Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's press release entitled, UK will step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030, published in October 2019, whether preventable (a) HIV acquisitions and (b) AIDS related deaths will be included in those priorities.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Ending new HIV infections and preventing AIDS-related deaths is a critical part of the UK government’s renewed focus on ending preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns, and children by 2030.
The UK is a world leader in efforts to end the AIDS epidemic. Last year the UK made a £1.4 billion pledge to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria for the 6th replenishment covering 2020 to 2022. This supports the commitment to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. In 2018 alone, the Global Fund provided 18.9 million people with treatment in 2018 and protected nearly 700,000 babies from being infected by their mothers.
We are working to expand access to treatment, while reducing new infections, particularly among adolescent girls, women, and other marginalised populations, who face stigma and discrimination.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department categorises all deaths following HIV infection as preventable; and how those deaths are recognised in her Department's policies on ending preventable deaths.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Ending new HIV infections and preventing AIDS-related deaths is a critical part of the UK government’s renewed focus on ending preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns, and children by 2030.
The UK is a world leader in efforts to end the AIDS epidemic. Last year the UK made a £1.4 billion pledge to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria for the 6th replenishment covering 2020 to 2022. This supports the commitment to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. In 2018 alone, the Global Fund provided 18.9 million people with treatment in 2018 and protected nearly 700,000 babies from being infected by their mothers.
We are working to expand access to treatment, while reducing new infections, particularly among adolescent girls, women, and other marginalised populations, who face stigma and discrimination.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle the (a) humanitarian crisis, (b) effects of aerial bombardment, (c) mass internal displacement during winter conditions and (d) destruction of medical and educational facilities in Idlib, Northern Syria.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We are gravely concerned about escalating Syrian Regime and Russian military action and its humanitarian impact in Idlib. As of 6 February, the UN reports that 586,000 people have been displaced since 1 December 2019 and many more are at risk of imminent further displacement.
This financial year DFID has already allocated £103 million to organisations delivering aid cross-border from Turkey primarily into North West Syria, including Idlib. This has helped to provide hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people with food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare including psychosocial support.
Given the rapidly deteriorating conditions in North West Syria, we have put options in place to increase our funding further to address the pressing needs of those displaced by the conflict. We have provided funding to response partners including the UN to preposition essential supplies to support innocent families and civilians displaced by conflict and are supporting all our partners to respond to this humanitarian crisis.
I visited Turkey on 5-6 February and discussed the crisis in North West Syria with UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs, as well as with Turkish authorities. DFID partners on the ground are working tirelessly to provide aid to those affected by the military offensive. We continue to provide education assistance and support healthcare facilities affected by the recent violence.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will include conditions in UK aid grants and loans to ensure that recipients do not use the grants to purchase goods and services from companies linked to the military of Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In order to prevent DFID Myanmar funds going to military owned companies we already have enhanced private sector due diligence in place. We are constantly working to strengthen this process. DFID Myanmar has recently written to its partners asking them to review their supply chains to check UK money is not being used to purchase goods and services from companies identified as military owned by the recent UN Fact Finding Mission report on Myanmar.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support he is offering to provide for relief and reconstruction for people affected by the 5.8 magnitude earthquake near the town of Jhelum in Kashmir.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
DFID has been liaising closely with the Government of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) since the earthquake struck on 24 September 2019.
Key humanitarian partners, including UN agencies, met with the NDMA to discuss the response to the earthquake on Friday 27 September. The NDMA confirmed that the Government of Pakistan will not launch any formal appeal or request for National or International Assistance, but donors and agencies can provide assistance on a voluntary basis.
DFID stands ready to respond and provide funding and the National Disaster Consortium partners have pre-positioned supplies which can be deployed at short notice.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans his Department has to support the international response to the recent HIV outbreak in Pakistan.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We are closely tracking reports of an outbreak of just over 600 new cases of HIV, 75% of them among children, in a town called Ratto Dero in Sindh province. The UK government invests significantly in the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which works closely with the provincial government in Sindh.
There has been an intensive effort to test the population for HIV to establish the extent of the outbreak. Over 20,000 people have been tested to date. We are in close contact with the Global Fund and are working with them to ascertain whether any further assistance is needed, for example to make treatment available for those who need it and prevent onward transmission.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce gender inequalities in HIV diagnosis in sub-Saharan Africa.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It is not acceptable that young women, particularly in Africa, have the highest number of new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS. That is why the UK government puts the empowerment of girls and women at the heart of everything we do and is an essential component of our fight against AIDS.
We are currently the second biggest donor to the Global Fund, which has embraced gender equality as central to accomplishing its mission. We also integrate HIV prevention and treatment into sexual, reproductive health and rights and maternal and child health programmes across much of sub-Saharan Africa. By promoting comprehensive sexuality education (through key programmes such as the Girls Education Challenge) and driving efforts to prevent violence against women and girls, we are also helping to reduce the risk of HIV infection among vulnerable women and girls.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether his Department has plans to review its approach to HIV and AIDS in response to the UN goal to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is a world leader in efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, including through our major investment in the Global Fund.
Our programmes focus on integrating the HIV response, building on improvements in access to treatment, while seeking to reduce new infections, particularly among adolescent girls, women and other groups still left behind who face stigma and discrimination. DFID has no immediate plans to review this approach, which is based on the evidence of what works.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of (a) EU aid and (b) UK bilateral aid to The Gambia on (i) democratic transition, (ii) economic growth, (iii) human rights, (iv) youth unemployment, (v) poverty, (vi) inequality and (vii) protection of the environment.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The EU is set to provide Gambia with a €250m package of assistance between 2014 and 2021 focused around governance, rule of law, inclusive sustainable growth, job creation, climate change, energy and infrastructure. One programme, an €11m youth empowerment project, seeks to tackle the root causes of irregular migration through increased job opportunities and income prospects for youth. 7000 youths will complete a technical or vocational training programme or an apprenticeship and 8000 will receive entrepreneurship support services such as access to finance. The UK’s bilateral country programme in Gambia closed in 2012 but limited support is provided by regional and thematic programmes, including for family planning supplies and on migration, for instance to strengthen protection systems for children on the move in the Gambia.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has (a) funded and (b) provided for refugees returning to The Gambiain for (a) reintegration and (b) employment.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) is our primary tool to address the root causes of irregular migration, including the reintegration and unemployment of returning migrants, in Gambia. There are currently three EUTF projects operating in the Gambia which have assisted 4000 people to develop income generating activities, provided 4000 people with technical and vocational education training and skills development, and reached 122,500 migrants and potential migrants with an information campaign on migration and the risks of irregular migration.