Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the plans of governments of Caribbean and Asian for the forthcoming monsoon and hurricane seasons.
Answered by Wendy Morton
In the Caribbean, DFID works with Governments of the Overseas Territories and the Commonwealth Caribbean as well as regional organisations to strengthen hurricane preparedness. This includes: provision for rapid funding to finance regional disaster surge response through the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, and the establishing of the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), an insurance mechanism which makes pay-outs to Caribbean national Governments when they are impacted by a disaster. In addition, humanitarian relief items have been pre-positioned in the region.
In Asia, DFID works with partner Governments - including countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar – to support existing preparedness operations, including for cyclone and monsoon seasons. For example, DFID funds the START Fund, which is set up to respond quickly to emerging crises like severe weather events and aims to preposition stocks and bolster existing crises mechanisms. In response to the recent cyclone Amphan, £800,000 was rapidly released to NGOs from START Fund Bangladesh to provide water, health, food, non-food items and shelter, as well as UN-led humanitarian Coordination.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to help support communities manage social tensions caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
In many countries with weak governance or ongoing conflict, COVID-19 risks raising social tensions, reducing respect for human rights and, in some contexts, may pose challenges to peace processes. Higher levels of instability create obstacles to an effective response, for example limiting humanitarian access, and may pose risks to UK national security.
DFID is committed to ensuring that, through all channels of support, our assistance reaches the most marginalized and vulnerable. We are taking steps to ensure that both our immediate responses to COVID-19 and long-term recovery efforts do not exacerbate conflict and instead help to build peace and improve governance. We are encouraging our implementing partners to demonstrate accountability, strengthen local owner- and leadership and adopt inclusive, conflict sensitive approaches. We are also working with partners, governments, media providers, civil society and local community and faith leaders to counter misinformation.
As pledged in our manifesto, this Government will continue to support international initiatives to achieve reconciliation, stability and justice across the world.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to increase the levels of funding for (a) large and (b) small and medium non governmental organisations.
Answered by Wendy Morton
NGOs of all sizes are key policy and delivery partners for DFID and we are committed to working with the sector to meet the challenges posed by COVID-19. In country we estimate that around a quarter of existing DFID programmes are implemented directly through NGOs partners. Many NGOs will also receive funding as part of DFID’s significant investment in the multilateral response to COVID-19.
The Chancellor has set out the risk that the UK economy will face a significant recession this year. All government departments are working through how their plans will need to change in the light of this. DFID is no exception. The Government’s 0.7% GNI target is directly linked to the performance of the UK economy and we need to prepare for this by prioritising our lifesaving aid. No decision has been taken yet, but we are considering the full range of our work.
However, we expect NGOs will in many cases receive additional funding through new centrally-managed programmes and funding mechanisms: including through the Rapid Response Facility, a COVID-19 themed UK Aid Direct round, DFID’s new partnership with Unilever, the START Fund, and a possible contribution to a Disasters and Emergency Committee appeal.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's press release, UK calls for global action to protect vital money transfers, published on 22 May 2020, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that remittance service providers reduce fees for people making payments during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK has launched, along with Switzerland and with support from the World Bank and UN agencies, a global Call to Action on remittances, which calls on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers round the world to take action to ensure that diaspora communities can continue to transfer money to their relatives during the crisis.
This Call to Action specifically calls on remittance service providers to explore measures such as reducing remittance transaction costs. We are committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals target of reducing the global average costs of remittances to 3% by 2030, from the current level of around 6.8%.
The World Bank is conducting regular surveys of remittance costs in a number of corridors during the crisis. These surveys show that for most of the corridors surveyed that start in the UK, remittance costs are lower now than before the crisis.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support Overseas Development Institute fellows who have been evacuated due to covid-19 to complete their contracts when it is safe to do so.
Answered by James Duddridge
The ODI Fellowship Scheme recruits and posts early career economists and statisticians of different nationalities to work as civil servants in developing country institutions for two-year placements. Approximately 80% of Overseas Development Institute fellows have been evacuated to their home countries. Seventeen remain at post, most of whom are engaged in supporting their host governments’ COVID-19 response. We are liaising closely with ODI on their plans to return fellows to post when it is safe to do so and to ensure the continuing safety of those remaining. Most fellows are working remotely and are continuing to support their host governments. We are working with ODI to ensure that fellows are able to operate effectively in these circumstances.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's press release, UK calls for global action to protect vital money transfers, published on 22 May 2020, what recent steps her Department has taken to make it easier for diaspora communities in the UK and other countries to continue to transfer money to their relatives during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Duddridge
Previous DFID support is already helping to make money transfers easier, by helping 65 million people in the poorest countries access digital financial services so they can receive funds – including from diaspora communities in the UK – via their mobile phones or online. DFID support is also helping to give 2 million more people access to digital remittance services so that they can send and receive money from home.
In the crisis, the UK Government has made it clear that in the UK people can continue to visit money transfer businesses should they need to, while observing social distancing and staying safe.
And as referenced in the question, the UK has launched – along with Switzerland, and with support from the World Bank and UN agencies – a global Call to Action on remittances, which calls on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers round the world to take action to ensure that diaspora communities can continue to transfer money to their relatives during the crisis.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that the funding her Department commits to tackling the covid-19 pandemic in developing countries does not negatively affect programmes to tackle climate change.
Answered by James Duddridge
Tackling climate change and building resilience remain priorities for the Government. Our international response to COVID-19 is focused on securing a strong global health response, accelerating the search for a vaccine and new treatments, and supporting the global economy. We believe that there is a connection between healthy lives, healthy societies and a healthy environment.
The steps taken to support and rebuild economies will have an impact on future sustainability, resilience and well-being. At the invitation of the United Nations Secretary General, the Prime Minister recently addressed other world leaders on ‘recovering better for sustainability,’ and as we prepare for COP26, the Government is urging the world to take the opportunity to make the recovery clean, inclusive and resilient.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 the covid-19 pandemic on the Government’s commitment to ensure that every girl in the world receives 12 years of quality education.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Ensuring 12 years of quality education for all children, especially girls, remains a UK priority. As the effects of the COVID-19 crisis play out, the socio-economic impact on girls has become increasingly clear, with the education of poor girls in particular being disproportionately affected.
The UK’s response to the pandemic entails mitigating short term risks by focussing on safety, nutrition, wellbeing and learning whilst schools are closed; and supporting countries to protect and maintain education budgets and work towards reopen schools safely in the longer term.
DFID is adapting its bilateral education programmes in 18 countries. The Global Partnership for Education, to which the UK is the largest donor, is flexing over £200 million to support education sector stability in response to the pandemic. We have also announced further funding to support emergency education in fragile contexts.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) veterans, (b) widows of veterans and (c) households have been supported through the Commonwealth Veterans Programme in each of the last two financial years.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The first disbursements to recipients of this programme began in April 2019. In the financial year 2019/2020, 2,490 veterans and 3,229 widows of veterans were supported through the Commonwealth Veterans Programme. Disbursements are currently underway for this financial year (April 2020 to March 2021). To date, 1,815 veterans and 1,960 widows of veterans have received support. We do not track the number of households benefitting from this programme, because support is made on an individual basis.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to help ensure that there is no cliff edge in nutrition financing.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK remains committed to preventing and treating malnutrition as part of our commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children. Addressing poor nutrition is also important in the face of COVID-19. We will continue to invest beyond 2020 in programmes to address malnutrition and to work closely with the Government of Japan to ensure the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit is a success.