing to save lives from malaria and working to end preventable child and maternal deaths; and work to achieve equitable access to family planning. Our commitments to improve nutrition for at least 50m people, to help at least 60m people get access to clean water and sanitation, to end FGM and to support education, will also contribute.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is giving to strengthen democracy and parliamentary oversight in Sri Lanka.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID does not have a bilateral aid programme with Sri Lanka. We do support work in Sri Lanka through a Programme Partnership Arrangement with The Asia Foundation. This strengthens and expands locally-accepted informal justice systems that deal with around 9000 cases per year in the North and East of the country.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the Nigerian general elections on 28 March 2015.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID is supporting the 2015 Nigerian elections (now scheduled for 28 March and 11 April) through a £35m programme called Deepening Democracy in Nigeria 2 (DDiN2) from 2014 – 2018. It works across the electoral cycle and strengthens broader democratic governance in Nigeria. It is seeking to improve management, security and independent observation of the 2015 Presidential, National Assembly and gubernatorial elections. It also seeks to increase engagement by the electorate in Nigerian political processes, and in particular by women, youth and people with disabilities.
DFID also works closely with the FCO, EU and US in particular to have a joined up approach to elections support.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing for security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID’s Peacebuilding Support Programme supports the provincial Government to deliver improved security and justice to 250,000 citizens in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). It focuses on strengthening civilian security (police, prosecutions, prisons) and the formal and informal justice sectors. DFID also contributes to a Multi Donor Trust Fund supporting areas of KP affected by militancy and conflict. It helps improve state-citizen trust and reduce the root causes of insecurity through improved infrastructure, economic development and service delivery.
UK aid to Pakistan also addresses the conditions that might breed violent extremism by reducing poverty, meeting basic needs, increasing economic opportunities and promoting inclusion. It supports the government to build an effective state that is more able to respond to violent extremism through strengthening democratic processes and institutions, delivering better services and improving access to justice.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014 in reducing gender inequality.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID is assessing the impact of the Gender Equality Act 2014. In accordance with the Act, our assessment and other information on compliance with the Act and the department’s wider work on gender will be contained in DFID’s Annual Reporting.