Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 findings of the report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Africa on the Future of Africa-UK trade and development cooperation relations in the transitional and post-Brexit period, published in February 2017.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Thank you to the honourable member for her work on this report which highlights the importance of trade for developing countries, and examines the European Economic Partnership Agreements.
Our first priority is to deliver continuity in our trading arrangements on leaving the EU. The announcement on 25 June, that we will secure existing duty-free access for the world’s poorest countries to UK markets and aim to maintain current access for developing countries, supports this.
This government remains a long-standing supporter of Economic Partnership Agreements and continues to listen to our partners’ views on how to maximise their benefits.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support creative industries across Africa.
Answered by Rory Stewart
As set out in DFID’s Economic Development Strategy, which I launched earlier this year, we are helping African countries to improve their investment climates so that new industries can flourish. This includes tackling constraints on start-ups, job creation and investment which will help the creative industries along with other emerging businesses in Africa to succeed.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent representations she has made to the Nigerian Government on the humanitarian crisis in the north east of that country.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the humanitarian crisis in North East Nigeria. Our early response to the crisis, and expertise, has been welcomed by the Government of Nigeria and we have used this position to continually push for Nigerian leadership of the response. Most recently DFID’s Permanent Secretary attended the Oslo Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria/Lake Chad on 24 February, which was co-hosted by the Governments of Nigeria, Norway and Germany. The UK encouraged the Nigerian Government to set out how they would lead the response, called other donors to do more, and encouraged all parties to make sure that every pound donated to the response has maximum impact. The British High Commissioner to Nigeria delivered the same messages to the President’s Chief of Staff earlier in the week. The UK is currently examining what further steps it can take to help prevent famine in the region.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department (a) has given in the last year and (b) plans to allocate in 2017 for the support of democracy and political governance; and how organisations can bid for such funding.
Answered by Rory Stewart
DFID spent £685m on Governance and Civil Society in 2015.
DFID’s governance work will champion greater transparency and accountability, and defend the rights of civil society in the face of pressure to close down space for democratic dialogue and debate. The Secretary of State has stated that “The UK Government, as part of its commitment to freedom of thought, association and expression, will stand alongside civil society against these encroachments. And we will support the extraordinary bravery of people who work for CSOs, often at serious personal risk, in some of the world’s most dangerous places.” This includes support for more open governments, politics, and societies which are the foundations of prosperity. DFID welcomes funding bids from a broad range of organisations and information about funding opportunities is available on the DFID website. We are currently accepting proposals from small and medium CSOs through DFID’s UK Aid Direct programme.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress the Government has made on work with the US and the UN to respond to the request from the President of Botswana on behalf of SADC for funding to deal with the drought in Southern Africa.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK has contributed more than £170 million to respond to the impact of El Nino in Southern Africa. DFID chaired a high level roundtable on 14 July where we asked other donors to increase their funding, called on the UN and SADC countries to take stronger leadership and encouraged the World Bank and private sector to play a greater role in stabilising the markets.
DFID has continued to urge others to scale up their contributions. This has included bilateral calls with donors and the co-hosting of a donor roundtable with the US which agreed priorities for advocacy and action to address the drought on 16 September in Pretoria.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has provided for food production projects in Africa in each of the last five years; and what involvement UK companies have had in such projects.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
In the last five calendar years, DFID spending in Africa on agriculture, fishing and forestry is set out below. Funds are spent through a range of delivery channels including private sector projects, challenge funds, funding through multilateral agencies and funding through African Governments.
£ thousands | |||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Agriculture, forestry and fishing | £33,327 | £48,426 | £45,354 | £44,748 | £61,350 |
The private sector is vital for boosting food production in Africa. UK companies can participate in our projects to improve agricultural markets in a number of ways. The African Agriculture Development Fund (AgDevCo), which is a not for profit UK based company, invests debt and equity in African agribusinesses to create jobs, boost food security and increase prosperity. DFID is a principal funder of AgDevCo. UK companies are also implementers of our agriculture projects after winning competitive tenders. We share information with companies active in African agricultural markets either as buyers or investors. UK companies can be part of proposals to DFID funded challenge funds, such as the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, but only through their links to partner companies based in Africa rather than as direct beneficiaries.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what programmes her Department funds for the support and treatment of African former child soldiers.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government is committed to ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers and protecting children affected by armed conflict. Minister Shapps met with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict at the UN General Assembly in 2015 to demonstrate the UK’s engagement on this critical issue. We also support international efforts, for example through the Common Humanitarian Funds and the International Committee of the Red Cross, in conflict-affected and fragile countries in Africa, to assist children, including those who have been members of armed groups, and to reduce the risks of violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. In the long-term children are best protected by peaceful, accountable states capable of providing security and justice for all, access to basic services, and meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. Building peaceful states and societies is the overarching framework of our work in countries affected by conflict and fragility.
We also recognise that education is important in order to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers and reintegrate former child soldiers back into their communities. DFID is one of the biggest bilateral donors to basic education in low income countries, especially in Africa. Between 2010 and 2015 the UK Government supported 11 million children in school across 21 countries; 7.5 million of them in countries considered to be fragile. We have again pledged to support 11 million children with a decent education between 2015 and 2020.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make an assessment of the current outbreak of yellow fever in Angola and its regional implications; and whether the Government will assist the World Health Organisation supported vaccination campaign led by the Angolan government.
Answered by Nick Hurd
This Government’s assessment is that the national response to the yellow fever outbreak in Angola is growing in strength with support from the international community and the strategic use of donated vaccines. To date surrounding countries have not suffered related outbreaks and exported yellow fever cases to China, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been managed effectively.
The United Kingdom is supporting the national vaccination campaign in Angola through its core funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and to the World Health Organisation. The international response has provided 7.3 million doses of yellow fever vaccine to Angola to respond to the outbreak.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department's spending was allocated to (a) Nigerian state organisations, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) the private sector in the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Hurd
No UK aid goes directly through Nigerian government systems. Our bilateral aid is delivered through commercial service providers (private sector), international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The table below provides a breakdown of our payments over financial years 2012-13 to 2014-15.
2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | |
Private Sector | £145.724m | £185.146m | £156.147m |
International Organisations | £31.905m | £52.343m | £40.505m |
NGOs | £22.401m | £28.498m | £27.667m |