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Written Question
Yemen: Overseas Aid
Wednesday 8th July 2020

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to maintain the (a) 2 June 2020 commitment to allocate £160 million in aid to Yemen and (b) level of all other planned assistance to that country.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

I announced the UK’s commitment of £160 million in new aid for the current financial year (2020/21) at the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Pledging Conference on 2 June. This was the third highest pledge at the conference and brings the total UK commitment to nearly £1 billion since the conflict began in 2015.

I can assure you that Yemen remains a key priority for the UK Government and that we have every intention of meeting our commitment. We have already provided 32% of this funding to our humanitarian and development partners operating in Yemen and hope to have disbursed over 50% by the end of July.

The UK has also announced up to £764 million of aid to support the global efforts to combat the outbreak of COVID-19. This includes contributing £150 million to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust which will provide the world’s poorest countries, including Yemen, with IMF debt relief over the next six months.


Written Question
Yemen: Coronavirus
Wednesday 8th July 2020

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government's planned support in response to covid-19 in Yemen will have an effect on the level of funding and other support for humanitarian needs as a result of war, hunger and waterborne and infectious diseases in that country.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

The UK’s £160 million commitment to Yemen for this financial year (2020/21) will help tackle the spread of COVID-19 and continue to address existing humanitarian needs.

We recognise that alongside the significant direct impacts of COVID-19, the virus is also exacerbating existing humanitarian needs in Yemen.

UK funding is responding this year by providing over 700,000 medical consultations and a much needed boost to 4,000 health centres, whilst also providing support to at least 300,000 vulnerable people each month to help them buy food and household essentials and providing 1 million people with improved water supply and basic sanitation.


Written Question
Overseas Aid: Poverty
Wednesday 8th July 2020

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will ensure that reductions in aid spending take place last in relation to low income countries and first in relation to upper middle income countries in accordance with provisions in the International Development Act 2002 on alleviating poverty.

Answered by Wendy Morton

All government departments are considering how their plans need to change in light of the risk of a recession, linked to the impact of COVID-19. DFID is working with the FCO and other ODA spending departments to assess how to manage the 0.7% commitment this year, and we will do this in accordance with provisions in the 2002 International Development Act. It is absolutely in Britain’s interest to use ODA to make the world a healthier, safer and more prosperous place, either through tackling coronavirus, supporting the world’s poorest, providing humanitarian aid in crises or helping girls get a quality education.


Written Question
Females: Equality
Wednesday 10th June 2020

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will include the vulnerabilities of women from religious minorities who are persecuted for gender and religion in her Department's March 2018 document entitled 2018 to 2030 Vision for Gender Equality.

Answered by Nigel Adams

The persecution of religious minorities and non-religious people is acute and increasing in many countries; for women these violations often include gender-based violence, forced marriage and endemic marginalisation.

DFID's Strategic Vision for Gender Equality calls for a step change in our support to the most excluded and vulnerable women and girls, particularly those facing multiple exclusions, on the basis of their disability, age, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexuality, location or other characteristic.

Our UK Aid Connect programme is providing £12 million over 4 years to support a consortium of organisations, including faith and human rights groups, to develop effective approaches to promote tolerance and freedom of belief, including gender equality. The programme will explore gender sensitive processes and segregated data for the monitoring of hate speech against religious minorities at local, national and global levels. The work will ensure the leadership involvement and visibility of women from minorities in coalitions.

The UK has also stepped up our advocacy on freedom of religion or belief, through our diplomatic network. We regularly raise individual cases bilaterally and highlight discriminatory legislation and practices in multilateral fora.


Written Question
Intelligence and Security Committee: Public Appointments
Monday 3rd February 2020

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Prime Minister, on what date he plans to nominate members of the Intelligence and Security Committee for approval by Parliament.

Answered by Boris Johnson

The Committee is being formed in the normal way and in line with practice in previous Parliaments.