We are deeply concerned about the locust outbreak in Africa and South Asia, which is compounding existing humanitarian need caused by the residual effects of humanitarian disasters, conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is affecting the regions\u2019 ability to respond to these crises by destroying livelihoods and essential food supplies, putting millions of people at risk of further insecurity during the pandemic.<\/p>
The UK is supporting the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation\u2019s (FAO) Regional Emergency Appeal for the locust outbreak and has contributed £5 million for the spraying of pesticides on the ground and by air. Additionally, DFID Sudan has provided £2 million bi-laterally and DFID Pakistan £1 million to FAO\u2019s response in-country.<\/p>
We are also playing a leading role in the global response to COVID-19, working with international partners to slow its spread and pledging £764 million of UK aid globally to end the pandemic. Additionally, the UK is providing up to £150 million to the International Monetary Fund\u2019s Catastrophe Containment Relief Trust to help developing countries, including many in Africa and South Asia, meet their debt repayments so they can focus available resources on tackling COVID-19. The UK has worked closely with G20 creditors and the Paris Club on a temporary suspension of debt repayments from countries that request relief, further boosting response capacities.<\/p>
Finally, the UK is urgently redirecting existing programmes in Africa and South Asia to respond to the locust outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our support is having an immediate impact. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to help further.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1559", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir James Duddridge"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochford and Southend East"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "James Duddridge"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-06-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-06-10T16:15:34.2Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "20"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Development"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Development"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-06-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Africa and South Asia: Locusts"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent locust swarms in Africa and South Asia on those regions' ability to respond to the covid-19 pandemic.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4139", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Ian Lavery"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wansbeck"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Ian Lavery"} ], "uin" : "54112"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }