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 discussions she has had with Filippo Grandi, the UN high Commissioner for Refugees, on the humanitarian needs of people displaced by fighting in the Idlib area of north west Syria.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
DFID officials are in regular contact with UNHCR counterparts.
The UK is deeply concerned that over 950,000 Syrians have been displaced by the violence in Idlib since 1 December, with over 80% being women and children. On 3 March, the Secretary of State announced an additional £89 million of humanitarian aid to Syria, including £15 million specifically for Idlib. This will deliver emergency support such as medical items, clean water and shelter, in addition to evacuating medical staff and civilians from unsafe areas where military forces are advancing.
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 the international community is taking to help stop the spread of covid-19 to refugee camps in north west Syria and elsewhere in the region.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
There are no known cases of COVID-19 in refugee camps at present in North West Syria and elsewhere in the region.
DFID recognises that individuals in refugee camps are more vulnerable to COVID-19. In Syria, the international community is taking steps to help stop the virus spreading. On 1 March, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator released US $15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help fund global efforts to contain the virus in Syria. The funding, which will be allocated to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF, will go towards monitoring the spread of the virus, investigating cases and the operation of national laboratories.
DFID is closely monitoring the situation and looking at specific support we could provide to existing partners. In Syria and the region, our healthcare funding through the WHO provides medicine and equipment to hospitals and health centres, including in IDP camps, as well as training of healthcare staff. DFID support also assists health systems strengthening, enabling real-time decision making in improving the health response and preventing mass outbreaks of disease.
Globally, the UK is continuing to support efforts to combat the outbreak of COVID-19. We have provided £40 million investment into vaccine and virus research, and £5 million to the World Health Organisation (WHO). We are working with other countries to use forums such as the G7 presidency to focus international efforts in support of the WHO led response.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many energy projects involving the burning of heavy fuel oil has CDC Group invested in since 2011; and (a) how much and (b) on what dates that funding was allocated to each of those projects.
Answered by James Duddridge
Since 2011, CDC has invested in four energy projects designed to run on heavy fuel oil in four countries in Africa: Kenya, Cameroon, Mali and Guinea-Conakry. The funding was committed in 2015, 2017 and 2018. The total invested into the four projects is $77.3 million which represents less than 1.5% of CDC’s total investment portfolio.
CDC invests in energy projects to support access to energy for 600 million Africans without power and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in a socially just manner. Over the past two years, CDC has committed over $500 million to renewable energy projects, almost 25% of CDC’s total investment commitments made over this period. Whenever CDC invests in fossil fuels, it does so with the aim to increase efficiency, reduce emissions and as part of a low carbon transition plan.
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 has made an assessment of the potential effect on the effectiveness of her Department of removing ageing as a specific policy area with Ministerial responsibility.
Answered by Wendy Morton
My Department recognises that older people experience a range of complex barriers and face multiple exclusions in developing countries across the globe.
Baroness Sugg has direct responsibility for ageing as part of her portfolio on inclusive societies.
Ageing is an important factor in DFID’s efforts to tackle extreme poverty, ensure inclusion and in our approach to ‘leave no-one behind’. This is reflected in our departmental strategy papers. Both the Disability Inclusion Strategy and the Strategic Vision for Gender Equality take a life-course approach, ensuring the delivery of transformative change for people all ages.
We are also supporting governments to make vital social protection systems more inclusive of older people. In Uganda, DFID continues to build on its partnership with the Government of Uganda to deliver a Senior Citizen Grant. The grant currently supports over 168,000 older people with a cash transfer to help meet their nutritional and healthcare needs.
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 the needs of older people.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK Government recognises that older people experience a range of complex barriers in developing countries around the globe.
DFID’s vision is a world where all people, in all stages of their lives, are engaged, empowered and able to exercise their rights. Ageing is an important factor in our efforts to tackle extreme poverty, ensure inclusion and in our approach to ‘leave no-one behind’. For example, DFID’s Disability Inclusion Strategy and Strategic Vision for Gender Equality take a life-course approach, ensuring the delivery of transformative change for people all ages.
