Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the long-term viability of the UN Relief and Works Agency.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is an essential humanitarian and stabilising force in the region, providing vital services to millions of Palestinian refugees every day. The UK recognises the need for UNRWA to reform to help ensure its sustainability. To this end, in 2018 UNRWA undertook serious steps to improve its long-term viability by broadening its donor base and securing funding from 12 new donors, signing 8 new multi-year funding commitments in 2018, and implementing significant programme reform measures
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to monitor the delivery and spending of UK Official Development Assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
DFID has robust measures in place to ensure UK Aid reaches its intended beneficiaries. UK aid to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA’s) health and education sectors is channelled through the EU Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism. Our money goes into a dedicated bank account before being paid to individuals who have been vetted in advance. The bank account is only used for UK aid. Independent auditors check that the money paid out from this bank account only went to the vetted individuals after every disbursement.
UK assistance to the PA for water and energy will be through the World Bank Partnership for Infrastructure Development in the West Bank and Gaza Multi Donor Trust Fund. UK aid will flow from the trust fund to dedicated accounts that will be managed by the PA in accordance with rules established by the World Bank, and be subject to the review of external financial auditors to provide assurance that the expenditure of funds was only on agreed programme activities.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK official development assistance to the Palestinians facilitates peace-building with Israel.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Government, alongside other governments, works in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to improve the lives of Palestinians in support of our commitment to maintain the viability of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This includes humanitarian support to meet immediate needs in Gaza, support to key services such as education and health in the West Bank, and promoting economic development across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. DFID’s work supports stability and the development of a capable and accountable Palestinian Authority that can act as an effective partner for peace with Israel. We also support People to People work that aims to bring together Israelis and Palestinians to cooperate on issues that can have a positive impact on both communities. Building understanding between people on both sides of the conflict will be crucial in helping build support for a peaceful, negotiated lasting resolution.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the long-term viability of the UN Relief and Works Agency.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Last year the UK led international efforts to help ensure UNRWA’s essential services were maintained, by almost doubling our original core support of £33.5 million to £65.5 million, including £5 million for Gaza, and lobbying other donors to step up to ensure the funding burden is shared more evenly across the international community. Both the UK and UNRWA recognise the need for UNRWA to reform to ensure its sustainability, and UNRWA has undertaken significant cost-cutting measures to respond to budget cuts and growing need. We welcome UNRWA’s efforts to broaden its donor base and are encouraging partners to step up with more funding and more predictable disbursements.
The UK has a multi-year commitment to support UNRWA and we plan to continue to fund the Agency in line with that agreement. This will provide basic services such as health and education to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and the region. A long-term solution requires a just, fair, agreed and realistic settlement for Palestinian refugees. Until that happens the UK remains firmly committed to supporting UNRWA and Palestinian refugees.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what comparative assessment she has made of the trends in the level of aid to Tunisia and other similar countries.
Answered by Alistair Burt
In 2018/19 the UK is providing £10m to support Tunisia through the North Africa Good Governance Fund (NAGGF). This money supports projects across priority sectors including the economy, education, governance and security.
For comparative purposes, at the start of the financial year, the UK allocated the following amounts from the NAGGF to support economic and political reform in the other countries of North Africa:
Algeria: £6.5 million
Egypt: £9.5 million
Libya: £12 million
Morocco: £4 million
Through the NAGGF, the UK also allocated £8 million for the provision of technical assistance to North African governments as well as for projects with a focus on regional co-operation.
This represents a substantial increase in the UK’s development investment in the region relative to previous years. The region also benefits from several DFID centrally-managed programmes as well as the UK’s significant contributions to multilateral organisations and international financial institutions.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that UK aid to the Palestinian Authority does not fund radicalisation.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority (PA) includes a commitment from the Palestinian leadership to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to tackle language and actions that could incite violence or hatred. We continue to urge them to uphold this principle. UK financial aid to the PA is provided through the European Union (EU) Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE) mechanism, contributing to the salaries of vetted public servants in the health and education sectors. Only named public servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible, and the vetting process includes screening against international and ad hoc sanctions lists designed to prevent terrorism financing.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to monitor the (a) use and (b) spending of UK aid in the Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID implements a robust monitoring and evaluation system to ensure that UK aid reaches the intended beneficiaries and achieves the best development outcomes, with a strong focus on ensuring value for money for the UK taxpayer. In the Occupied Palestinian Territories this includes setting clearly defined expectations with delivery partners and conducting regular field visits to monitor the impact of interventions. We also conduct annual programme reviews to take stock of results. We have strong controls in place to monitor spending, including mapping the flow of funds to beneficiaries, regular audits of programme spending and where required, tight earmarking of funds. DFID has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and has robust controls against diversion of aid to terrorist groups.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the estimated number of abortions which will be carried out as a result of the £1.1 billion funding her Department committed to family planning at the 2017 International Family Planning Summit.
Answered by Alistair Burt
By helping the world’s poorest women access modern contraception, we will prevent an estimated 6 million unintended pregnancies and 3 million abortions on average each year.
Family planning reduces, but on its own does not eliminate, the backstreet abortions that kill women. So, where this is not against local law, the UK will consider supporting access to safe abortion in the world’s poorest countries. UK aid cannot be used to fund illegal services.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of the £1.1 billion which the Government has announced will be spent on family planning over the next five years that will be spent on the provision of abortions.
Answered by Alistair Burt
By helping the world’s poorest women access modern contraception, we will prevent an estimated 6 million unintended pregnancies and 3 million abortions on average each year.
Family planning reduces, but on its own does not eliminate, the backstreet abortions that kill women. So, where this is not against local law, the UK will consider supporting access to safe abortion in the world’s poorest countries. UK aid cannot be used to fund illegal services.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much has been spent from the public purse on funding for the provision of abortions in developing countries from 2011 to 2016.
Answered by Alistair Burt
By helping the world’s poorest women access modern contraception, we will prevent an estimated 6 million unintended pregnancies and 3 million abortions on average each year.
Family planning reduces, but on its own does not eliminate, the backstreet abortions that kill women. So, where this is not against local law, the UK will consider supporting access to safe abortion in the world’s poorest countries. UK aid cannot be used to fund illegal services.