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 (a) promote and (b) assist with the repealing of legislation that criminalises or discriminates against LGBT citizens in Kenya.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Foreign Office represents the UK Government in the International Forum on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) in Kenya. Through this Forum, the UK is promoting the recognition of the rights and freedoms of all including LGBT persons.
In October 2018, the British High Commission and DFID representatives in Nairobi met local LGBT activists to discuss interventions that would be most useful in guaranteeing fundamental rights to dignity, security, health and non-discrimination for all Kenyan citizens including LGBT persons.
The High Commission in Nairobi has supported Kenyans from LGBTI groups to attend international forums on LGBTI rights
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to raise LGBT+ issues at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The UK Government believes in the right to live with dignity, free from violence or discrimination irrespective of a person's sexual orientation and will continue to make the case, and stand up, for LGBT rights throughout the world. At the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, I will also continue to call on the international community to ensure that no-one is left behind, irrespective of gender, disability, or sexuality, in our efforts to achieve the Global Goals.
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 provide support to internally displaced people in Yemen.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Last year the UK provided protection assistance, including primary healthcare services, legal assistance and support in response to sexual violence to over 200,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) through our funding to the International Organisation for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
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 includes continued support to people displaced by conflict, and brings the total UK commitment to Yemen to £770 million since the conflict began in 2015.
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 respond to reports of swine flu in Yemen.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The UK works closely with the UN and partners operating in Yemen to track the presence and spread of communicable diseases. Based on the available information, there is no clear evidence of an increase in cases of swine flu in Yemen.
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) debt relief for Mozambique in light of the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai and (b) an automatic debt relief mechanism for all vulnerable countries after large scale disasters.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I recognise that natural disasters can have a serious impact on affected countries’ ability to service external debts. The Government of Mozambique has not requested consideration for debt relief at this stage, and any consideration of official debt relief would need to be made via the Paris Club of official creditors and done in close coordination with the IMF. The UK Government is not an official creditor to Mozambique.
The UK will continue to work with international partners, including the Paris Club, to explore the potential for more resilient debt-instruments that support faster economic recovery and stability in the international financial system, while preserving access to financing for development.
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 oral contribution of the Minister of State on 20 March 2019 on the debt crisis in Mozambique and the role played by the City of London institutions, what the next steps are for the investigation; which UK authority is conducting the investigation; and what the timeline is for it.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The relevant UK authorities have considered the allegations against UK-based banks and have offered assistance to Mozambique in relation to their investigations. Any action to be taken pursuant to investigations will be a matter for law enforcement authorities. The Government does not comment on law enforcement action for live investigations.
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 Ministers or officials from her Department have to attend the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in April 2019.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I plan to attend the 2019 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group alongside officials from my department.
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 her Department has spent since 2017 on landmine clearance; how many landmines have been cleared with that funding; and what proportion of those landmines were (a) manufactured landmines and (b) improved explosive devices.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Since 2017 my Department has spent over £49million on programmes that reduce the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). As set out in the UK’s policy document on mine action, this includes abandoned improvised explosive devices.
My Department measures the impact of mine action programmes by the amount of land released and available for productive use, rather than the number of devices removed, and through the number of beneficiaries of mine risk education. Programmes deliver life-saving mine risk education sessions to ensure communities living in some of the most heavily contaminated places in the world understand the dangers of landmines and ERW. Since 2017, we have supported over 17,000 mine risk education sessions benefitting nearly 400,000 boys, girls, men and women.
The mine action programme releases land in some of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world, ensuring communities can to return to their homes, travel safely to school and work, and farm their own land. In Iraq the removal of mines and improvised devices is enabling the return of displaced people to areas liberated from Daesh, where civilians are returning voluntarily to find their homes and public facilities significantly contaminated by abandoned improvised explosive devices.
The UK also supports national mine action authorities to manage their clearance of their own contamination more efficiently including training staff on quality assurance techniques and improving national mine action databases to make the most effective use of resources and ensure the most vulnerable communities have their land cleared.
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 her Department has to ensure that its work on landmines will be updated to include appropriate responses to the rise in the global use of improvised explosive devices.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The DFID Global Mine Action Programme tackles the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in 14 of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world, including those contaminated by abandoned improvised explosive devices. As set out in the UK’s policy document on mine action, ERW includes abandoned improvised explosive devices.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to reports in the Indian Ocean Newsletter on 22 February 2019, that the UK Government is seeking to expand the role of British companies providing education services in Uganda, what plans her Department has to provide new funding to UK companies to deliver education services in Uganda; and which organisations and individuals the Minister of State for Africa has met with since January 2019 on this issue.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
There are currently no plans to provide new funding to UK companies to deliver education services in Uganda. The UK Government is supporting more children to access good quality education in primary and secondary schools through a partnership with the Government of Uganda.
Since January 2019, the Minister of State for Africa has not met anyone directly related to this issue.