Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to improve nutrition for women and children in lower middle income countries.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
The UK Government has made a commitment to improve the nutrition of 50 million people by 2020, including in lower middle income countries. Those being helped includes children under five, breast feeding women, women of childbearing age and adolescent girls. This commitment builds on our previous 2010 commitment to reach 20 million children under five and pregnant and breast feeding women with nutrition programmes by 2015. By mid 2015 we had reached 28.6 million people.
Further details can be found on Development Tracker: http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of integrating early childhood development interventions on nutrition, immunisation and education on the effectiveness on strength of local health systems; and what contribution such an assessment has made to decisions on the funding of (a) her Department's country programmes and (b) multilateral programmes supported by her Department.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID recognises the value of early childhood investments and supports a range of early years’ research and investments, including integrated investments in nutrition, child health, water, sanitation, hygiene and education. Assessment of the impact of these programmes on the strength of health systems are made on a case by case basis at country level. Decisions on country and multilateral investments take account of context, programme objectives, the strength of evidence and analysis of the delivery channels that offer the best value for money.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of humanitarian conditions in eastern Sudan.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The lack of development in the east of Sudan has driven chronic humanitarian needs which continue to be of concern. According to the latest Ministry of Health national nutrition survey, the east of Sudan has some of the highest rates of malnutrition in the country, in many places exceeding emergency thresholds. High rates of malnutrition are of even greater concern as they increase the vulnerability of children to disease and the likelihood of fatality. The east of Sudan has been particularly affected by the ongoing measles outbreak.
There is also a long term refugee population of some 92,000 people who continue to require the services of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure that they receive protection and their humanitarian needs are met.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much financial aid the UK plans to provide (a) the central government and (b) local authorities in South Sudan in 2014-15.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK will not provide any financial aid to central government or local authorities in South Sudan in 2014-15. The UK will provide around £150m in aid for South Sudan in 2014/15, which is channelled through UN agencies, commercial contractors and NGOs to deliver both humanitarian support and longer term development programmes.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the value of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership as a mechanism for co-ordinating research into (a) a new tuberculosis vaccine and (b) paediatric formulations for antiretroviral treatment.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) provides an effective coordination mechanism for clinical research. Member States provide funding which is matched by the European Commission, and funding is also provided from third parties (e.g. philanthropic foundations and the private sector). .
EDCTP has played an important role in research into a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, by increasing the amount of TB vaccine trial activity in countries with a high burden of TB. This includes capacity building and developing sustainable infrastructures which will facilitate TB vaccine trials in the future, as new products emerge. EDTCP has also helped to improve paediatric formulations of antiretroviral treatment (ART). The findings from EDCTP-funded research were used by WHO to develop treatment guidelines for children. This resulted in the first fixed-dose combination antiretroviral drug being made available for a large number of HIV-infected children.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK has taken as Chair of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) General Assembly to encourage other member states of EDCTP to increase their contributions to and investment in the partnership.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
In 2013, the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) member state partners agreed to commit Euros 125million to the second phase of the EDCTP programme. Members also agreed to commit up to a further Euros 1.5billion of in-kind contributions, such as support for infrastructure and staff time. This was a significant increase in contributions and investment from the first phase of the programme.
Progress made by EDCTP members towards meeting these commitments will be published in the business plan. Progress will be monitored by the European Commission and by the General Assembly, which is currently chaired by the UK.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the value of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership as a mechanism for co-ordinating research into global health goods.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) provides an effective coordination mechanism for clinical research, making effective use of available funding, and coordinating technical and research expertise from a variety of countries and sectors over a ten year period. This long-term coordination is important, given the nature of the research the EDCTP supports.
The European Commission undertakes impact assessments of EDCTP, in line with the requirements of the European Parliament and European Council. The UK has used these assessments for the ongoing process of review of spend and to judge the value and impact of the programme.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of humanitarian conditions in eastern Sudan.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The UK remains extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in eastern Sudan. The needs assessment carried out to inform the 2014 UN response showed that health and nutrition indicators were above emergency thresholds in many locations and access to services was extremely poor. A UK funded UNICEF national nutrition survey revealed large numbers of children were suffering from acute malnutrition especially in Kassala and Red Sea State. These findings have been incorporated into the recently revised Humanitarian Strategic Response Plan for 2014 which is used for determining where donor resources are allocated.
The UN’s Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) plays an important role in funding the humanitarian response in Sudan using the Strategic Response Plan as a guide. In 2014 the UK contributed £17m to the CHF. We are also investing in longer term programmes to build the resilience of communities and improve access to water and sanitation in eastern Sudan.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the scale of the threat of rape faced by women in South Sudan; and what steps her Department plans to take to reduce such threats.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
Sexual violence has been widespread during the conflict. We have pressed the Government and Opposition to act to prevent sexual violence. Our humanitarian programmes help protect vulnerable women and girls, and provide support for case management for the victims of sexual and gender based violence.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 8 May 2014, Official Report, column 279W, on developing countries: family planning, how much of her Department's budget has been allocated to achieving outcomes in her Department's policy paper Safe and Unsafe Abortion in each of the last two years.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID adheres to Development Co-Operation Directorate (OACD-DAC) expenditure coding requirements to allow comparison across donor spending towards attainment of the Millennium Development Goal targets. This measures against coding titles as have been internationally agreed. Only coding titles as have been internationally agreed can be individually disaggregated by DFID systems.