Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to promote trade between the UK and the Least Developed Countries.
Answered by Priti Patel
Trade brings economic growth to developing countries and benefits UK producers and consumers. That is why on 25 June I announced that as we leave the EU, we will secure duty-free access to UK markets for the Least Developed Countries. Once we have left, we will build on our track-record as a champion of trade and development, strengthening our existing support and seizing new opportunities to increase trade links.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that teachers are paid a fair wage and receive appropriate training and support in countries hosting Syrian refugees in the vicinity of that country.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
At the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region being held in London on 4th February, we want the international community to agree a new goal that all Syrian refugee children and affected host country children are in education – formal school or non-formal – by the end of 2016/17. Equally, for inside Syria, it is our aim to increase access to good quality schooling or other learning opportunities such as self-learning and non-formal education. In neighbouring countries we will also increase access to vocational or skills training and higher education for children and youth.
At the Conference our ambition is that international donors, governments from countries in the region hosting refugees, non-governmental organisations and the private sector come together to agree a set of reciprocal financial and policy commitments. The UK and co-hosts are working with donors and other partners to secure increased funding for education under the UN-led appeals for 2016 and longer term, multi-year education funding commitments to ensure sustainability. We are also working with refugee hosting governments in particular to agree the policy commitments necessary to turn increased funding into delivery on the ground.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to encourage countries hosting Syrian refugees in that region to allow NGOs to provide non-formal education opportunities.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
At the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region being held in London on 4th February, we want the international community to agree a new goal that all Syrian refugee children and affected host country children are in education – formal school or non-formal – by the end of 2016/17. Equally, for inside Syria, it is our aim to increase access to good quality schooling or other learning opportunities such as self-learning and non-formal education. In neighbouring countries we will also increase access to vocational or skills training and higher education for children and youth.
At the Conference our ambition is that international donors, governments from countries in the region hosting refugees, non-governmental organisations and the private sector come together to agree a set of reciprocal financial and policy commitments. The UK and co-hosts are working with donors and other partners to secure increased funding for education under the UN-led appeals for 2016 and longer term, multi-year education funding commitments to ensure sustainability. We are also working with refugee hosting governments in particular to agree the policy commitments necessary to turn increased funding into delivery on the ground.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what outcomes her Department is working for at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in February 2016.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Through the “Supporting Syria and the Region (London 2016)” Conference we aim to raise significant new funding to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of all those affected by the crisis within Syria, and to support neighbouring countries who have shown enormous generosity in hosting refugees.
The Conference will address the longer-term needs of those affected by the crisis through supporting the creation of jobs and providing education in the region, offering those that have been forced to flee their homes greater hope for the future. Specifically, we aim to ensure access to education for all refugee and host community children by the end of the 2016-17 school year.
The Conference will also maintain pressure on all parties to the conflict to stop the obstruction of humanitarian relief and abuse of civilians that perpetuate the crisis and respect International Humanitarian Law. We aim to agree action to give people inside Syria safer healthcare, safer education, and support for the most vulnerable, especially girls and women. Looking ahead, it will need to ensure the international community is well prepared to support a coordinated stabilisation effort.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department has allocated to the (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation and (b) United Nations Population Fund in each year since 2009.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID provided International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) with £9m of funding for the period 2010/11, £8.6m during 2011/12 and £8.6m during 2012/13. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was provided with £20m each year for the period 2010/11 to 2012/13.
Details of further historical funding can be found in Table 18 and 19 of the Statistics on International Development (SID) which are available in the Library of the House.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department plans to give to Marie Stopes International for (a) abortion, (b) family planning and (c) other reproductive health services in the next 12 months; what assessment she has made of the value for money of such expenditure since June 2011; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The Department for International Development (DFID) will provide approximately £45.8m to Marie Stopes International (MSI) during the period 2014-15. DFID adheres to Development Co-Operation Directorate (OACD-DAC) expenditure coding requirements to allow comparison across donor spending towards attainment of the millennium development goal targets. This does not include the facility to calculate spend for individual components of sexual and reproductive health.
DFID assesses the value for money (VfM) of all its expenditure through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on an annual basis. Every project is subject to an annual review and a judgement is made as to whether the funding is achieving good VfM. More generally, investing in reproductive, maternal and newborn health is excellent value for money due to its low cost and far reaching benefits.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Foyle, of 10 March 2014, Official Report, column 42W, on developing countries: abortion, for what reasons data on spend for individual components of sexual and reproductive health and rights policy are not compiled; and if she will estimate the cost of compiling that data.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID adheres to Development Co-Operation Directorate (OACD-DAC) expenditure coding requirements to allow comparison across donor spending towards attainment of the Millennium Development Goal targets. This does not include the facility to calculate spend for individual components such as sexual and reproductive health and rights –only against coding titles as have been internationally agreed.
Only coding titles as have been internationally agreed can be individually disaggregated.