Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the sustainability of the Government's target to spend 0.7 percent of GDP on Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of our Gross National Income on aid is enshrined in law. The Government’s commitment was reaffirmed by the Prime Minister on her recent visit to Africa and subsequently by the Secretary of State in the House of Commons.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has plans to undertake a review the Government's target to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Alistair Burt
My Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to review the UK commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on aid.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff at the (a) Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, (b) Independent Commission for Aid Impact and (c) Government Equalities Office that work (i) inside and (ii) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the Real Living Wage.
Answered by Alistair Burt
There are no staff employed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the Government Equalities Office who are paid at a rate below the Real Living Wage.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff at the (a) Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, (b) Independent Commission for Aid Impact and (c) Government Equalities Office that work (i) inside and (ii) outside Greater London are paid at a rate below the London Living Wage.
Answered by Alistair Burt
There are no staff employed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the Government Equalities Office who are paid at a rate below the London Living Wage.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of levels of (a) stunting and (b) malnutrition in (i) Palestinian children in Gaza and (ii) Bedouin children in Area C of the West Bank.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK remains committed to alleviating the suffering of children globally, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In Gaza, where an estimated 40,000 children suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, we recently provided a further £2 million for UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which will help to address some of the underlying causes of malnutrition by helping to improve the quality of water available to the entire population of Gaza.
To help address needs in Area C, the UK has allocated £1.1 million to support essential infrastructure for vulnerable Palestinians. We are supporting 4 communities comprising of nearly 500 Palestinian families living in Area C to remain on their land through improved infrastructure and access to community services, including education and health.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department's (a) 2017-2018 and (b) 2018-2019 Burma budgets has been allocated to support internally displaced people in Kachin and Shan states.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID Burma allocated 4.8% of its 2017/18 bilateral programme budget and 8.1% of its 2018/2019 bilateral programme budget to support internally displaced people in Kachin and Shan States.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in western Burma.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The humanitarian situation in Rakhine State is the issue of greatest concern in western Burma. Access for humanitarian organisations in northern Rakhine, where the needs are considerable, remains severely restricted. We welcome the Burmese government’s recent agreement to work with the UN in Rakhine and we will continue to push for full and unfettered access for all humanitarian and development actors.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in western Burma.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The humanitarian situation in Rakhine State is the issue of greatest concern in western Burma. Access for humanitarian organisations in northern Rakhine, where the needs are considerable, remains severely restricted. We welcome the Burmese government’s recent agreement to work with the UN in Rakhine and we will continue to push for full and unfettered access for all humanitarian and development actors.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on aid projects in Israel and Palestine since it was established.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Historical data going as far back as 1997 on donor spend is held by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC). To investigate the data further please see their Query Wizard for International Development Statistics (QWIDS): http://stats.oecd.org/qwids/. A summary of the data is provided below:
OECD DAC figures (USD millions) for United Kingdom Official Development Assistance (ODA) disbursements in the West Bank and Gaza 1997 - 2016
1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
$10.16 | $8.85 | $10.68 | $14.69 | $17.01 | $23.77 | $31.11 | $29.45 | $23.52 | $35.09 |
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
$22.45 | $68.18 | $94.88 | $97.63 | $121.11 | $67.96 | $108.63 | $137.24 | $78.58 | $30.67 |
Source: OECD Query Wizard for International Development Statistics
Due to the way in which the OECD collects data, these figures do not include UK funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and include funding from all Government Departments, not just DFID. Additionally, the OECD figures above are based only on ODA disbursements whereas figures published by DFID are reported as net ODA which takes into account any ODA refunds/repayments.
DFID’s programmes fall under the regulations of ODA; projects solely based in Israel are not eligible for, and do not receive ODA.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to allocate addition funding for medical services in Gaza.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is working closely with our international partners to monitor the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and ensure a coordinated and effective response to urgent medical needs. The UK provides clean water and rehabilitates sanitation facilities to stop the spread of disease for up to 1 million Gazans through the United Nations Children’s Fund. UK financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority helps to pay the salaries of vetted health public servants in the West Bank. Last year this support provided up to 3,700 immunisations for children and around 185,000 medical consultations annually. In addition, the UK is a long-term supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides basic services, including basic healthcare, to over 800,000 Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and 1.3 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza. I am reviewing how the UK can best support the health system in Gaza at this time. I will keep the House informed of my decision.