Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK remains deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis in Yemen - the largest in the world. Over 22 million people - 75% of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 8.4 million people at risk of starvation across the country. Yemen relies on imports to meet 90% of its basic needs like food and fuel. As such, it is critical that all parties facilitate the flow of food and fuel into and throughout the country.
We are also extremely concerned by the rapid depreciation of the Yemeni Riyal – which has lost over 40% of its value since July. This is driving increased humanitarian need as families are less able to afford to buy available food.
The UK has consistently been one of the largest donors to the crisis, committing £570 million in response since the conflict began in 2015. We will continue to push for a political solution to the conflict - the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and end the humanitarian crisis.
I recently hosted an event on malnutrition in Yemen at the UN General Assembly on 25 September with UN agencies, donors and NGOs. Together we launched a Call to Action including a three year plan of commitments to tackle malnutrition in Yemen.
The UK continues to respond to humanitarian crisis in Yemen and will keep the situation under close review.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent estimate she had made of the amount of funding her Department has allocated to financing abortions; and if she will make a statement.
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.
DFID supports a wide range of reproductive health services designed around women’s needs, promotion of reproductive health services to prevention and management of consequences of abortion. DFID includes this entire range of services under “reproductive health care spend” in accordance with the OECD-DAC purpose codes for tracking ODA spend. For this reason, costs and numbers of particular individual procedures are not available.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What recent assessment she has made of the level of food security in east Africa.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
More than 20 million people are experiencing acute food shortages in East Africa. The situation is most severe in Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan, with a risk of famine in South Sudan. The UK has recently provided assistance to over 13.6 million people and has allocated £279 million for humanitarian aid to these countries this year.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the level of food security in Ethiopia.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Ethiopia is facing another drought in 2018, with high levels of humanitarian need. This week, the government of Ethiopia launched a humanitarian appeal which sets out that 7.9 million people are in need of emergency assistance to meet their basic food needs in 2018. This is on top of the 7.9 million people who are food insecure from year to year and are supported by the government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP).
Responding to food insecurity is a top priority for the UK in Ethiopia and our work is making a real difference. DFID is currently assisting 4 million people in Ethiopia to meet their emergency food needs. Through the PSNP, we are also providing food and cash transfers to 840,000 people, building their food security. We will continue to closely monitor the level of food security in Ethiopia.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Sudan and (b) South Sudan.
Answered by Rory Stewart
There are currently estimated to be 4.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan. Sudan is also currently hosting more than 400,000 South Sudanese refugees, of which more than 150,000 have arrived in 2017. The UK is working with partners to respond to these challenges and monitor emerging needs.
South Sudan is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis. 6 million people now lack food to feed themselves and their families, and almost 4 million have fled their homes. The UK is working with international partners to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance and ensure people receive urgently needed food, water, and medicine, as well as longer term support.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Yemen is one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world. According to the UN, almost 21 million people (over 70% of the population) are in need of humanitarian aid and 7 million face extreme food shortages (including 462,000 children under 5 suffering from acute malnutrition). As a result, Yemen is facing the world’s worst cholera outbreak with 262,650 cases recorded and over 1,587 deaths.
In response, the UK has increased our funding for Yemen to £139 million for 2017/18. This includes support for cholera prevention, and the provision of medical supplies and treatment for those affected. In addition, we are helping fund 1 million cholera vaccines that are currently being sent to Yemen through GAVI, the Global Vaccine Alliance. Last year, the UK helped more than 1 million Yemenis with emergency humanitarian assistance, including food, healthcare and nutrition support.
The UK is the second largest donor to the UN’s Yemen appeal, and continues active lobbying for a political solution as well for others in the international community to step up co-ordinated action and funding.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 27899, what recent assessment she has made of the food security situation in Ethiopia.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Responding to the food security situation in Ethiopia is a top priority. DFID has already committed £40 million to provide food aid to 3.8 million people in 2016, as part of its overall £113 million response since the onset of the drought last July.
Across the country, 18 million people are in need of food assistance. Failed rains and the El Niño effect have caused the worst drought in Ethiopia in 30 years. This has resulted in reduced crop yields and numerous livestock deaths – increasing the country’s dependence on food aid.
Plans are in place to provide monthly food rations until June from various sources, including the UN, donors, and the Government. The Government of Ethiopia has committed over $381 million (~£269 million) so far, which is its largest ever response to a drought. However, systems are currently stretched and the scale of the crisis means that further resources are needed to meet monthly food distribution needs from June onwards. We continue to work closely with the Government of Ethiopia to support their leadership of the humanitarian response.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will increase Government funding for emergency food aid to Ethiopia.
Answered by Nick Hurd
We are very concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation for 18 million people across Ethiopia. Britain is working closely with the Government of Ethiopia and the international community to ensure adequate funding for drought response activities.
We acted quickly and decisively at the onset of the drought by providing emergency food aid for 2.1 million people in 2015. This year, we have committed £40 million to provide food aid to a further 3.8 million people in April.
In collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, DFID is also ensuring that 120,000 severely malnourished children receive treatment in order to recover quickly.
Our overall funding for the drought to date is £113 million. We are continuing to work with the Government of Ethiopia and other donors to make sure needs are being met. We are monitoring the situation closely.
UK Aid resilience work with the Government of Ethiopia has helped prepare 10 million people to cope with this drought.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the value for money of the projects supported by the G7 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Every DFID programme which is contributing to the New Alliance initiative, including both country-level food security and nutrition programmes and funding for wider agricultural policy reforms, is subject to DFID’s annual review processes, which also assess value for money. Additional funding committed through the New Alliance initiative consists of £44m for ‘enabling actions’, and an additional £76m contribution to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme. A list of enabling actions and initial programme reviews with further information are available on the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition and DFID development tracker websites.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent independent audit there has been of the effectiveness of her Department's disbursement of services.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The National Audit Office, the principal state audit body in the United Kingdom, provides independent external audit of DFID’s spending, including carrying out value for money and other effectiveness reviews. DFID’s Annual Report and Accounts are also subject to audit by the National Audit Office. The Comptroller and Auditor General signed DFID’s 2014–15 Annual Report and Accounts on 9 July 2015 and issued an unqualified audit opinion. Rigorous independent scrutiny of the effectiveness of DFID’s work is also provided by the Independent Commission on Aid Impact which reports to the International Development Select Committee in Parliament.
DFID’s internal audit department provides assurance over governance, risk management and control systems through a programme of audits which cover DFID processes, departments and projects. In 2014-15 the Secretary of State significantly scaled up internal audit and counter fraud resources to strengthen internal capacity and skills, increase the depth and breadth of assurance coverage, and ensure that all DFID country offices are audited at least every other year. At a programme level, all organisations which receive funding from DFID are required to provide evidence about the use of funds, including providing independently audited financial statements to our programme managers.