Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has provided to Sri Lankan authorities to provide medical treatment for people affected by poor water quality in Valikamam in Northern Sri Lanka.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
DFID does not have a bilateral programme in Sri Lanka. In 2016, the UK’s attributed share of core multilateral funding to Sri Lanka was £30.417m, primarily through the World Bank.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Treasury on the UK’s 0.7 per cent commitment on international aid spending.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID has had no recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or Treasury on the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on official development assistance. The commitment was enshrined in law in 2015. The Government has been unequivocal that it will continue to honour this commitment, which serves both our national and international interests.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many charities and non-governmental organisations received funding from her Department for projects relating to the Rohingya refugee crisis; and which of those charities and organisations are based locally or nationally in the regions where those refugees are located.
Answered by Alistair Burt
DFID provides funding direct to eight NGOs responding to the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh. Six of these have a permanent presence in in Cox’s Bazar, which is the region of Bangladesh where the refugees are located. We are not funding any NGOs within Burma’s northern Rakhine State.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis to date.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK led the way in the scale and speed of our response to the refugee crisis in Bangladesh and remains one of the largest donors. Since August 25th DFID has stepped up efforts with an additional £59 million to support refugees and the communities hosting them in Bangladesh. We have also provided £1 million to the Red Cross and £2 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide assistance in northern Rakhine, and stand ready to provide more once access restrictions are lifted. This brings the UK’s contribution to £62 million.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in other countries on prioritising financial support in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Answered by Alistair Burt
UK leadership was instrumental in securing another £220 million of international support at the landmark Geneva pledging conference on 23 October 2017. In discussions with counterparts in key donor governments, ministers from DFID and the FCO continue to stress the importance of stepping up funding to the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), and to disburse those funds quickly. This includes emphasising the importance of planning for long-term support for the crisis, and the need to begin mobilising multi-year planning and funding.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department's Women and Girls Team is taking across government departments on a UK implementation plan for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
DFID’s Gender Equality Team is working with other Government Departments to ensure gender equality is integrated effectively throughout work on the Sustainable Development Goals.
This includes working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence to implement the UK National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security; working across HMG to meet our manifesto commitments as set out in the cross Government Strategy on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls; and taking a co-ordinated approach with the Home Office on tackling FGM. We are putting women and girls at the centre of all our efforts.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that nutrition is prioritised on the UK's G7 agenda.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK has communicated its support for Italy’s plans to host a nutrition event in 2017 as part of its G7 Presidency.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of UK aid expenditure on decentralised renewable energy on rural communities; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing such aid expenditure.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
In programming new activities, DFID works with its partners to identify priorities and establish needs across the energy spectrum, covering on-grid as well as decentralised off-grid renewable energy.
All DFID projects are monitored through regular annual reviews, which are published on the development tracker section of the DFID website. For example, the Renewable Energy and Adaptation to Climate Technologies project has increased access to decentralised renewable energy for approximately 560,000 people in East Africa.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to renew her Department's HIV strategy which expired in 2015.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 2 November to Question number 50946.