Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff appointed after 24 June 2016 in her Department hold a post that includes work on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Rory Stewart
To support work on the UK leaving the EU, DFID’s Europe Department has increased its staffing by 5.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her policy is on the development of relations between schools in the UK and in Africa.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Developing connections between schools in the UK and in poorer countries can bring benefits to all the children involved. Through our Connecting Classrooms programme we are giving British children the chance to act as Global Britain's ambassadors, to build international partnerships and to shape the world they want to live in.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on achieving the goals of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK Government is fully committed to global polio eradication and is the third largest donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, providing £300 million for 2013 to 2019.
UK funding has contributed, as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to a greater than 99% decrease in polio cases since 1988, with no cases reported in Africa for over a year. Only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are now reporting cases of wild polio, meaning we are now closer than ever to global eradication.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure funding disbursed by her Department does not contribute to increased greenhouse gas emissions.
Answered by Grant Shapps
DFID is committed to supporting Climate Smart Development which tackles climate change and reduces poverty. This approach focuses on building the resilience of people in developing countries to the impacts of climate change, supporting economic development through low carbon growth, and promoting good governance of natural resources. A key part of this approach is to ensure that DFID programmes help address climate change, including reducing emissions.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) financial and (b) other support her Department is providing to the least developed countries to tackle climate change and its effects.
Answered by Grant Shapps
DFID is committed to supporting Climate Smart Development which tackles climate change and reduces poverty in developing countries. Our programmes aim to increase the ability of poor people to cope with the impacts of climate-related shocks, including droughts, floods and storms, and to build their resilience to future changes in climate. The International Climate Fund (ICF) is the UK Government’s vehicle for delivering climate finance assistance and other forms of support, such as technical assistance. Through the ICF the UK government is providing £3.87bn in support between 2011/12 and 2015/16.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the Foreign Secretary on development in smaller African countries.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Other than the frequent conversations that the Secretary of State is having with the Foreign Secretary about the 3 smaller African countries affected by the Ebola crisis, DFID Ministers have not had any recent discussions with the Foreign Secretary about smaller African countries.