Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will support at the UN Financing for Development conference the creation of a new international tax body under the auspices of the UN.
Answered by Justine Greening
The UK is helping developing world countries collect more tax, for example through DFID-funded HMRC teams working in Pakistan and several other countries, and we are ensuring developing countries are participating in international processes, for example they are directly involved in the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) process and efforts by international organisations to produce practical toolkits to help developing countries implement new BEPS standards. We will continue to champion these and other important efforts to reform domestic and international tax systems at the UN Financing for Development conference.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the Government's priorities will be at the UN Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in July 2015; and what her assessment is of the likely outcome of that conference.
Answered by Justine Greening
As a country that has met its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on international development, the UK’s priority for the UN Financing for Development Conference is to provide a solid foundation for the post-2015 summit in September and the climate meeting in December.
Negotiations are still underway and we are working to ensure the UK priorities form a core part of the agenda going forward.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has issued in additional support to Malawi following the recent floods in that country; what activities this additional finance has been used to fund; and what proportion of such funding has been provided to the Malawian government for redistribution.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID Malawi has committed to provide up to £4.1 million to support both emergency response and early recovery efforts. These are funds from DFID Malawi’s 14/15 budget, including contingency humanitarian funds and the use of value for money savings. This is additional to the £3.4m already provided to meet the humanitarian needs of the food insecure during the lean season. DFID is working closely with partners to ensure that flooding support reaches those that need it most, in line with the Government of Malawi’s Preliminary Response Plan and coordinated through Government-led structures. No UK funding is channelled through Government of Malawi systems.
UK commitments so far include:
· £1m to the World Food Programme which is supplying 370,000 people with food for the first weeks, including by air to areas cut off by rising waters.
· £665,000 to UNICEF to provide emergency water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to prevent the spread of disease in displacement camps.
· Over £1m through NGO and private sector partners to provide seeds and tools to smallholder farmers whose crops have been damaged by the floods.
· £800,000 through the UN Humanitarian Fund, in support of particular coordination and camp management, nutrition, protection and health activities, plus funds for specialist UN personnel to coordinate the response.
In addition, a number of NGOs have also accessed the Start Fund, a funding mechanism for delivering rapid humanitarian assistance which is jointly funded by the UK and Irish Governments. ActionAid, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide and Save the Children have used £350,000 from the fund to provide vital resources to those displaced by the floods.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what financial contribution the Government plans to make to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK is currently the third largest donor to the UNRWA General Fund providing £106.5 million between 2012-2015. In response to the Gaza conflict last summer, the UK also provided an additional £9 million to the UNRWA Gaza Flash Appeal. Future funding decisions for contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) will be informed by an assessment of need.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will ensure that Parliament is given adequate opportunity for effective scrutiny of the positions taken by the EU in the post-2015 sustainable development goals process.
Answered by Justine Greening
There are ongoing discussions in Brussels and New York regarding the composition of the EU team and what role individual EU member states will play.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what development issues and goal area she expects will be led by individual EU member states in the post-2015 sustainable development goals process; and whether the UK will lead on any of these development issues or goal areas.
Answered by Justine Greening
There are ongoing discussions in Brussels and New York regarding the composition of the EU team and what role individual EU member states will play.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) female and (b) male burial operatives have been recruited (i) from the UK and (ii) from Sierra Leone to burial teams as part of her Department's response to the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone.
Answered by Justine Greening
The UK is supporting the training and management of over 100 burial teams. DFID does not retain specific data on the total number of burial operatives in Sierra Leone.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has provided any financial support towards the opening of Médecins Sans Frontières' maternity clinic for Ebola sufferers.
Answered by Justine Greening
DFID has not provided funding for the Médecins Sans Frontières run Ebola maternity clinic. However DFID has provided £750,000 for management of Ebola Treatment Centres in Kailahun in Sierra Leone, and in Monrovia and Foya county in Liberia.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to target the increased contraction rate of Ebola amongst women in Sierra Leone; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justine Greening
Data from the World Health Organisation indicates that there appears to be little difference in the incidence of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) infection by sex. However the Ebola outbreak has exacerbated the situation for those who were already vulnerable, including girls and women. The UK has therefore developed a Protection Strategy to ensure that action is taken to reduce the risk of transmission to these groups, and to mitigate the secondary impacts that they face.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding from her Department has been assigned to Ebola vaccine candidate and safety testing; how much of that funding has been spent in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015 to date; and what steps she is taking to ensure that vaccine candidates funded by her Department are safe for use by pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Answered by Justine Greening
Alongside the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, DFID has assigned up to £2m for Phase 1 trials of the GlaxoSmithKline Ebola vaccine candidate. There have been no disbursements of funding to date.
The GSK vaccine has now been tested on healthy people without any significant side effects. Additional data will come from phase 2 and 3 trials. In line with standard practice for vaccine trials, the protocols exclude pregnant and breastfeeding women. This group would therefore not be included in any initial rollout.