Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the relationship between clean water and sanitation in schools and girls' school attendance in developing countries; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Grant Shapps
Clean water and adequate sanitation in schools ensure safe and hygienic environments for learning. The UK Government supports the view that providing toilets at schools for girls is necessary to provide privacy and dignity. There is some evidence that WASH interventions in schools do improve attendance by girls but much evidence points to other important factors as well.
In 2011, DFID published a systematic review of this issue. This determined that separate facilities for girls were likely to encourage their attendance at school, but insufficient alone to increase attendance and that there are many influential factors, including social and economic pressures on poor families. DFID therefore takes a holistic approach to this issue.
The UK played a key role in ensuring that the recently agreed Sustainable Development Goals include a dedicated goal on water which aims to ensure universal access to water and sanitation by 2030.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of her Department's budget is spent on supporting water, sanitation and hygiene services; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Grant Shapps
Expenditure by sector is reported in Statistics on International Development (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-2014).
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 218242, in which country each of the contacts with private security companies was operating; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID has held a total of 8 centrally let contracts with private security companies since 2008. The table below provides the details of where these contracts were operating.
Country | Number of Contracts | Contracts still active |
U.K. | 3 | 1 |
Kenya | 2 | |
Kenya and Somalia | 1 | |
India | 2 |
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many contracts her Department has held with private security companies for work in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The department has not held any contracts with private security companies in Iraq and Afghanistan within the last 5 years.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will detail the (a) number and (b) cost of contacts with private military companies in each year since 2008; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justine Greening
DFID does not categorise its suppliers by the terminology ‘private military companies’ so cannot provide this level of information requested.