Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recovery projects her Department has in place to end violence against children.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
DFID is committed to reducing violence through dedicated investments to protect children, alongside interventions embedded in wider development and humanitarian programming.
Current examples of support include: £5.75 million to the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children to drive international ambition and progress, including the Safe to Learn campaign that will inspire action to end violence in schools around the world; £10m to UNICEF to prevent and respond to violence, abuse and exploitation of children on the move in Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan through a strengthened child protection system; and £65m to the No Lost Generation Initiative in Lebanon to support Syrian children with education and psychosocial support.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to increase humanitarian aid to help tackle violence against children.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The UK Government is committed to protecting children in conflict. DFID does not have targets for humanitarian aid spending on specific groups. Our humanitarian programming is based on an assessment of need in any given context and on evidence of which interventions are most effective. DFID is providing significant support to protect children from violence around the world through our humanitarian programming. Protection is at the centre of our humanitarian action, with partners adhering to minimum standards to ensure the safety and dignity of those most vulnerable, including children.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment has she made of the economic effect of violence against children.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
DFID is committed to protecting vulnerable children around the world and helping them to grow up free from violence.
Violence has long lasting impacts on children’s health, their capacity to learn, and their economic prospects in later life. Violence against children is also proven to have a negative impact on the economy. One estimate models the annual costs of physical, sexual and psychological violence against children to be up to 8 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product, which equates to approximately US$7 trillion.
The economic effect of violence against children is one of the reasons why DFID is the leading supporter of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional aid she will make available to support civilians forced to flee their homes to Monguno and Maiduguri following recent attacks by armed insurgents in north-east Nigeria.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Department for International Development is deeply concerned by the recent attacks in northern Borno and is committed to providing support to those who have been forced to flee their homes. Our partners are increasing their assistance in Maiduguri and Monguno to make sure that newly displaced people have rapid access to food, shelter, healthcare, protection, and water. DFID is one of the largest donors to the World Food Programme’s emergency operation in Nigeria, which is scaling up to provide cash and food assistance to new arrivals.
My team is closely monitoring new needs and will continue to flex our existing £300 million humanitarian programme to provide assistance. DFID and FCO officials met with the Vice President of Nigeria last week to stress the importance of ensuring access to humanitarian assistance for newly displaced people.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing to Sri Lanka.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID’s bilateral aid to Sri Lanka ended in 2006 when middle income status was achieved. We continue to support them through multilateral organisations and through centrally managed DFID programmes. In 2014 these amounted to at least £28m.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent representations her Department has made to the Israeli government on the demolition of Palestinian homes and property funded by the UK.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK remains extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015, and continues to raise this with the Israeli authorities. Demolitions and the evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering, are harmful to the peace process, and in all but the most exceptional of cases are contrary to international humanitarian law. The UK supports the Norwegian Refugee Council to provide legal aid to Palestinian communities that are at risk of displacement.