Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the level of gender equality and (b) progress on meeting Sustainable Development Goal 5 in Bangladesh.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
There has been progress on gender equality in Bangladesh in recent years but there are still significant challenges, including on gender-based violence, barriers to workforce participation and the prevalence of child-marriage.
The Department for International Development’s support to gender equality in Bangladesh includes working with men and boys to tackle social norms around violence, training that helps women to find decent employment, encouraging girls to stay in education, and raising awareness of family planning options. There is also a strong focus on SDG5 in our support to the Rohingya refugees and surrounding communities.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will make an assessment of the security situation for schools in Afghanistan.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In 2018, 513,962 children (187,082 girls and 326,880 boys) were unable to continue their education due to the closure of over 1,000 schools related to security reasons in Afghanistan. According to UNICEF this marks a fourfold increase to the previous year.
DFID has invested in the Education Cannot Wait Global Fund which supports the Education in Emergencies Working Group led by the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan. Its aim is to ensure every child in Afghanistan can learn without fear and in safety, and to enable them to reach their full potential.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support his Department is providing to health workers working on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK continues to take the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC extremely seriously, providing funding and technical assistance to the response. Our funding to the WHO goes to directly support the public health response. Health workers are provided with training, vaccination, and access to personal protection equipment to reduce the risk of infection. We are also supporting other efforts within the response that are essential to building community trust.
The UK strongly condemns attacks on health workers and facilities and will continue to support the DRC Government and UN system to work with affected communities to ensure the safety and security of all frontline responders. All those involved in fighting Ebola must be able to work in safety for the benefit of those being affected by this outbreak.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her counterpart in Sierra Leone on the temporary ban on female genital mutilation introduced by that Government; and if she will make representations to that Government to make the ban permanent.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government of Sierra Leone has placed a temporary ban on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) during the March 2018 elections. This was in place for the first round of voting and remains in place during the run off vote for the Presidency. The ban was put in place to prevent candidates paying for girls to undergo the practice as a method of influencing voters. The UK is in full support of this ban. In our messages to all presidential candidates we asked for the protection of the rights of women and girls. The UK Government has consistently lobbied the Government of Sierra Leone to fulfil their international obligation to legislate against the practice of FGM/C and to approve a National Strategy to support this. We will raise this issue as a priority with the new government and we stand ready to support implementation of the Strategy once approved. We will also work to build coalitions of support to end the practice and lobby government to take the necessary action.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is giving to improve routine measles vaccination programmes in Guinea.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK is supporting Guinea to strengthen its routine health and immunisation systems, through the UK’s investment in Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. In 2016 Gavi immunised over 2 million children with measles vaccine in Guinea, and will support Guinea to introduce measles into its routine vaccination programmes in the future.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make a statement on the achievability of Sustainable Development Goal number four on inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Answered by Alistair Burt
SDG4 represents an ambitious expansion of the education agenda from a focus on access to basic education to a focus on learning for all children.
Despite significant progress on access over the last 15 years, the challenge of implementing the SDG is significant. Over a quarter of a billion children remain out of school, particularly those in crises, and amongst socially excluded groups (including girls, refugees and children with disability). Furthermore the quality of education is a major concern.
As one of the largest bilateral donors to basic education the UK will continue to prioritise improvements to the quality and effectiveness of education. We will also work with the international community to ensure all boys and girls - especially those who are marginalised, displaced or in fragile states – have access to a decent education and are learning.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she had with the Foreign Secretary on the case of Andy Tsege prior to her recent visit to Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Secretary of State for International Development regularly meets with the Foreign Secretary and was briefed by him on the case. The case was raised during the Secretary of State’s recent visit to Ethiopia.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she raised the case of Andrew Tsege during her recent visit to Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Andargachew Tsege’s consular case was raised during the Secretary of State’s meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will make additional assistance available to Mozambique for famine relief and support in dealing with drought.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK has responded quickly to the El Nino related drought in Southern Africa, in fulfilment of our pledge to lead global humanitarian responses and leverage support from others. The UK has provided over £170 million in Southern Africa to meet urgent humanitarian needs, including in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho and Madagascar.
Combined with the wider economic crisis, El Nino threatens to undermine development gains and stability in Mozambique. In July 2016, Ministers approved the allocation of £25 million to provide assistance to around 250,000 people until the end of March 2017, when the next harvest is expected. UK funding is supporting a market-based approach for food and seed provision to secure better value for money. UK funding is also supporting the treatment of malnutrition and improved access to safe water and sanitation.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will make additional assistance available to Madagascar for famine relief and support in dealing with drought.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK has responded quickly and generously to the El Nino related drought in southern Africa, in fulfilment of our pledge to lead global humanitarian responses and leverage support from others. DFID has provided £4.68million through UN agencies for the humanitarian response to the impact of El Nino in Madagascar and we continue to monitor the situation closely and will consider further support if the situation deteriorates.
Existing UK support includes funding for UNICEF and FAO emergency operations for nutrition, water and sanitation. It also includes agricultural and livestock assistance to vulnerable households to reduce their food insecurity and protect their livelihoods.