Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which (a) HIV bilateral programmes and (b) DFID country offices account for the decline in funding coded as HIV prevention treatment and care between 2014-15 and 2016-17.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The majority of our investments to the HIV response is now directed through multilateral organisations such as the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNITAID and UNAIDS, given their greater reach and scale. The timing of disbursements partly accounts for the difference in spend between years.
Estimated direct bilateral spend on HIV programmes is expected to fall between 2014-15 and 2016-17 in Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda. The UK has made a £1.1billion pledge to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria for the 5th replenishment 2017-2019, increased from £800million for the 4th replenishment. This will boost funding for HIV through the Global Fund and will support the firm commitment to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is giving to countries in Africa to improve their capacity to trade.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
My Department’s core mission is and will always be to combat poverty. Post-Brexit, Britain can be a global leader in helping developing countries build their access to international markets and in ensuring that it is the poorest that benefit from these trading relationships. In taking this leadership role, we will be doing something that we can rightly be proud of, whilst also creating the UK’s trading partners of tomorrow.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on introducing a facility for rolling over funding in her Department's budget in order to avoid expenditure being concentrated at the end of financial years and to ensure that annual targets for development expenditure are met.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The Department for International Development Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Chancellor on the introduction of a facility to roll-over funding.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's (a) total expenditure and (b) expenditure on governance, democracy and human rights projects has been in each country in Africa in each of the last five years.
Answered by Grant Shapps
High level figures for DFID Bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) for African countries are shown in the table below. 2013 is the latest year for which data is available. Also shown in the table are amounts disbursed in respect of sectors in DFID’s thematic reporting pillar Government and State Building which encompasses governance, democracy and human rights themes. Country Specific amounts are contained in the spreadsheet attached to this response.
£ Thousands | |||||
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
Total DFID Bilateral ODA to African Countries | £1,489,217 | £1,597,602 | £1,786,999 | £1,894,353 | £2,123,681 |
Total DFID Bilateral ODA to African Countries in Governance Sector | £263,407 | £233,850 | £253,519 | £244,426 | £290,571 |
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the availability and suitability of health services in Tunisia.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID funding is supporting Tunisia’s transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy and democracy. Our direct support, in the form of the Arab Partnership Economic Facility (APEF), is working in three areas: job creation, economic growth, and effective and accountable institutions.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to establish an early stage co-investment fund in Nigeria.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID supports a number of initiatives that help private sector development in Nigeria. These include work alongside CDC to fund investment opportunities in Northern Nigeria; technical assistance to increase lending by Nigerian banks to Small and Medium Enterprises, through the International Finance Corporation (IFC); and start up grants for Nigerian firms through the Business Innovation Facility.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the role of early stage co-investment funds in assisting the achievement of development goals.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
Investment Funds that invest in early-stage businesses can provide risk capital, create jobs and provide access to services such as healthcare, energy, housing, education and sanitation. In December 2012 my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development announced the DFID Impact Fund, which is managed by CDC. Through the DFID Impact Fund CDC is investing up to £75 million of DFID's capital into Funds on a matched basis with other co-investors.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to work with CDC in delivering early stage investment funds in developing countries to better achieve development goals.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
Investment Funds that invest in early-stage businesses can provide risk capital, create jobs and provide access to services such as healthcare, energy, housing, education and sanitation. In December 2012 my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development announced the DFID Impact Fund, which is managed by CDC. Through the DFID Impact Fund CDC is investing up to £75 million of DFID's capital into Funds on a matched basis with other co-investors.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen vocational education in Nigeria.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID recognises the importance of vocational skills training for reducing poverty among young people in Nigeria, and is currently considering options on how best to support the sector to increase the economic opportunities available to marginalised groups of young men and women in six of the poorest states in Northern Nigeria.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to increase the role of the UK further education sector in strengthening vocational education in Nigeria.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
DFID recognises the importance of vocational skills training for reducing poverty among young people in Nigeria, and is currently considering options on how best to support the sector to increase the economic opportunities available to marginalised groups of young men and women in six of the poorest states in Northern Nigeria.