Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her international partners on the effectiveness of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID is supporting the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) to facilitate the import of construction materials into Gaza. We are providing £0.7 million to the Materials Monitoring Unit which oversees and monitors the import, storage and supply of construction materials into Gaza under the GRM. We welcome the June 2015 agreement between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities creating the Residential Stream of the GRM to allow imports of building materials into Gaza for the reconstruction of homes that were completely destroyed. Progress is being made with over 4,200 beneficiaries participating and almost 2,000 having bought construction material. The UK continues to call on international partners to disburse their pledges made at the October 2014 Cairo Gaza Reconstruction Conference without delay so that the pace of reconstruction in Gaza can increase. In addition, we continue to lobby the Israeli authorities to lift restrictions on movement and access as part of a political agreement, which is the only long-term solution for reconstruction in Gaza.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to reduce violence against children in developing countries.
Answered by Justine Greening
I am proud of the leadership role that the UK has played on tackling violence against women and children world-wide, and it will continue to be a key priority for my Department. We have increased programmes that tackle violence against women and girls by over 60% in the past two years, and now support 103 programmes in 29 countries.
DFID works to prevent and respond to violence against children across a wide range of humanitarian and development programmes, from our flagship £35 million investment in ending female genital mutilation, to our support to the No Lost Generation Initiative, through which the UK is funding education and psychosocial support for Syrian children to protect them from violence, abuse and exploitation.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to reduce violence against women in developing countries.
Answered by Justine Greening
I am proud of the leadership role that the UK has played on tackling violence against women and children world-wide, and it will continue to be a key priority for my Department. We have increased programmes that tackle violence against women and girls by over 60% in the past two years, and now support 103 programmes in 29 countries.
DFID works to prevent and respond to violence against children across a wide range of humanitarian and development programmes, from our flagship £35 million investment in ending female genital mutilation, to our support to the No Lost Generation Initiative, through which the UK is funding education and psychosocial support for Syrian children to protect them from violence, abuse and exploitation.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what account she takes of promoting freedom of speech when deciding on allocations of overseas aid.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID promotes respect for human rights, including freedom of expression, through its partnerships with governments and, where necessary, raises issues of concern in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Before providing aid to a foreign government, DFID assesses the government’s commitment to four partnership principles, one of which concerns human rights. Where we cannot provide aid directly to governments, we will find other ways to help poor people in those countries.