Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether (a) Oxfam International and (b) Adam Smith International are eligible to bid for contracts under his Department’s International Multi-Disciplinary (IMDP) Framework Agreement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In 2018, Oxfam and Adam Smith International (ASI) both successfully bid for the International Multi-Disciplinary (IMDP) Framework Agreement and were awarded a place on the framework agreement. There were 79 successful suppliers in total across 20 thematic spend categories.
Both ASI and Oxfam are eligible to bid for contracts under the IMDP 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 steps he is taking with with other donor countries help ensure the funding gap for the 2019 humanitarian response to the crisis in Yemen is closed.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We are very concerned by the potential funding cliff edge the UN is facing in June. The UN’s 2019 humanitarian appeal for Yemen is the largest in the world at $4.2 billion. The Geneva Pledging Conference in February of this year saw $2.6 billion pledged, approximately 20% of which has been disbursed to date.
The UK is actively engaging with other large donors to encourage the rapid disbursement of funding to the UN to enable it to cover urgent needs.
The UK has also brought forward funding and we will have disbursed over half of our £200 million pledge for this financial year (2019/2020) by the beginning of June. This included funds for UNICEF to respond rapidly to a spike in cholera. As a result, cholera cases have declined for four weeks in a row and we hope a wider outbreak has been avoided.
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 the Government has to increase the amount of humanitarian aid for Yemen in 2019.
Answered by Rory Stewart
On 24 February, the Prime Minister announced that the UK will provide an additional £200 million in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen for the next financial year (2019/2020). This was the third largest amount pledged at the UN 2019 Yemen Pledging conference and brings the total UK commitment to Yemen to £770 million since the conflict began in 2015.
We are encouraging other large donors to disburse promptly and are confident that if this happens the UN and NGOs will be able to deliver a strong humanitarian response. The Geneva Pledging Conference in February of this year saw $2.6 billion pledged, approximately 20% of which has been disbursed to date.
The UK has brought forward funding to cover urgent UN funding gaps and will have disbursed over half of our £200 million funding by the beginning of June. We will release our remaining funds promptly and in line with our partners’ funding requirements.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2019 to Question HL15044 on Developing Countries: Climate Change, how much of the £5.8 billion allocated to international climate finance between 2016-17 and 2020-21 will be spent on tackling loss and damage in climate-vulnerable countries.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Action to avert, minimize and address loss and damage associated with climate change is intricately bound up with action on mitigation, adaptation, disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness and response. We therefore do not see that attempting to define a separate category of finance for loss and damage as useful or practical. Of the £5.8bn on climate finance we have committed to spend from 2016-2021 the UK aims to spend 50% on adaptation and 50% on mitigation.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will support the urgent humanitarian evacuation out of Libya of refugees and migrants held in detention centres in that country.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We are deeply concerned by reports of violence in Libyan detention centres, and are calling on all parties to allow civilians, including refugees and migrants, to be evacuated to safety. We continue to closely monitor the humanitarian situation in Libya, including conditions in detention centres.
The UK Government is clear that all parties to the conflict must do all that they can to prevent any further loss of life, including by respecting their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and engaging with the UN and humanitarian community to get aid to those in need and for the wounded and those at risk to be safely evacuated.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support vulnerable migrants in Libya.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK combines short and long term work to provide a comprehensive approach to global migration which includes addressing the immediate impacts of mass migration flows as well as their root causes. This means working to bring about an end to conflicts, helping migrant origin countries to reduce the drivers of illegal migration by building stability, and tackling criminal smuggling gangs.
Under DFID’s £75 million humanitarian migration programme, we have allocated up to £5 million to assistance and protection for vulnerable refugees and migrants in Libya, which includes targeted healthcare provision. Alongside this, through our contributions to the EU Trust Fund for Africa, we are supporting the UNHCR’s emergency evacuations from Libya, voluntary returns and reintegration, as well as providing limited support for those within detention centres.
As announced yesterday, DFID has committed £1 million to the UN Flash Appeal for Libya which will assist the most vulnerable people, including refugees and migrants.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to disseminate and implement the results of the Woman trial which found tranexamic acid has significant impact on reducing maternal mortality.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
DFID works to improve maternal health through our focus on effective family planning, training health workers to manage obstetric emergencies and improving countries’ health systems. The Woman trial, carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has shown that the drug tranexamic acid reduces bleeding and death from post-partum haemorrhage. We have disseminated these findings to our staff in countries. We are in discussion with some of our UN and NGO partners to identify the barriers to people accessing tranexamic acid.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to reduce maternal mortality.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Every year, the UK spends approximately £1 billion on reproductive, maternal, new-born and child health care.
The majority of maternal deaths are caused by complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth, such as severe bleeding, infections, complications from delivery and unsafe abortion. DFID works to reduce maternal mortality through a range of programmes, which focus on effective family planning, training health workers to manage obstetric emergencies and improving countries’ health systems to ensure health workers, drugs, equipment and transport are available when women and children need care.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 Libya since the upsurge in violence in that country and the resultant displacement of civilians; and what plans she has to support the humanitarian effort in that country.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Following the announcement by General Haftar of his Libyan National Army’s advance on Tripoli on 4 April, the UK has been working hard with our international partners to avert further bloodshed in the capital and to get the parties back to the negotiating table with UN Envoy Salamé as soon as possible.
We continue to closely monitor the security situation across the whole of Libya to assess where aid can be delivered to alleviate the humanitarian situation.
We are currently supporting the humanitarian effort in Libya through a £3.29 million programme which provides assistance to vulnerable people, improves access to primary health care, builds capacity of health care workers and bolsters humanitarian coordination and capability. We have also allocated up to £5 million to humanitarian assistance and protection for migrants and refugees in Libya, including targeted healthcare.
The UK government has allocated £16m for Libya this financial year through the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) to boost political participation and economic development, and support the delivery of greater security, stability and resilience, including the fight against extremism.
Furthermore, through our contribution to the EU Trust Fund, the UK has supported the EU and Africa Union joint commitment to significantly increase voluntary returns of those who want to leave Libya (as agreed at the EU-AU Summit in November 2017). Since then, more than 34,000 people have benefitted from Voluntary Humanitarian Return Assistance and been supported to return home.
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 she has made of the humanitarian situation in Iran since the recent floods in that country; and what steps her Department are taking to support humanitarian relief efforts in response to those floods.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Iran has been struck by devastating flooding causing death, injury and significant displacement. My sympathies are with those who have been affected.
Iran has demonstrated that it is well placed to respond and is delivering an effective response. The UN is coordinating the international humanitarian response to the devastating floods.
The UK supports the UN to enable its agencies to respond to crises, such as these floods, in an emergency.