Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage international collaboration on nature recovery programmes.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Protecting and restoring nature is a core theme of the UK's COP26 presidency. At the World Leaders Summit, leaders agreed to work together to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 through the Glasgow Leaders Declaration, which has now been signed by more than 130 countries, covering over 90% of global forest cover. During the COP fortnight, we will also be highlighting the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade Dialogue to promote sustainable development and trade while protecting forests and other critical ecosystems; the Sustainable Agriculture campaign; and the 'Call for Ocean Action' towards ocean health and resilience.
These initiatives are part of the Government's wider efforts to put biodiversity on a path to recovery. Last year, we championed the Leaders Pledge for Nature, which aims to galvanise more political commitment and which 93 countries have signed to date. The UK has signed up to the goal to conserve or protect at least 30 per cent of the world's land and at least 30 per cent of the world's ocean by 2030, and to support our ambitions for nature, the Government has committed to invest at least £3 billion of our ODA budget over the period 21/22-25/26.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen cultural exchange programmes across the Commonwealth.
Answered by Amanda Milling
Cultural exchange, including the delivery of in person and digital programmes across the arts, education and English in over 50 Commonwealth countries is facilitated through our diplomatic missions and the British Council, as the UK's international organisation for cultural relations. In 2020/21, funding of £25.4 million to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, further supported educational and cultural exchange in the Commonwealth. In 2022, Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games provide valuable opportunities to strengthen cultural relations across our Commonwealth family. Ahead of the Games, the Commonwealth Connections Project will twin 60 schools across the West Midlands with schools in other Commonwealth countries, encouraging these young people to explore shared Commonwealth values; whilst an exciting Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme will boost collaborations between artists in the West Midlands and Commonwealth countries.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen connections to the Commonwealth among young people.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As Commonwealth Chair-in-Office, we have championed the voice of its young people and supported enhanced participation in decision-making, including through national youth networks. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2018, the UK announced a new £5m contribution to the Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships endowment fund, supporting the creation by 2025 of 150 new scholarships which enable Commonwealth students to study in one another's countries.
The FCDO continues to fund the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission, in 2020/2021 contributing over £25m to support over 700 new awards for individuals from Commonwealth countries to study at UK universities. In addition, the UK's Chevening scholarship supported 450 scholars from the Commonwealth to study for a Master's degree at UK universities. The FCDO's £1,030,661 annual contribution to the Commonwealth Youth Programme supports a range of youth-centric pan-Commonwealth initiatives, showcasing and celebrating the achievements of young people in driving democracy and development. It also provides technical assistance for national and regional youth policies and programmes. The Government of Rwanda have identified Youth as one of its five policy pillars for the upcoming Kigali CHOGM. The UK is working to encourage Leaders to reaffirm their commitment to ensuring that all girls and boys get 12 years of quality education.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What steps he is taking to strengthen health systems in developing countries.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to COVID-19, pledging up to £1.3 billion to address the health, humanitarian, and socio-economic impacts. We are working to strengthen global health security against future pandemics through the Prime Minister’s Five-Point Plan, and to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children. We recently announced £340 million core contribution to WHO (2020-24), to support WHO’s work including on maternal and child health and strengthening health systems.
The UK is also a leading donor to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and Gavi which are helping to keep essential health services going during the pandemic. Our investments in the Global Financing Facility are helping strengthen health systems alongside the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department plans to publish the proposed health systems strengthening position paper.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We expect to publish a health systems strengthening position paper this year. This approach will form a central part of the government's wider effort towards ending the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children, and strengthening global health security. It will take account of the lessons learnt from the response to COVID-19, and the need to build resilient health systems for the future.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen domestic healthcare systems in developing countries and increase the training of professionals to lead them.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has placed strengthening health systems at the heart of our global health work to achieve Universal Health Coverage, end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths and ensure country systems are prepared for and can respond to health threats, such as COVID-19.
The UK has a wide portfolio of health system investments. This includes support to the multilaterals such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and WHO. We provide strategic bilateral support at country and regional levels, share public health expertise with developing countries, support research and development and use our strong diplomatic networks at a country, regional and global level to support evidence-based health policies. We recognise that having a strong health workforce is an essential building block for an inclusive, resilient health system. Our health systems programmes support health workforce education and training, curriculum development, continuing professional development, qualification development, and national health workforce policy.