Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to encourage collaboration between the UK and Iraqi public sectors (a) in health, (b) in education and (c) more widely.

DFID‘s work in Iraq is focused on supporting the Government of Iraq-led, UN-supported humanitarian and stabilisation response to the current crisis, and DFID funding is channelled through UN agencies and non-governmental organisations. DFID is not directly funding programmes supporting joint working between the UK and Iraqi public sectors.

The British Council is working with the Iraqi health, heritage and education sectors to foster collaboration with UK institutions. Through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) the UK is also working with the Government of Iraq to train and mentor the Iraqi Government Digital Service to support online communications in the campaign against Daesh.