Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the spread of Ebola in North Kivu and of the response to that outbreak by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the World Health Organisation.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the largest in the country’s history and the second largest on record. The Government of the DRC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are together leading an effective response in an extremely challenging context with ongoing conflict. Despite some successes, the outbreak is not yet under control, and DFID teams continue to actively monitor and assess the situation.
UK Aid has played a crucial role in supporting the response since the outbreak was first announced in August 2018. This support has provided funding and expertise to the WHO for response activities in the DRC and for regional preparedness. Preventing the spread of the disease not only saves lives but also provides the stability necessary for economic growth and security.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2017, published on 25 June 2018, which estimates that (1) on average, 44,400 people were forced to flee their homes each day, (2) 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, and (3) there were 40 million internally displaced people, in 2017 as a result of persecution, conflict, or generalised violence; and what steps they are taking to devise, encourage and promote international initiatives to tackle the root causes of current levels of mass migration.
Answered by Lord Bates
UNHCR’s Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2017 is an important tool in informing our support for refugees and internally displaced persons around the world.
At least half of DFID aid is focussed on fragile and conflict affected states and regions – the drivers of forced displacement. DFID’s aid programmes seek to address drivers of conflict, instability and lack of economic opportunities which in turn help to tackle some of the root causes of displacement. By creating jobs and livelihoods, improving education, and facilitating labour mobility we are giving people more opportunities to build a decent life at home or in their region.
The UK Government has been actively involved in the development of the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees, both of which have now been adopted. These two Compacts offer a cohesive and forward-leaning framework to improve the international response to large movements of people.
The UK is also supporting the UN and member states to set up a High-Level Panel on internally displaced persons. The overarching goal of the Panel is to galvanise action to reduce the number of internally displaced persons, whilst providing more effective protection and assistance, and reinforcing the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Pakistan Annual Statistical Bulletin of Federal Government Employees 2017–18, published by the government of Pakistan on 26 February, what assessment they have made of (1) the number of people employed from that country’s religious minorities, (2) the nature of the occupations open to them, and (3) the numbers working in either menial jobs or senior management grades; and what assessment they have made of the impact that UK aid programmes have had on those statistics.
Answered by Lord Bates
We have not conducted an assessment of the composition of federal government employees as reported in the Annual Statistical Bulletin of Federal Government Employees 2017–18. However, DFID and the FCO continue to raise the issue of human rights of minorities at the highest levels of government, including in our annual Bilateral Assistance Talks. We advocate greater tolerance and action against abuses when they occur. DFID Pakistan’s Skills Development Programme will provide 330,000 poor and vulnerable people, including those from minority communities, with technical and vocational training to improve their employment prospects.
Our aid relationship with any government is based on an assessment of its commitment to our Partnership Principles, including to promote and safeguard human rights. Our aid targets the poor, regardless of race, religion, social background or nationality. Our portfolio of programmes contributes either directly or indirectly to the protection of minority rights by strengthening systems for delivery of services and by adopting a ‘do no harm’ approach.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to divert aid given to Pakistan to training law enforcement officers in the emotional needs of the parents of kidnapped children, and in providing families with practical assistance.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMG has no plans to use aid specifically to support families of kidnapped children in Pakistan. The UK is supporting the implementation of the 2018 Juvenile Justice System Act (JJSA) which will help protect the legal rights of juvenile victims, witnesses and alleged offenders. Part of this will include working with law enforcement officers and families.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much aid they provided to Pakistan over the past year; and what proportion of this aid was used to support efforts to end child abduction, forced conversion and illegal marriages.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK provided £282m to Pakistan for the financial year 2018/19. Under the AAWAZ I programme (which ended in May 2018) around £400,000 was spent on preventing forced and early marriages. Some of these beneficiaries may also have been affected by forced conversion or child abduction. Under new programming, we plan to spend around £1.88 million in preventing early and forced marriages. This includes enactment of the policy and legislative framework and capacity building support of key government institutions.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations made in the report by Oxfam Born to Be Married: Addressing child, early and forced marriage in Nyal, South Sudan, published on 18 February, in particular the recommendation to integrate the prevention of, and response to, child, early, and forced marriage with women’s empowerment activities in humanitarian and development planning and programming at all stages of the programme cycle.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK welcomes Oxfam’s report into child, early and forced marriage (CEFM). The shocking number of girls married before the age of 18 in Nyal demonstrates how women and girls are suffering the worst effects of this brutal crisis.
