Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what projects in Ukraine have been funded with Overseas Development Assistance in each of the last eight years.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Due to the security situation in Ukraine, we have temporarily removed potentially sensitive information from our Official Development Assistance (ODA) project monitoring systems to ensure the safety of partners. The most common sectors for ODA projects in Ukraine have been; Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution; Human Rights; Ending violence against women and girls; and Anti-Corruption organisations and institutions.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which projects in Indonesia are being funded with Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) from the UK Government either (a) directly or (b) by the UK Prosperity Fund or (c) by CDC or (d) by multilateral organisations to which the UK contributes ODA.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Statistics on International Development (SID) National Statistics report, published on the gov.uk website, provide an overview of all official UK spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). ODA is an international measure and is collected and reported on a calendar year basis.
In answer to the specific breakdowns requested:
A. UK bilateral ODA to Indonesia in 2020 (latest year available) was £33.3mn (as reported in SID Table A4b) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2020
For more information on active Indonesia ODA programmes please see the DevTracker page on Indonesia (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/countries/ID).
B. Details of Prosperity Fund ODA programmes that benefit Indonesia can also be found in "Data underlying the SID" using the "Extending Agency field".
C. As part of CDC / BII's new five year strategy which was launched at the start of 2022, they are seeking to expand their investment portfolio in South East Asia, including in Indonesia. CDC has a portfolio of three indirect investments in Indonesia made via two investment funds: Neoma South East Asia Fund II, and Sarataoga Asia II LP.
The estimated amount of UK ODA funding to the core budgets of multilateral organisations, which was then spent in Indonesia, is published in SID Table A10. This presents the UK Imputed Multilateral Shares for 2015 to 2019 (latest available year). Information on multilateral programmes that benefit Indonesia can also be found on the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) multilateral activity dataset (https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?ThemeTreeId=3) .
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the political situation in Tunisia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK has closely monitored the political situation in Tunisia since the changes brought in by President Kais Saied on 25 July 2021, and we will continue to do so. We engage regularly with government leaders in the country, most recently on 1 March when the British Ambassador called on Prime Minister Najla Bouden. Tunisia faces many economic and political challenges that can only be effectively addressed through democratic engagement, transparency, the protection of human rights, and free speech. The UK has expressed its views regarding the political situation, bilaterally and through statements on behalf of G7 Ambassadors. The most recent joint statement was on 8 February, conveying concerns about the decision to dissolve Tunisia's Supreme Judicial Council: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supreme-judicial-court-in-tunisia-ambassadors-joint-statement-8-february-2022.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what specific steps her Department has taken to advance the two global targets for girls’ education since those targets were endorsed at the G7 in June 2021.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We have built on the momentum of the G7 and UK-hosted Global Education Summit to push forward progress on girls' education. At COP26, we shone a spotlight on the links between education and climate and called for countries to prioritise early learning in their efforts to mitigate climate change. In Afghanistan, the UK has called for girls' right to secondary education to be restored, and UK humanitarian funds are helping provide safe spaces for learning for 38,000 displaced children, including 28,000 girls.
As of mid-December, more than 647 million school children were still affected by partial or full school closures. Ministers are pressing national governments to reopen schools as a matter of priority, while our bilateral education programmes and flagship Girls' Education Challenge continue to support children to catch-up on the learning they have lost. On 26 January, the UK helped launch a new report by the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel focused on recovering children's education.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to take steps with the government of Rwanda to encourage each Commonwealth country to sign the Kenyatta Declaration on education, announced at the 2021 Global Education Summit hosted by the UK and Kenya.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK looks forward to the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held in Kigali, on a new date agreed by the Commonwealth Family. The UK is in regular touch with the Government of Rwanda (CHOGM host) and the Commonwealth Secretariat on preparations for CHOGM; we look forward to Leaders' endorsement of an ambitious package of commitments in due course.
