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, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 April 2021, HCWS935 on FCDO update, what estimate he has made of the number of women and girls who will be affected by a reduction to UK Official Development Assistance to South Sudan.
Answered by James Duddridge
he UK is committed to supporting the people of South Sudan, including women and girls, on their path to peace and stability. While we are still working through what the reduction to UK ODA means for individual programmes in South Sudan, our aid budget will be allocated according to the UK's strategic ODA priorities: global health security, girls' education, humanitarian preparedness and response, open societies, and conflict resolution. This includes continuing to provide life-saving access to health services in eight states across South Sudan and reaching at least 2 million people with at least one form of humanitarian assistance. Our Girls' Education in South Sudan programme is expected to support 550,000 students to get a decent education between 2019 and 2024. Through this, we will increase access and enable South Sudanese children, especially girls, to stay in school and complete primary and secondary 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 assessment he has made of the (a) accuracy of claims made on 8 April 2021 by the Governor of West Darfur, Mohamed Abdullah al-Doma, that foreign militias are involved in violence in Darfur and (b) origins of those militias.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is deeply concerned by the violence in Geneina, West Darfur. This is part of a worrying trend of intercommunal violence across Darfur, which we are monitoring. We are also concerned by reports of the involvement of foreign militias but are not able to verify these claims as the area remains highly insecure. We have called for an end to the violence and for immediate humanitarian access. We have also urged the Government of Sudan to: deliver their commitment to assume full responsibility for the Protection of Civilians; implement swiftly their National Plan for Civilian Protection; and to implement the Juba Peace Agreement, particularly provisions relating to security arrangements.
We welcome the Government of Sudan's open engagement on the issue of Geneina intercommunal violence and willingness to acknowledge the security challenge they face. This includes at a UK-requested briefing with the UN Security Council on 14 April, where Sudan outlined their commitment to dispatch security forces to the area, to expedite humanitarian assistance, and acknowledged the need to work with the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan (UNITAMS) to address Protection of Civilian issues.
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 assessment he has made of the effect of the UNAMID drawdown on safety and security in Darfur.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UN Security Council ended the mandate of UNAMID at the insistence of the Government of Sudan, who asserted that they would assume full responsibility for Protection of Civilians. Recent violence has however exposed weaknesses that urgently need to be addressed. We welcome the Government of Sudan's open engagement on the issue of Geneina intercommunal violence and willingness to acknowledge the security challenges they face. This includes at a UK-requested briefing with the UN Security Council on 14 April, where the Sudanese outlined their commitment to dispatch security forces to the area, to expedite humanitarian assistance, and acknowledged the need to work with the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan to address Protection of Civilian issues.
During a visit to Sudan in April, the UK Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs travelled to Darfur and heard about some of the security challenges first hand; he drew on this in meetings with the Government of Sudan to urge them to prioritise humanitarian access and implement the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) as part of providing Protection of Civilians in Darfur.
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, whether he plans to provide support for the economy of Sudan (a) directly and (b) via CDC Group as a result of the removal by the US of its state sponsor of terrorism designation from that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK welcomes the removal of Sudan from the United States State Sponsor of Terrorism list. This will enable Sudan to engage with international markets and investors as they reform and rebuild the economy. As a leading donor to Sudan, the UK is this year providing £125m in economic and humanitarian assistance to help build stability and improve the lives of ordinary Sudanese. On 21 January, the Foreign Secretary visited Sudan and reaffirmed the UK's commitment to support Sudan's democratic transition, including via £40m funding to the Sudan Family Support Programme, to support the Sudanese Government's programme of essential economic reforms. The Foreign Secretary also announced the UK's intent to provide a bridging loan to clear Sudan's arrears with the African Development Bank, as part of wider efforts on debt relief. Sudan falls within CDC's geographical remit for investment, but CDC does not currently have any investments in the country.
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 programmes he has put in place to support the Government's Anti Corruption Strategy using Official Development Assistance in financial year (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22; and how much funding has been allocated to those programmes.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The last published Statistics on International Development report that the UK spent £57,084,711 of Official Development Assistance on Anti-Corruption in 2019, across a wide range of programmes in support of the UK's Anti-Corruption Strategy. In addition, some ODA programmes focussing on other areas contributed to reducing corruption, including programmes to improve public sector financial management systems and scrutiny by audit and civil society bodies. Equivalent statistics for 2020 are expected to be published in September 2021.