UK aid considers gender at all stages of the humanitarian and development programme cycle. Specifically, we support several efforts to integrate CEFM prevention and response, and women’s empowerment activities into our work. Education is a key factor enabling girls to avoid child marriage and our Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) programme is keeping up to a quarter of a million girls in school. We also work with International Medical Corps in Nyal and other areas of the country to improve awareness of CEFM and to provide women and girls with information on all forms of gender-based violence, rights and services available. The programme also engages women in income generating activities and provides support to help them set up their own businesses.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 12 February (HL13192), whether they will now answer the question put.
Answered by Lord Bates
We have regular discussions about the importance of religious freedom and inclusion in all aspects of public policy, including employment, but we have not specifically raised the issue of the advertisements.
We are not aware of any cases of discrimination on the grounds of religion linked with programmes supported by DFID to create employment, including in the public sector. Our Partnership Agreement with the Government of Pakistan makes clear that commitment to human rights (including minority and religious rights) is vital and discrimination in the delivery of UK aid is not acceptable. Compliance with this and other key Partnership Principles is reviewed on an annual basis.
As mentioned in the previous answer, DFID Pakistan’s Skills Development Programme will provide 330,000 poor and vulnerable people, including those from minority communities, with technical and vocational training to improve their employment prospects.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Department for International Development (DfID) records the religion and other protected characteristics of those it employs; how funding is allocated to organisations after consideration of protected characteristics; and how DfID ensures that those non-governmental organisations, private sector companies, consultancies, and others with whom it contracts are required to report on how they have performed in ensuring equity of access to their work by those with protected characteristics.
Answered by Lord Bates
Employees can voluntarily declare their diversity data on our HR systems.
DFID contracts are awarded after a process of fair and open competition on the basis of value for money, capability to deliver programme outputs and, as relevant to the specific procurement, equality considerations. DFID’s standard contract Term and Conditions require partners not to unlawfully discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, have due regard for the advancement of equal opportunity and promote good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Partners are also required to adhere to relevant recommendations by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. DFID’s Supply Partner Code of Conduct requires contractors to ensure that robust procedures are adopted and maintained to eliminate the risk of poor human rights practices, including any inequality or discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, sexuality, culture or disability. Both requirements are legally binding and subject to compliance checks by DFID.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Pakistan about employment discrimination, with particular regard to advertisements published by that government which reserve low level jobs, such as street sweeping, for religious minorities; whether UK aid supports employment opportunities in the public sector closed to religious minorities; and whether they support programmes which help illiterate members of religious minorities in that country to improve their employment prospects.
Answered by Lord Bates
Our aid relationship with any government is based on an assessment of their commitment to our Partnership Principles, including to promote and safeguard human rights. Our development assistance targets the poor, regardless of race, religion, social background or nationality. We promote the Partnership Principles in our dealings with the Pakistan Government, and this extends to economic development and employment. The Partnership Principles Assessment (PPA) is regularly discussed with the Economic Affairs Division, Government of Pakistan, at the federal level and we discussed it formally last year at the Bilateral Assistance Talks in March. We also have specific programmes to help the poorest become more equipped for work. DFID Pakistan’s Skills Development Programme will provide 330,000 poor and vulnerable people, including those from minority communities, with technical and vocational training to improve their employment prospects.
DFID and the FCO continue to raise the issue of human rights of minorities at the highest levels of Government, including in our annual Bilateral Assistance Talks, advocating greater tolerance and action against abuses when they occur.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they collect data on Department for International Development allocations by religion; if not, why not; and if not, whether they have considered the consistency of not collecting such data with the obligations under the Equalities Act 2010 in regard to religion.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID does not currently identify or record beneficiaries by their religion; however, our Data Disaggregation Action Plan has set out our increased ambitions to increase the level of disaggregated data we collect, report and use, and to work with the United Nations and others to improve data collection and disaggregation at a global level. Our short-term focus remains on four disaggregates (sex, age, disability status and geography) in the first instance to help us reorient our approach and raise our ambition whilst we work with others in the international system to find and develop tools, methods and guidance on further disaggregation variables.
The UK is firmly committed to ensuring aid reaches the most vulnerable, including those from religious minorities, where they constitute part of that category. In line with the Equality Act 2010, DFID operates by the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality which aim to ensure that no one is excluded or discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, or religion; and to also ensure that the specific risks facing religious minorities are addressed and that assistance reaches those who need it most.