Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many non-disclosure agreements have been entered into by his Department in each of the last five years in respect of a personnel matter relating to a Minister in her Department.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
DFID has not entered into any non-disclosure agreements in each of the last five years in respect of a personnel matter relating to a Minister in the Department.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2017 to Question 63106, in which countries her Department is strengthening nutrition outcomes of its water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Department for International Development is supporting ten water, sanitation and hygiene projects that aim to improve nutrition outcomes for women, girls and children across 20 countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she has taken to improve nutrition outcomes for women and girls through her Department's water and sanitation programmes.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
DFID is strengthening the nutrition outcomes of its water, sanitation and hygiene programmes by ensuring programmes target the specific needs of women and young children and by focusing on activities such as food preparation and storage, safe feeding for young children and handwashing with soap. These approaches will help to avert stunting, wasting and other forms of malnutrition.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle under-nutrition in infants and young children in high-burden countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Government has committed to improve the nutrition of 50 million people in developing countries by 2020. We will particularly focus on preventing and treating undernutrition among infants and young children. We will also equip governments in the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement to sustain improvements in the nutrition of children in their own countries.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
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 impact of UK Government nutrition investments and programmes in low and middle-income countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
DFID monitors all its nutrition programmes in low and middle income countries on an annual basis. For example, DFID’s programme in northern Nigeria aims to reduce stunting and wasting by at least 4% over 7 years and includes investment with partners to monitor impact. DFID is also building the capacity of governments to collect and use nutrition data effectively. DFID supports the Global Nutrition Report which tracks progress to reduce undernutrition globally.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
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 Scaling Up Nutrition movement in its work on global malnutrition.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Secretary of State for International Development is a member of the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Lead Group. DFID funds the SUN Movement Secretariat, the SUN Civil Society Network and is providing assistance to Governments in the SUN Movement.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress has been made on plans to improve nutrition-specific programmes in low and middle-income countries.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
DFID is on track with our commitment to improve the nutrition of 50 million people by 2020. We are continuing to strengthen nutrition-specific programmes in the countries where we work. These services will contribute to reducing stunting and make sure acute malnutrition is treated effectively. We support Governments that are part of the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Movement to do the same.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will take steps to ensure that UK aid to Malawi funds long-term transport infrastructure, irrigation, diversification of farming and food products projects.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK’s development programme in Malawi works to grow the economy and eradicate extreme poverty. Improvements in the agriculture sector are essential for Malawi’s growth. DFID prosperity programmes aim to deliver increased agricultural production and productivity, including through the expansion of land under irrigation; a diversified economic base and increased investment in inclusive agri-business. DFID has also provided some support to rehabilitating rural roads, and undertaken feasibility work for rail and road corridors.
We will continue to make transformative investments to help Malawi to move up the agricultural supply chain, improve regional trade and create more jobs. This will contribute to increased food security and agricultural production, helping to boost growth and create off-farm jobs.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps are being taken to attend to Iraqi civilians expected to be displaced as a result of a planned offensive on Mosul, Iraq.
Answered by Rory Stewart
On 21 September, the UK announced an extra £40 million of humanitarian funding to Iraq, taking our total commitment to £90 million this financial year and £169.5 million since June 2014. This new assistance will be targeted specifically to enable a scale up of humanitarian assistance ahead of the Government of Iraq-led Mosul operations. It will provide emergency life-saving assistance – such as food, shelter, medical and protection services – to civilians affected by Mosul operations, as well as continued support to displaced and vulnerable people across the country.