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 Official Development Assistance spent in Brazil supports the rights of indigenous communities living in the Amazon region.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prosperity Fund programme in Brazil will support better public services, more sustainable energy and investment, and more efficient international trade. The programme is evolving to ‘build back better’ after the COVID-19 pandemic, including focusing on vulnerable groups and in the Amazon region, working on issues such as solar energy, primary health, and skills development. All Prosperity Fund programmes follow robust due diligence procedures and take a ‘do no harm’ approach as a minimum standard. The UK is working with indigenous communities across Brazil, including in the Amazon region. The UK supports the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) Early Movers programme, which helps indigenous communities to develop sustainable income sources and strengthen food security: 19,593 families have benefitted so far. Through Partnerships for Forests, the UK also supports almost 2,000 indigenous people to strengthen livelihoods through sustainable forest management. The UK Government is committed to promoting and defending the human rights of all individuals, including indigenous peoples.
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, if she will publish the criteria her Department plans to use for prioritising Official Development Assistance spending in the event of a decrease in GNI.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
To tackle poverty and advance our Global Britain objectives, DFID takes evidence-based spending decisions and maintains high standards of programme delivery that are consistent with HMG best practice.
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's share of the Official Development Assistance budget will be reduced in the event of a decrease in GNI.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a legal commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) each year on Official Development Assistance (ODA). This commitment is linked to GNI. HM Treasury allocates ODA budgets to departments and is responsible for decisions on changes to these allocations.
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 is signing new funding agreements for projects funded by Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government reviews the ODA funding it allocates to projects on a regular basis in order to ensure delivery of its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on ODA.
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, if she will make it her policy to apply public interest conditions to Government funding for the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility to help ensure that recipients of funding (a) use technology transfer and open licences, (b) charge at cost price and (c) publish information on (i) price calculations and (ii) research findings and approach.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Gavi and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) co-chair the COVAX partnership to accelerate the development of and access to COVID-19 vaccines. The COVAX Facility will be a set of financing mechanisms managed under the COVAX partnership to support vaccine development and access. The UK funds Gavi and CEPI to use their extensive experience and relationships with developers, industry, international organisations and governments to drive collaboration and negotiate effective agreements to accelerate development and access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The UK has provided £48 million so far to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for COVID-19 vaccines, part of the COVAX Facility. It builds on the success of the pneumococcal vaccine AMC. Gavi will negotiate fair pricing and supply volumes with companies for future COVID-19 vaccines for eligible countries.
The UK has provided £250 million to CEPI to accelerate development of COVID-19 vaccines. CEPI’s core equitable access policy guides terms for the partnerships it enters with vaccine developers and manufacturers.
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 has paused any new recruitment during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Adams
DFID has not paused new recruitment during the COVID-19 outbreak.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2020 to Question 40722, on CDC Group: Hospitals, what the total value was of (a) initial and (b) current investments into those hospitals.
Answered by James Duddridge
The value of the CDC investments listed in answer to Parliamentary Question 40722 was $190 million at the time of submitting that answer. The value of investments fluctuates during the period over which they are held by CDC. As a result of the disruption caused by the current pandemic across global markets, market volatility is particularly high at present. The last available valuation for the above investments is $196 million.
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 has paused funding decisions for new projects and programmes in the Global South not directly related to tackling the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
COVID-19 has caused unprecedented disruption across the world from direct health impacts caused by the virus itself, and indirect effects caused by the response, including on economies, livelihoods and education. We have so far pledged up to £764 million of UK aid, tackling the spread of COVID-19 and mitigating both its primary and secondary impacts.
Funding decisions are taken on an ongoing basis. We are reviewing our programming to ensure UK aid is spent as effectively as possible to help the world’s poorest. DFID will continue to deliver projects directly related to tackling the coronavirus pandemic but also many projects related to other development issues.
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 she plans to introduce a stabilisation fund for international non-governmental organisations to continue to deliver aid to people living in extreme poverty in the global south.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Civil society organisations (CSOs) are key partners for DFID in our response to COVID-19 and we have pledged new funding specifically for CSOs to support our work to tackle the virus. This includes funding allocated through the Rapid Response Facility and significant funding through the DFID Unilever COVID-19 Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition. A new UK Aid Direct funding round has also been launched, some of which has been set aside for rapid access by existing UK Aid Direct grant holders who are able to respond immediately to COVID-19. In addition, International Non-Government Organisations will receive funding through multilateral organisations as downstream partners as part of the UK’s response. As DFID’s country network adapts programming to respond to COVID-19, country teams are considering how they can do this through partners, including through CSOs.
We are working flexibly with existing civil society partners to respond to the pandemic, maintain delivery of essential programmes and manage the impacts on organisations and staff. DFID is also offering support to all suppliers, including civil society, in line with the provisions of the Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Note and associated guidance for grants. This allows for relief on services and goods provided in the UK, to DFID aid programmes as a last resort and on a case-by-case basis for DFID contracts and grants. UK-based CSOs are also eligible for the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
NGOs are fundamental parts of DFID’s work. Given DFID’s support for them runs so deeply through everything we do, there is no plan to create a specific fund.
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 recent discussions she has had with representatives of the World Health Organisation on future core voluntary contributions from the UK.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK’s funding for WHO is based on our assessment of the organisation’s needs. The scale and timing of future core voluntary contributions will be considered as part of this assessment.