Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans his Department has to attend the 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March 2020; and what his Department's objectives are for that meeting.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Gender equality is a top development priority for the UK. Girls and women across the world are held back by systematic and entrenched inequality and discrimination.
This year’s UN Commission on the Status of Women is particularly important: 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the foundational international agenda for women’s empowerment agreed in 1995, and five years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. DFID will be attending the event.
Our engagement with CSW will reinforce the UK’s bold leadership on gender equality, in the face of an increasingly coordinated and effective opposition to women’s rights globally.
DFID is working across government and with like-minded partners to drive forward our international priorities for girls and women including: negotiating a progressive and forward-looking Political Declaration, championing the critical role of civil society in collaborating with governments, the UN and other key actors, and standing firm against the attempted rollback of the international framework.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what members of African civil society attended the UK-Africa investment summit.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Summit brought together, amongst others, hundreds of UK and African business representatives and representatives from Civil Society Organisations. Forty entrepreneurs from Africa, owning smaller businesses, participated. The Government has also organised more than ten events in the lead-up to, and as follow-up to, the Summit to gather views from a range of stakeholders, including African Civil Society Organisations.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much his Department has spent on supporting (a) coal-mining and (b) coal-fired power stations in developing countries in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
DFID does not provide ODA bilateral assistance for coal and has not done so since 2012.
In the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) we do not support coal projects expect in rare circumstances and only for the poorest countries where there is no economical alternative. The Prime Minister’s announcement means DFID Ministers will now review all coal and other fossil fuel projects that are presented to the Boards of the MDBs and make a decision on each case.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which (a) coal-mining projects and (b) countries will be affected by the policy announced on 20 January 2020 by the Prime Minister that all UK aid-funded support for coal-mining and coal-fuelled power stations in developing countries will cease.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is one of the first countries to commit to ending unabated coal generation. We have cut emissions by more than 40 per cent since 1990, while our economy has grown by two thirds. In May, the UK went without running coal power generation for over two weeks – the longest coal-free period in the country since the 1880s.
The UK and Canada are leading on initiatives to help countries build commitments to move away from unabated coal, such as the Powering Past Coal Alliance which now has 97 members, with growing membership from financial institutions.
In the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) we do not support coal projects expect in rare circumstances and only for the poorest countries where there is no economical alternative. The Prime Minister’s announcement means DFID Ministers will now review all coal and other fossil fuel projects that are presented to the Boards of the MDBs and make a decision on each case.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will publish the names of the members of African civil society that were invited to the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Summit brought together, amongst others, hundreds of UK and African business representatives and representatives from Civil Society Organisations. Forty entrepreneurs from Africa, owning smaller businesses, participated. The Government has also organised more than ten events in the lead-up to, and as follow-up to, the Summit to gather views from a range of stakeholders, including African Civil Society Organisations.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will publish the (a) invitees and (b) attendees of the January 2020 UK-Africa investment summit.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Summit brought together African leaders and delegations from 21 countries: Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda.
Six multilateral organisations and international financial institutions also participated: the African Development Bank, the African Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the World Bank.
In addition, hundreds of UK and African business representatives and representatives from Civil Society Organisations attended the Summit.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment his Department has made of the compliance of the TradeConnect initiative with Official Development Assistance requirements.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Trade Connect, a new £20m programme to help firms in developing countries remove ‘last mile barriers to export’, is focused on creating jobs and raising incomes to promote sustainable economic growth. The programme has been assessed to be compliant with the terms of spending ODA under the International Development Act 2002. The Trade Connect programme will help firms export to more to international markets and will not be restricted to direct trade with the UK or UK Companies.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effect on development impact of the TradeConnect initiative.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
At the UK-Africa Investment Summit on 20 January 2020, the UK announced its commitment to helping African countries break down barriers for trade and investment. We are strengthening Britain’s trading partnerships with an offer that supports both British and African businesses to trade more and grow faster.
The new £20million Trade Connect programme will help businesses in developing countries overcome these barriers and sell more internationally. TradeConnect will therefore contribute to development by supporting growth creation in targeted firms and sectors.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the UK Africa Investment Summit 2020; and what proportion of that cost will be met from the Official Development Assistance budget.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As with all such Government events, the full costing will be available in due course. 2020 UK ODA spend, including for this Summit, will be reported in Statistics on International Development, published by DFID in Autumn 2021.
I am placing a summary of achievements at the Summit in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will publish the itemised costs of the UK Africa Investment Summit 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As with all such Government events, the full costing will be available in due course. 2020 UK ODA spend, including for this Summit, will be reported in Statistics on International Development, published by DFID in Autumn 2021.
I am placing a summary of achievements at the Summit in the Library of the House.