The UK and Kenya co-hosted the Global Education Summit, in London in July 2021, which raised over $4 billion in pledges to help transform education for some of the world's most vulnerable children. In addition, 19 countries signed the Kenyatta declaration, thereby committing to protect, extend and improve their domestic financing to education. The UK will continue to encourage all Global Partnership for Education (GPE) partner countries, including in the Commonwealth, to prioritise domestic education spend.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to track progress towards achieving the two global targets on girls’ education endorsed by G7 leaders in June 2021.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We have committed to publish an annual report tracking progress against the two new global objectives, in collaboration with UNESCO and the UN Girls' Education Initiative. The report is due to be published in the summer of 2022 and annually will highlight the progress that low- and middle-income countries have made in getting 40 million more girls into school and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10, as well as demonstrating the obstacles that are still to be overcome.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department is having with HM Treasury on issuing updated sanctions guidance to give aid agencies, banks and other private sector actors greater clarity and confidence on how they can operate in Afghanistan.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
On 1 November, the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued new guidance (https://ofsi.blog.gov.uk/2021/11/01/ofsi-updates-charity-sector-guidance/ ) to the charity sector on operating in Afghanistan. This was issued after close collaboration with FCDO, and is kept under constant review. The UK government is working closely with the UN and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to ensure that UK aid benefits Afghans in need while meeting our international obligations. We are providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through the UN, NGOs and the Red Cross Movement on the ground, who are continuing to ensure vital aid reaches those who need it most. We have made the humanitarian situation and access a major subject of our engagement with the Taliban. They have assured us and the UN that aid workers are able to operate freely, and the UN is reporting that this is broadly happening. We continue to monitor this closely.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department is having with the Home Office on a scheme to allow human rights defenders, democratically elected representatives and women's rights champions from Afghanistan to find political asylum in the UK.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government is pressing the Taliban to respect human rights in Afghanistan, including the rights of human rights defenders, democratically elected representatives and women's rights champions. The Government has also doubled its aid to Afghanistan. Resettlement in the UK can be a solution for only a small minority of Afghanistan's people. During Op Pitting the Government evacuated more than 15,000 people from Afghanistan to the UK, including some in the groups referred to. The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme has resettled thousands of at-risk Afghans who have worked with or alongside the UK government, and their families. The Afghan citizens resettlement scheme (ACRS) will provide further protection for people at risk identified as in need. The scheme is not yet open and further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking at the World Bank and other multilateral institutions to tackle the banking and liquidity crisis in Afghanistan to allow teachers and other public sector workers to receive salary payments and schools and clinics to operate.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government is prioritising support to the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. We are working closely with the World Bank and our partners on options to support essential basic services in Afghanistan to prevent an escalation in the humanitarian crisis. The UK has been at the forefront in supporting the repurposing of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, including the recently announced release of $280m to support basic health care and food security. We are also supporting proposals to address banking and liquidity issue.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to address the humanitarian situation in South Sudan following the recent floods as outlined in the UNOCHA Global Humanitarian Overview; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In the last three years South Sudan has seen widespread and protracted flooding driven by abnormally intense and extensive rains. We are deeply concerned at the impact such flooding has on millions of ordinary South Sudanese, exacerbating the existing humanitarian crisis. As a leading donor to South Sudan, HMG aims to reach 2 million people with some form of humanitarian assistance this year. Our humanitarian spend of £34.5 million this year includes help to those impacted by flooding. For example HMG contributions to the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund and the International Federation of Red Cross Disaster Relief Emergency Fund have provided emergency food, shelter, water and sanitation services to those affected.
In addition, we have provided emergency support to those affected by flooding through existing programmes. This includes in Jonglei State where we have supported more than 15,000 displaced people with soap, buckets, water purification supplies and mosquito nets. In Unity State plastic sheeting, blankets and cooking supplies have been provided to more than 9,400 affected by floods. We also continue to press the Government of South Sudan to prioritise providing their own funding for essential services for their citizens.