Overseas Aid

(asked on 30th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prioritise (1) digitisation and (2) climate resilience capability building programmes, in their spending on international development.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 10th December 2020

The UK Government is investing in multiple programmes that aim to increase digital inclusion and digital transformation in developing countries and emerging markets with a focus on underserved and marginalised communities. The programmes aim to address the fundamental constraints to digital inclusion, build cybersecurity capacity, support local digital economies and advise partner countries about digital transformation of the government and the economy through tools such as digital identification.

Countries need to take action to anticipate the impact of climate change to avoid more people falling into poverty and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a major focus of the UK's international climate finance, which helps both to avoid carbon emissions and build climate resilience. These include the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Least Developed Countries' Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience. We will use the UK's Presidency of the COP26 climate conference, in Glasgow in November 2021, to secure greater international support for adaptation and resilience measures.

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