Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent measures his Department is taking to support internally displaced people in Venezuela.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
We remain extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Venezuela. Over 7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. The health system has collapsed, leading to the return of deadly diseases such as polio and diphtheria. Venezuelans’ access to basic goods such as medicines and food is extremely limited, leading to high levels of food insecurity and increased child malnutrition. To date we have provided over £4 million in humanitarian aid inside Venezuela to respond to the most severe needs, including supporting malnourished children and providing vaccinations to tackle deadly diseases. Our support is also enabling vulnerable people moving across Venezuela to reconnect with their families through phone calls and internet access. In September the UK announced that we would be significantly increasing our £14.5 million regional response by an additional £30 million to meet the needs of those in Venezuela and across the region; a portion of this will be provided to current partners inside Venezuela in the coming weeks to meet immediate needs while we explore the best options for programming the majority of our new funding in the coming years.
The UK is the largest donor to the Education Cannot Wait Fund which has provided $14 million towards the Venezuela crisis response across the region, including $7 million inside Venezuela to support 75,000 children and adolescents by providing better access to education as well as quality and safe learning opportunities.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK Government is taking to support Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the countries bordering Venezuela.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
As of October 2019, over 4.5 million Venezuelans have left the country, representing around 15% of the population. There are increasing reports of gender-based violence and human trafficking for sexual exploitation as people seek alternative routes out of Venezuela. The UK has provided £2 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies across seven countries in the region to meet the immediate basic needs of those on the move including providing emergency shelter and health services. In addition, the UK was the second largest donor to the Global Concessional Financing Facility for Colombia, providing £8 million to help unlock concessional loans to support Colombia in continuing to host over 1.4 million Venezuelans.
DFID provides significant core funding to multilateral organisations, including the United Nations and the Red Cross movement, who are providing emergency humanitarian support as part of the international response in the region. In addition, the UK is the largest donor to the Education Cannot Wait Fund which has provided $14 million towards the Venezuela crisis response across the region, including $7 million in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to support 84,500 children and adolescents from Venezuela and host-communities back into protective, quality learning environments.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 282383 on Yemen: Overseas Aid, which UK funded assets were damaged and which parties were identified as responsible for that damage; and how much UK Aid funding has been spent on those facilities.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Since the Yemen conflict started in 2015, our partners have reported two UK funded assets have been damaged by alleged airstrikes. These are a Norwegian Refugee Council warehouse in the Harradh area of Hajjah governorate on 21 June 2015 and a UNICEF water and sanitary health facility in Sahar district on 22 July 2018.
We closely monitor such incidents, but we are not able to conduct investigations which would allow us to conclude which parties were responsible.
Losses to DFID following the Norwegian Refugee Council warehouse incident were £3,127, while DFID suffered no direct losses as a result of damages to the UNICEF facility.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government remains committed to contributing 0.7 per cent of UK GNI in Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Government’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of our Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance is enshrined in law and in the Conservative manifesto and was re-affirmed by the Secretary of State upon his appointment. The chancellor reiterated this commitment announcing the Spending Round.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether any UK Aid-funded facilities in Yemen have been (a) damaged and (b) destroyed by airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Since the Yemen conflict began in 2015, our partners have reported two incidents to us in which UK funded assets incurred damage as a result of the conflict.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of Rwanda’s progress on the goals outlined in the revised 2012 UK-Rwanda Memorandum of Understanding.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The UK and Rwanda signed a Development Partnership Agreement in 2017, which includes commitments to a set of partnership principles. We assess that the Government of Rwanda continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to poverty reduction, economic and social rights, anti-corruption and sound public financial management. Commitment to civil and political rights and domestic accountability is limited and we remain particularly concerned about civil and political rights.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for UK aid to Rwanda of that country's £30 million sponsorship of Arsenal football club.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
No UK aid money was used for Visit Rwanda’s deal with Arsenal football club, which the Government of Rwanda has made clear is funded from tourism revenue. All UK aid to Rwanda is earmarked for specific programmes, such as education and agriculture, and is subject to robust monitoring to ensure it is achieving results and value for money for the UK taxpayer.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure the (a) adequacy and (b) reliability of funding provided by her Department to (i) regional and (ii) global civil society network programmes to respond to the HIV epidemic.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK government is well aware of the barriers faced by global and regional civil society networks pressing for a human rights-based response to HIV. That is why the UK government played a leadership role with other founding donors in setting up the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund. So far the UK has committed £9 million. We will make our decision on future investments to the Fund later this year.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to improve the humanitarian situation for (a) refugees and (b) displaced persons in the informal al-Rukban camp at the Jordan-Syria border.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK currently funds UNICEF to provide clean water and clinic-based health and nutrition services, for the population at Rukban. The UK also made funding available to UNICEF to support logistical costs for a distribution of aid in January.
The UK continues to monitor the situation at Rukban very closely – most recently when officials visited the Rukban clinic on 4 February – as well as advocating for a viable solution to be found that will enable regular aid deliveries to take place in line with International Humanitarian Law.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK foreign aid goes to Ivory Coast; and what assessment she has made of the effect of that aid.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In 2016, 6 million or 0.007% of the UK’s bilateral ODA contributions went to Cote d’Ivoire. In addition, Cote D’Ivoire will have benefitted from funding from the United Nations, World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank, to which the UK provides core funding. UK aid has increased the efficiency and capacity of a major power plant near Abidjan which now provides 15% of the country’s electricity, and has also funded delivery of over 2 million treatments for schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminths which will help prevent anaemia, stunting and developmental problems in children.