Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps the Department has taken to support the work of the Global Partnership for Education.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Ensuring access to quality education is an FCDO priority. The UK is a founding member and top bilateral donor to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). GPE estimates that its support will help partner countries get 40 million more girls into school and support 17 million more girls to read in low and lower-middle income countries by 2025. In 2021, the UK co-hosted the Global Education Summit, helping to raise a historic $4 billion in donor pledges for GPE, including the UK's pledge of £430 million to GPE over five years. So far, the UK has disbursed £60 million in line with the FCDO Spending Review allocation.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the announcement entitled PM calls on G7 to help educate every child in the world, published on 11 June 2021, what steps he is taking to deliver the £430 million funding pledged to the Global Partnership for Education, in the context of levels of funding delivered to date; and what steps he is taking with international partners to help deliver a fully funded Global Partnership for Education.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a founding member and top bilateral donor to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). GPE estimates that its support will help partner countries get 40 million more girls into school and support 17 million more girls to read in low and lower-middle income countries by 2025. In 2021, the UK co-hosted the Global Education Summit, helping to raise a historic $4 billion in donor pledges for GPE, including the UK's pledge of £430 million to GPE over 5 years. So far, the UK has disbursed £30 million in line with the FCDO Spending Review allocation.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help international education systems prepare for natural disasters.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In 2023, we pledged £80 million to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a global fund for education in emergencies, central to supporting education resilience in the face of increasing natural and man-made disasters. The FCDO's position paper, 'Addressing the Climate, Environment, and Biodiversity Crises in and through Girls' Education' (2022), provides a framework of priority actions to build resilient and climate smart school systems. Increasingly, our bilateral education programmes are building climate resilience, and we are working, as leading donors, through global education funds - Global Partnership for Education and ECW - to protect education in the face of disasters.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many girls have been supported by UK Official Development Assistance funding to (a) enter and (b) continue education.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Girls' education is a UK international development priority. We champion the right of every girl to access 12 years of quality education. Since 2015, UK Official Development Assistance has supported over 10 million girls to gain a decent education. The FCDO supports girls to access education through a number of mechanisms. Our Girls' Education Challenge programme has enabled over 1.6 million of the most marginalised girls to access education. We have 18 bilateral education programmes globally, and we are one of the leading donors to the global funds for Education - the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait (ECW). Between 2017 and 2021, ECW supported over 6.9 million children (48 percent girls) to access education.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, together with international partners, to improve climate change education for 3 to 19 year-olds globally.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2022, the FCDO published a position paper, 'Addressing the Climate, Environment, and Biodiversity Crises in and through Girls' Education' [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/addressing-the-climate-environment-and-biodiversity-crises-in-and-through-girls-education/addressing-the-climate-environment-and-biodiversity-crises-in-and-through-girls-education]. This provides a framework of priority actions to build resilient and climate smart school systems. Increasingly, our bilateral education programmes are building in climate co-benefits, and we are working through global education funds to which we are leading donors - Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait - to do more on climate and education. At COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK co-led the Declaration for the Common Agenda for Education and Climate Change [https://www.unesco.org/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2023/12/Declaration-on-education-and-climate-change-en.pdf], and will work with signatories to accelerate action.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will take steps to help ensure access to education for children in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a founding member and key donor to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. ECW is supporting education preparedness work in Gaza. We continue to support the wider delivery of education in Gaza, including through NGOs, UN partners, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Education.
Feb. 07 2024
Source Page: Scotland's International Education StrategyFound: Scotland's International Education Strategy
Feb. 07 2024
Source Page: Scotland's International Education StrategyFound: Scotland's International Education Strategy
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much has been spent on helping Afghan girls to study maths and science since 2021; and how much money has been allocated for that purpose for the next five years.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Providing girls with 12 years of quality and equitable education is a global FCDO priority. FCDO does not disaggregate our education spend by subject. The UK Government strongly condemns the restrictions the Taliban have imposed on Afghan women and girls, and we are working with the international community to press the Taliban to reverse their restrictive decisions on girls' education. We continue to support the delivery of education in Afghanistan, including through NGOs, UN partners, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Education Cannot Wait, and the Global Partnership for Education. Our bilateral support has enabled 125,000 children, of which 83,700 are girls, to access education between September 2022 and June 2023.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has held discussions with his counterparts in the Middle East on the potential merits of developing a plan to support orphaned children in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
From our £60 million of committed aid, we have provided targeted support for children through our £5.75 million contribution to UNICEF. Our funding is supporting their work to amongst other things, assist over 5,800 children with severe malnourishment and 853,000 children, adolescents and caregivers affected by the conflict, to receive emergency and child protection services, including mental health and psychosocial support.
The UK is a founding member and key donor to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. ECW is supporting education preparedness work in Gaza. We continue to support the wider delivery of education in Gaza, including through NGOs, UN partners, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Education.