Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2019 to Question 224486 on Niger: Marie Stopes International (MSI), what assessment her Department has made of the validity of reports of Nigerien authorities enforcing the cessation of MSI abortion procedures at a number of their clinics.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Marie Stopes International are a valued partner in our comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights work.
DFID’s assessment is that we have seen no evidence of any illegal activity in Niger on their part and no formal allegations have been made to us. DFID funds cannot be used to fund any illegal activities. We treat allegations of any improper use of funds extremely seriously. The process for reporting allegations is on our website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's paper entitled, Single Departmental Plan - Results Achieved by Sector in 2012-2018, Family Planning, what steps her Department has taken to verify the numbers of illegal backstreet abortions provided by the Guttmacher Institute; and whether her Department has conducted a separate estimate of those abortions.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID’s single departmental plan reports on the increase in family planning use from our programmes. From this, estimates are made, based on the best international expertise, on wider impact. The Guttmacher Institute’s reputation for producing high quality scientific research and data for evidence-based policy making on Sexual & Reproductive Health and Rights means we have confidence in these independent estimates.
Other studies support the key Guttmacher Institute finding that unsafe abortion is a significant killer of women and restricting safe abortion does not make abortion less common, it just makes it less safe.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question HL12251 on Kenya: Marie Stopes International, if he will publish the conclusions of the investigation into alleged illegal abortions practices by Marie Stopes International in Niger.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We have seen no evidence of any illegal activity in Niger on their part and no formal allegations have been made to us. DFID funds cannot be used to fund any illegal activities. We treat allegations of any improper use of funds extremely seriously. The process for reporting allegations is on our website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 10 December 2018 to Question 199384 on developing countries: abortion, which states that DFID does not disaggregate figures solely relating to safe abortion procedures and the Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 119743 on Marie Stopes International, which states that DFID has robust monitoring procedures, what steps she is taking to ensure accountability of UK funding to Kenya for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
DFID Kenya has in place a number of measures to ensure the accountability of all UK aid. For the new £36m (2019-2024) Delivering Sustainable and Equitable Increases in Family Planning in Kenya programme, these will include due diligence of all primary implementing partners, regular spot checks, a robust monitoring and evaluation system which includes beneficiary feedback and annual project reviews. Partners will also be required to submit annual audit reports and regular progress and financial reports. Meetings will be held on at least a quarterly basis with implementing partners to track performance, to discuss risks to delivery and how they are working with downstream partners to ensure they also comply with DFID’s accountability requirements.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 10 December 2018 to Question 199384 on developing countries: abortion, which states that DFID does not disaggregate figures solely relating to safe abortion procedures and the Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 119743 on Marie Stopes International, which states that DFID has robust monitoring procedures, if she will request information from Marie Stopes International on the number of abortions funded by her Department in 2017.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID takes an integrated approach to our programming on sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to meet a wide range of women’s reproductive health needs. Because these services are integrated, it is not possible to disaggregate figures solely relating to safe abortion procedure. This principle applies to programmes delivered by all partners with DFID funding, including Marie Stopes International, and therefore this information is not available.
The aim of DFID’s work on sexual and reproductive health and rights is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, increase the use of voluntary family planning, and give women control over their own bodies and lives. DFID’s robust monitoring and evaluation procedures vary by project and are tailored in order to demonstrate the project is meeting its aims.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2018 to Question 173969, whether she now has the breakdown of the proportion of her Department's funding for family planning in Kenya which will be allocated to abortion provision; and what estimate she has made of the number of abortion procedures funded by previous DFID programmes in that country.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Delivering Sustainable and Equitable Increases in Family Planning in Kenya programme will support increased access to modern family planning services. Abortion services will be supported within the parameters set out in the Kenyan Constitution. The programme is still under procurement and therefore no further information on budget breakdowns is available at this time.
DFID takes an integrated approach to programming on sexual and reproductive health and rights - for example providing a woman with holistic care for gender-based violence, HIV, counselling, post-abortion care and information on family planning. As these services are integrated, we do not have disaggregated figures for previous programmes in Kenya solely relating to safe abortion procedures.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the level of incidences of funds from the public purse being used by delivery partners to fund schemes that are illegal in (a) Kenya (b) other developing countries.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID funds cannot be used to fund any illegal activities. We treat allegations of any improper use of funds extremely seriously. The process for reporting allegations is on our website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether any funding provided by her Department to Marie Stopes International goes towards (a) the provision of and (b) advertising for abortion in Kenya.
Answered by Alistair Burt
No. The UK does not currently fund Marie Stopes International to provide any abortion services in Kenya.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding from the public purse has been provided to Marie Stopes International for work in countries outside the UK in each of the last twenty years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
To date DFID has a grand total spend with Marie Stopes International of £241,162,224.57 as of financial year 2002/2003.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's policy is on working with delivery partners providing abortion schemes that are illegal in the target countries.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Women must have the right to make their own decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and well-being and we believe the best way to eliminate unsafe abortion is to improve access to family planning information, services and supplies.
DFID’s policy on safe abortion takes an evidence-based, public health approach that aims to reduce death and disability caused by unsafe abortions. In countries where abortion is permitted, we can support programmes that make safe abortion more accessible in order to save the lives of women who would otherwise risk death or disability through backstreet abortions. We do not support any activity that is against local laws.