Asked by: Roger Mullin (Scottish National Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
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 attacks on schools in Syria on children's education in that country.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
We are deeply concerned about the impact of the conflict on Syrian children and young people. Children continue to be killed, injured and recruited by parties to the conflict. According to the UN, 35 schools were attacked in 2015 alone, with one quarter of all Syrian schools now closed, damaged or destroyed. Consequently 2.1 million children inside Syria are out of school. This will have profound implications for years to come if it is not urgently addressed.
That is why the UK helped to launch and mobilise international support for the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLGI). As part of this support, we have allocated £115 million to provide protection, psychosocial support and education for children affected by the crisis in Syria and the region. As a result, more than 308,000 children have been reached with child protection initiatives inside Syria, mainly in the form of psychosocial consultations and child-friendly spaces. In addition, almost 228,000 children have received formal and informal education inside Syria, allowing them to catch up on lost learning time.
The "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference was held on 4 February last week, and more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference include education for an additional 1 million children.
Asked by: Roger Mullin (Scottish National Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what outcomes her Department aims to achieve at the London Conference on Syria on 4 February 2016 to help provide support to Syria.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference was held on 4 February last week, and more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total of over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The outcomes of the conference are reflected in the Co-hosts' statement available on the Conference website www.supportingsyria2016.com.
Asked by: Roger Mullin (Scottish National Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on education and health programmes in Namibia in each of the last five years.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have a bilateral country programme in Namibia. DFID spending on education and health in Namibia through multi-country programmes over the last five years was: £149,000 in 2009; £337,000 in 2010; £66,000 in 2011; £195,000 in 2012 and £352,000 in 2013.
Asked by: Roger Mullin (Scottish National Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding has been devoted to education projects in African countries in each of the last five years.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The table below shows UK bilateral Official Development Assistance expenditure for education projects in African countries since 2005:
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
UK ODA Education Sector Spend to Africa (GBP millions) | 52 | 91 | 177 | 81 | 221 | 217 | 244 | 290 | 351 |
Source: Statistics in Development database.