Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the findings of the UNESCO report entitled Meeting commitments: are countries on track to achieve sustainable development goal four that more than 220 million children, adolescents and youth will not be in school in 2030.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We welcome the recent UNESCO reports focusing on how to achieve SDG 4 on Global Education by 2030. These reports resonate well with DFID’s Education Policy: Get Children Learning. The UK will continue to support 12 years of quality education for girls and boys, starting with the basics of literacy and numeracy.
To achieve this, we:
a) Drive improvements in teaching which benefit all children in the classroom;
b) Support ambitious system reform which helps teachers succeed and keeps children safe; and
c) Provide targeted support to disadvantaged girls, children with disabilities and those affected by conflict and crisis.
We use our leadership on the world stage to shine a spotlight on the needs of the most marginalised and strengthen the multilateral system of support for education.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the findings of the UNSECO report entitled Beyond commitments how do countries implement SDG 4, published on 8 July 2019.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We welcome the recent UNESCO reports focusing on how to achieve SDG 4 on Global Education by 2030. These reports resonate well with DFID’s Education Policy: Get Children Learning. The UK will continue to support 12 years of quality education for girls and boys, starting with the basics of literacy and numeracy.
To achieve this, we:
a) Drive improvements in teaching which benefit all children in the classroom;
b) Support ambitious system reform which helps teachers succeed and keeps children safe; and
c) Provide targeted support to disadvantaged girls, children with disabilities and those affected by conflict and crisis.
We use our leadership on the world stage to shine a spotlight on the needs of the most marginalised and strengthen the multilateral system of support for education.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the findings of UNSECO in its report, Global education monitoring report 2019 – gender report: Building bridges for gender equality.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We welcome the recent UNESCO reports focusing on how to achieve SDG 4 on Global Education by 2030. These reports resonate well with DFID’s Education Policy: Get Children Learning. The UK will continue to support 12 years of quality education for girls and boys, starting with the basics of literacy and numeracy.
To achieve this, we:
a) Drive improvements in teaching which benefit all children in the classroom;
b) Support ambitious system reform which helps teachers succeed and keeps children safe; and
c) Provide targeted support to disadvantaged girls, children with disabilities and those affected by conflict and crisis.
We use our leadership on the world stage to shine a spotlight on the needs of the most marginalised and strengthen the multilateral system of support for education.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to work with faith leaders to help tackle the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK has been a major supporter of the response to the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC since it began in August 2018. Community engagement remains one of the most important factors that will help end the outbreak and strengthening this aspect of the response is a key part of the ongoing ‘reset’ pushed for by the UK and other partners. The response, led by the Government of DRC with international support directed by the UN, is increasingly working with religious leaders to help foster community trust and ownership. On top of our wider financial, technical and political support to the response, UK Aid is funding anthropological research into community dynamics in affected areas, which is helping response partners strengthen their engagement with communities, including faith leaders.
The Secretary of State for International Development met with faith leaders (both Christian and Muslim) in Butembo during his recent visit to eastern DRC. He also recently discussed the outbreak with the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose insights were incredibly valuable, while officials continue regular dialogue with a number of UK-based faith groups on the issue.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in (a) southern Idlib and (b) northern Hama; and what steps his Department is taking to help alleviate the humanitarian situation in those regions.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is extremely concerned about the continued escalation of violence in northern Hama and southern Idlib, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, including approximately 100,000 children. We are appalled by the Regime and Russia’s senseless attacks on civilian infrastructure, with at least 50 schools, 35 health facilities and eight water stations reportedly damaged or destroyed.
DFID remains committed to helping to alleviate the suffering of the affected civilian population. Last year alone, we provided over £80 million of support to Idlib and surrounding areas, and we are continuing our support this year too. Our UN and NGO partners are working tirelessly to meet growing needs among displaced people through distributing essential items such as food, water and medicines. In addition to humanitarian assistance, the UK continues to use our position on the UN Security Council to call out the regime and Russia in the strongest possible terms for the continued attacks on civilian infrastructure, which clearly violate international law.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the international alliance on Sustainable Development Goal 2 proposed by Germany at the World Bank Spring Meeting.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is playing its part to ending hunger and undernutrition through a substantial portfolio of agricultural and other economic development programmes, social safety nets, and humanitarian response interventions; through its bilateral programmes as well as support to multilateral institutions. But more needs to be done if we are to end hunger by 2030. We are discussing with Germany and other leading development partners how we can achieve a step change including the potential value of a possible major global moment on SDG2 in 2020. We are also engaging with international actors to consider how such a moment could work alongside the planned summit hosted by Japan to accelerate progress to reduce malnutrition as one part of SDG2.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure refugees are consulted on the development of the medium-term response plan for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK government is committed to supporting the Government of Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting the Rohingya refugees. Although the aim is the voluntary return of the refugees to Myanmar, the current conditions and continued conflict in Rakhine State preclude this.
As the crisis moves into a protracted phase, we will remain a leading donor to the humanitarian operation and increase our support to the development needs of affected communities in Cox’s Bazar. This requires working with the UN, World Bank and others to help the Government develop and finance medium-term plans for the district. It also requires continuous consultation with the refugees to make sure that their needs and aspirations are, as far as possible, met. A group of partners, led by BBC Media Action, is helping to facilitate this.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment his Department has made of (a) opportunities for self-reliance and (b) access to education and livelihoods for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We are in regular dialogue with the Government of Bangladesh, and international and local partners on how to improve the opportunities for Rohingya refugees to lead more fulfilling and meaningful lives, now and in the future. Education and livelihoods are an important part of this. The International Development Secretary discussed the Rohingya crisis with the Bangladesh Government in Dhaka in February, including the need to improve refugees’ access to education, skills and livelihoods. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific held similar discussions with the Government during his visit in April.
We are funding UNICEF, both directly and through Education Cannot Wait, to increase the learning opportunities for refugee children and adolescents. We are also assisting centres that provide training in skills and entrepreneurship, particularly for women.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps his Department has taken is taking to ensure adequate access to (a) educational and (b) livelihood opportunities for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We are in regular dialogue with the Government of Bangladesh, and international and local partners on how to improve the opportunities for Rohingya refugees to lead more fulfilling and meaningful lives, now and in the future. Education and livelihoods are an important part of this. The International Development Secretary discussed the Rohingya crisis with the Bangladesh Government in Dhaka in February, including the need to improve refugees’ access to education, skills and livelihoods. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific held similar discussions with the Government during his visit in April.
We are funding UNICEF, both directly and through Education Cannot Wait, to increase the learning opportunities for refugee children and adolescents. We are also assisting centres that provide training in skills and entrepreneurship, particularly for women.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking with the Government of Bangladesh to establish a medium-term development plan for Cox’s Bazar.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK government is committed to supporting the Government of Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting the Rohingya refugees. Although the aim is the voluntary return of the refugees to Myanmar, the current conditions and continued conflict in Rakhine State preclude this.
As the crisis moves into a protracted phase, we will remain a leading donor to the humanitarian operation and increase our support to the development needs of affected communities in Cox’s Bazar. This requires working with the UN, World Bank and others to help the Government develop and finance medium-term plans for the district. It also requires continuous consultation with the refugees to make sure that their needs and aspirations are, as far as possible, met. A group of partners, led by BBC Media Action, is helping to facilitate this.