We are also supporting governments to make vital social protection systems more inclusive of older people. In Uganda, DFID continues to build on its partnership with the Government of Uganda to deliver a Senior Citizen Grant. The grant currently supports over 168,000 older people with a cash transfer to help meet their nutritional and healthcare needs.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many projects the CDC Group has invested in since 2011 relating to fossil fuel power generation, exploration, production, storage or distribution; how much funding was allocated to each such project; and on what dates that funding was allocated.
Answered by James Duddridge
The names of current CDC investments relating to fossil fuels are: Eneo (Formerly Sonel); Actis Energy Cameroon Holdings (Eneo); Azura Power West Africa Ltd; Azura Power; Cenpower; Amandi Energy; Maria Gleta; Proton Energy; Uquo Integrated Gas Business (Accugas); Simba Oil Ltd; SODEP; Broron Oil & Gas; Amandi Energy; Elton International Co; Africa Oilfield Services/AOS Orwell Ltd; Gas Train; Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc; Globeleq Ltd (Dibamba); Globeleq Ltd (Azito); Globeleq Ltd (Kribi); Globeleq Ltd (Tsavo) Globeleq Ltd (Songas); Globeleq Africa Holdings; Africa Oil Corp; Eland Oil & Gas; Petrobras Oil & Gas B.V.; GMR Energy Ltd / Skyron Eco Ventures (GMR Infrastructure); ONGC Tripura Power Company Ltd; Karadeniz Powerships; Kosmos Energy; Sirajganj 4; Summit Meghnaghat; Africa Terminaling Company Ltd; Viathan Engineering Ltd; Te Power; Albatross Energy, Mali; Petroleum Products Pipeline SA; Les Centaure Routiers; Bell Oil and Gas; Vivo Energy.
Information on these investments is available on CDC’s website [https://www.cdcgroup.com/en/our-investments/].
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the financial value was of CDC Group's investments in (a) Karadeniz Powerships (b) Maria Gléta (c) Les Centaure Routiers (d) Petroleum Products Pipeline SA (3PL) (e) Bell Oil and Gas; and on what dates those investments were made.
Answered by James Duddridge
CDC invests in energy projects to support access to energy for 600 million Africans without power and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The total invested in aggregate across all 5 of these projects is $3.6 million. The date of each investment was a) March 2016 b) March 2018 c) February 2019 d) February 2019 e) May 2019.
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 his Department is taking to improve access for humanitarian agencies operating in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is increasingly concerned by the constraints placed on the international humanitarian response in Houthi-controlled areas of northern Yemen. In line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2451, we are calling on all parties to facilitate unhindered access for humanitarian actors and agencies and ensure that humanitarian workers are able to conduct their work safely and without harm.
In mid-February, donors (including the UK), International Non-Governmental Organisations and the United Nations met in Brussels and agreed to move forward with a coordinated response to improve access for humanitarian agencies operating in Yemen, including reducing aid if restrictions are not lifted.
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 he has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with nearly 80% of the entire population, over 24 million people, requiring some form of humanitarian assistance. More than 20 million people in Yemen do not have reliable access to food and almost 10 million people face extreme food shortages.
The UK is increasingly concerned by the constraints placed on the international humanitarian response in Houthi-controlled areas of northern Yemen. In line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2451, we are calling on all parties to facilitate unhindered access for humanitarian actors and agencies and ensure that humanitarian workers are able to conduct their work safely and without harm.
A political settlement is the only way to fully address the humanitarian crisis and we encourage further constructive engagement from all parties to achieve this.
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 his Department is taking to support countries with weaker health systems following the declaration by the World Health Organisation that coronavirus is a global health emergency.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
DFID has stepped up support for developing countries following the World Health (WHO) declaration, through an initial £5 million contribution to WHO’s Emergency Flash Appeal and deploying experts to the WHO’s Regional Office for Africa in the Republic of Congo. In addition, DFID Country Offices are in close contact with country partners in preparing for and responding to an outbreak, and we are working alongside the Department for Health and Social Care and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on further research into the virus.
More generally, DFID’s health system strengthening programmes build capability for health security such as disease surveillance and response systems.