As announced last year, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to reduce temporarily how much we spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). The UK will remain a world-leading donor, spending over £10 billion in 21/22. No decisions on sectoral budgets have been made yet. The Foreign Secretary has set out seven core priorities for the UK's aid budget this year, including defending open societies. The recently published Integrated Review sets out the UK Government's commitment to fight corruption and illicit finance as significant threats to democratic values and open societies around the world.
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 he has for the UK as Chair in Office of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting to put the campaign for girls' education on the meeting agenda.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Girls' education is one of the most transformational interventions for tackling poverty. Standing up for the right of every girl to 12 years of quality education is a major priority for this Government. As Chair in Office of the Commonwealth, the UK has worked to promote girls' education across the Commonwealth - for example, through the work of the Platform for Girls' Education and its policy papers, which include recommendations for action by policymakers and governments.
We are looking forward to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is being hosted by Rwanda this year. The UK will highlight the importance of girls' education, and encourage Commonwealth member states to continue committing to provide the opportunity for at least 12 years of quality education and learning for all girls and boys by 2030. We will also use our G7 Presidency this year to rally the international community in stepping up support for girls' education, and co-hosting the replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education with Kenya in July.
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, whether the donation of the UK's surplus covid-19 vaccine doses to COVAX will be funded by Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Prime Minister announced on 19 February that the UK would share majority of any surplus COVID-19 vaccines with COVAX. This is part of the significant support the UK is providing to COVAX, including £548 million to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment which is providing access to COVID-19 vaccines for the 92 most vulnerable countries. However, it remains too soon to say when we will have any surplus doses. We will set out more details on funding mechanisms in due course, including implications for Official Development Assistance, if and when a surplus has been identified.
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 his Department has for allocation of funding of Overseas Development Assistance in South Sudan in the financial year 2021-22; and if he will make a comparative assessment of that allocation of funding with that funding so allocated in the financial years (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2019-20.
Answered by James Duddridge
As announced last year, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce how much we spend on Official Development Assistance. The FCDO is reviewing all individual country allocations as part of the Country Business Planning process, including specific implications for all spend in South Sudan
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 he is taking to ensure that elections in South Sudan take place in line with the timetable outlined in the Peace Agreement.
Answered by James Duddridge
Despite significant delays to implementation of the 2018 Agreement, including a nine month delay in forming the Transitional Government of National Unity, the UK welcomes recent progress, notably finalising state governor appointments. Alongside our Troika partners (US and Norway), we continue to encourage South Sudan's leaders, including President Kiir and First Vice-President Machar, to expedite implementation, including setting the conditions for elections, ensuring a lasting end to violence and addressing the grave humanitarian crisis. As I [Minister Duddridge] made clear during a visit to South Sudan in October 2020, all parties must work together to create the conditions needed for elections to take place, including political progress and improvements to the security situation. More recently, the Foreign Secretary and I [Minister Duddridge] discussed stability issues including South Sudan with President Kenyatta on 20 January, given the important role of regional partners in supporting delivery of the 2018 Agreement. The UK Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan discusses these issues regularly with international and regional partners, including IGAD, Sudan, and with President Museveni in December 2020.
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 the basic pay is for UK Ambassadors and High Commissioners ranging from the (a) lowest to (b) highest basic salary in 2020-2021.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office salary scales for Ambassadors and High Commissioners at our overseas posts are shown below. Pay ranges for the Senior Management Structure were effective from 1 April 2020, and for delegated grades from 1 August 2020.
Grade | Minimum | Maximum |
Senior Executive Officer | £38,300 | £43,835 |
Grade 7 | £49,365 | £60,078 |
Grade 6 | £60,705 | £69,784 |
SMS 1 | £71,000 | £117,800 |
SMS 2 | £93,000 | £162,500 |
SMS 3 | £120,000 | £208,100 |
SMS 4 | £150,000 | £200,000 |