Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the 2019-20 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between her Department and the Palestinian Authority, what assessment her Department made in 2019-20 of the compliance of the Palestinian Authority with the commitments in that MOU; and what representations her Department has made to the Palestinian Authority on compliance with that MOU.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority (PA) is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and DFID’s ‘partnership principles’. We have an active dialogue with the PA on the issues identified through these channels and we assess that the PA continues to demonstrate a credible commitment to our agreements and the ‘partnership principles’.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the 2018-19 Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Palestinian Authority, what assessment her Department made in 2018-19 of whether there had been any breach by the Palestinian Authority of the commitments set out in the MoU; and what discussions her Department had with the Authority on the importance of transparency and compliance with those commitments.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority (PA) is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and DFID’s ‘partnership principles’. We have an active dialogue with the PA on the issues identified through these channels and we assess that the PA continues to demonstrate a credible commitment to our agreements and the ‘partnership principles’.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the 2019-20 Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Palestinian Authority, what assessment she has made of the Palestinian Authority's progress on curriculum reform.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority (PA) is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding and our ‘partnership principles’. We continue to judge that the PA is demonstrating a credible commitment to this Memorandum and the ‘partnership principles’.
We are pleased the PA is currently revising its textbooks and hopes to update them before the start of the new school year in September. I most recently discussed progress of the PA’s review with the Minister for Education on 4 June.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the 2019-20 Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Palestinian Authority, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the steps taken by the Authority to ensure that funding allocated by her Department was not used to cover payments made to prisoners or their families.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
No UK Aid is used for payments to prisoners or their families, or the so called Martyrs’ Fund. Our financial support to the Palestinian Authority health and education sectors goes into a dedicated bank account and is only paid to individual workers who have been carefully vetted through the PEGASE mechanism (Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism). Each payment is independently audited to ensure it has been received by the intended recipient. This rigorous process means we are confident no UK aid is being diverted.
Our partnership with the PA is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding and our ‘partnership principles’. We continue to judge that the PA is demonstrating a credible commitment to DFID’s partnership principles. Our partnership works to improve the lives of Palestinians and support the UK’s commitment to maintain the viability of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the 2018-19 Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Palestinian Authority what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to ensure that funding from her Department was not used to cover payments made to prisoners or their families as administered by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
No UK Aid is used for payments to prisoners or their families, or the so called Martyrs’ Fund. Our financial support to the Palestinian Authority health and education sectors goes into a dedicated bank account and is only paid to individual workers who have been carefully vetted through the PEGASE mechanism (Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism). Each payment is independently audited to ensure it has been received by the intended recipient. This rigorous process means we are confident no UK aid is being diverted.
Our partnership with the PA is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding and our ‘partnership principles’. We continue to judge that the PA is demonstrating a credible commitment to DFID’s partnership principles. Our partnership works to improve the lives of Palestinians and support the UK’s commitment to maintain the viability of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2020 to Question 42246, on what date she expects the George Eckert Institute to deliver its interim report.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Following UK calls for action, our European partners commissioned the Georg Eckert Institute to conduct an independent review of Palestinian textbooks, which is currently underway.
We understand the report has been delayed due to COVID-19. We have regular discussions with our European Partners on the review and we continue to encourage the EU to finalise the interim report as soon as possible.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2020 to Question 42246 on Palestinians: Textbooks, by what date she expects the internal panel of researchers to complete their analysis.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Our three-year People to People programme aimed to bring together Israelis and Palestinians to cooperate on issues which can have a positive impact on both communities, helping to build understanding between people on both sides of the conflict in support of a peaceful, negotiated resolution.
The research component for this programme seeks to look more broadly at the impact of People to People work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to build the evidence base in this area – something that is presently limited. To ensure a thorough analysis of this programme, an internal panel is reviewing the report. Work on this is currently underway and the panel hopes to complete its review by Autumn this year.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether (a) UK direct or (b) multilateral aid to the Palestinian Authority provides any financial or in-kind support to schools named after terrorists.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
UK bilateral support to the Palestinian Authority contributes to the salaries of teachers in the West Bank who have been carefully vetted through the Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance (PEGASE) mechanism. We do not monitor where individual teachers are deployed, which is a matter for the Palestinian Authority.
Our multilateral support is channelled through Education Cannot Wait and the British Council, who have strong risk management systems in place to ensure that UK aid best supports the provision of quality education in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We have raised our concerns about school naming at senior levels within the Palestinian Authority and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to renew support for the People for Peaceful Change Project.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Our three-year People to People programme aimed to bring together Israelis and Palestinians to cooperate on issues which can have a positive impact on both communities, helping to build understanding between people on both sides of the conflict in support of a peaceful, negotiated resolution.
The programme includes a research component that is looking more broadly at the impact of People to People work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to build the evidence base in this area, which is presently limited. An internal panel of researchers is in the process of analysing the findings. Once this work is complete, we will use the research to inform decisions on future programming in this area. We will seek to publish the research results in due course.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will place a copy of the People for Peaceful Change research element in the Library.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Our three-year People to People programme aimed to bring together Israelis and Palestinians to cooperate on issues which can have a positive impact on both communities, helping to build understanding between people on both sides of the conflict in support of a peaceful, negotiated resolution.
The programme includes a research component that is looking more broadly at the impact of People to People work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to build the evidence base in this area, which is presently limited. An internal panel of researchers is in the process of analysing the findings. Once this work is complete, we will use the research to inform decisions on future programming in this area. We will seek to publish the research results in due course.