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389827

registered interest
date	14/07/2015
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Boko Haram
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support African countries in counter-terrorism efforts against Boko Haram.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	7110
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text The UK, in close coordination with the US and France, continues to support Nigeria and its neighbours in their fight against Boko Haram. The UK is providing a substantial package of UK military, intelligence and development support to Nigeria. We have also contributed £5 million to support efforts to establish a Multinational Joint Taskforce against Boko Haram. We are looking to expand our support to Nigeria even further. The Prime Minister has met President Buhari twice, including during the G7 Summit, to discuss how we could best help Nigeria win the fight against Boko Haram, including increasing UK Military Assistance to the region. The National Security Council has agreed that Nigeria will be a Foreign Policy priority and we have established a new cross Government unit dedicated to that task. answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 20/07/2015 15:18:27 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

389233

registered interest
date	13/07/2015
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Burundi: Refugees
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her policy is on providing additional funds to the Regional Refugee Response Plan for the situation in Burundi.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	6798
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2015 answer text <p>We are seriously concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Burundi.</p><p> </p><p>To support the international response and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Burundi Regional Refugee Response Plan, DFID has provided £9.25million to support relief efforts for Burundian refugees fleeing to Tanzania and £3.9million to support Burundian refugees in Rwanda. This funding will be deployed to provide life-saving activities (water and sanitation infrastructure, shelter, health and food rations).</p><p> </p><p>We have deployed human resources to improve the quality of the response (a secondment to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to work with the country team in Burundi to strengthen coordination and planning, as well as a DFID Humanitarian Advisor to work with Tanzania and Rwanda DFID offices to monitor the situation and develop appropriate programme responses).</p><p> </p><p>DFID is also the main donor to the international NGO consortium START network, which provides funding to international NGOs to rapidly respond to emergencies and build the capacity of local NGOs. DFID has provided £13.7million to the network for its global operations since April 2014. To support the humanitarian response to the Burundian situation, START has so far released £442,327 in Burundi, £275,281 in Rwanda, £ 430,203 in Tanzania and £330,000 in the DRC.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>DFID continues to work closely with the FCO to monitor the situation in Burundi and in the surrounding areas and to work with our partners to respond to needs on the ground.</p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 16/07/2015 16:13:15 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

389537

registered interest
date	13/07/2015
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Eritrea: Human Rights
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea brought before the UN Human Rights Council on 4 June 2015, what steps he has taken to (a) ensure that no UK or EU funding is provided to Eritrea that in any way strengthens or enhances their capability to repress or oppress the Eritrean people, (b) follow up the Commission's finding within the UN and (c) provide assistance to the UN Somali/Eritrea Monitoring Group in investigating alleged abuses by the Eritrean government.
tabling member constituency	Holborn and St Pancras
tabling member printed	Keir Starmer
uin	6782
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text <p>The UK does not provide direct funding to the Government of Eritrea. The only funding from the UK in Eritrea is to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). We also give core funding to a number of multilateral organisations that work in Eritrea, including the African Development Bank, EU and Global Fund. The EU’s development funds are conditional under the terms of the Cotonou Agreement. The EU’s 2014-20 development funding for Eritrea is under discussion and has not yet been approved. We share the Commission of Inquiry’s concerns regarding human rights in Eritrea, in particular widespread arbitrary detention and shortcomings in the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms. We regret the Government of Eritrea’s failure to receive the Commission in Asmara, which compelled the Commission to rely on witnesses who are outside the country. The UN Human Rights Council, of which the UK is a member, voted on 2 July 2015 to extend the Commission’s mandate for one year to allow the Commission to further investigate the human rights situation in Eritrea. The UK will continue to engage closely with the Commission, and with other parts of the UN system, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea. The Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group’s (SEMG) mandate is not to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Eritrea. The SEMG’s remit is to investigate any attempts by the Government of Eritrea to destabilise the Horn of Africa by supplying arms or financial support to Al-Shabaab. The SEMG is due to submit its full report to the UN Security Council this autumn. We have made clear to Eritrea that it must cooperate fully with the Monitoring Group.</p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 20/07/2015 14:28:40 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	4514 label Biography information for Keir Starmer

389551

registered interest
date	13/07/2015
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	South Sudan: Peace Negotiations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to assist faith and community-led reconciliation efforts in South Sudan.
tabling member constituency	The Wrekin
tabling member printed	Mark Pritchard
uin	6638
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text <p>The UK supports faith and community-led reconciliation efforts through funding to the South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission (SSPRC) to enable mitigation of potential local conflicts; support to the Catholic Relief Services in coordinating conflict prevention; support to a cross-border conflict mitigation programme on the Sudanese border; and support of a nation-wide survey on how communities resolve local disputes through the Community Security and Arms Control Programme (CSAC). On 28 May 2015 officials at the Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office used a social media channel to express support for a statement of the South Sudanese Council of Churches that condemned the recent Human Rights violations and emphasised the need to bring an immediate end to the conflict.</p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 20/07/2015 14:24:01 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	1576 label Biography information for Mark Pritchard

388686

registered interest
date	08/07/2015
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Overseas Aid
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that all UK international aid is responsive to (a) climate change and (b) low carbon emissions; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Down
tabling member printed	Lady Hermon
uin	6196
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>DFID’s responsibilities on climate and environment derive from the International Development Act’s commitment to sustainable development, based on the substantial evidence that poverty eradication is not possible without tackling climate change. Climate and environment risks and opportunities are considered as part of DFID’s programing to ensure it supports climate resilience and lower carbon growth to eradicate poverty. The capacity of DFID staff to do this has been developed through DFID’s ‘Future Fit’ programme which has worked with all DFID spending departments to develop climate plans.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the UK’s flagship International Climate Fund (ICF) has been used to integrate climate issues in DFID programmes in climate vulnerable sectors such as forestry, water, agriculture and disaster management. The ICF has already helped 15m people cope with the impacts of climate change, and created 39,000 jobs many of them in low carbon energy programmes that have provided access to low carbon energy to more than 2.8m people.</p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 15/07/2015 15:31:42 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	1437 label Biography information for Lady Hermon

388315

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Developing Countries: Internet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with (a) her international counterparts and (b) UN bodies on the provision of cheap and effective internet access to communities in developing countries.
tabling member constituency	Bradford East
tabling member printed	Imran Hussain
uin	5772
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2015 answer text <p>Technology has the potential to increase the impact and value for money of UK Aid; and to pull people out of poverty. Many of DFID’s programmes enable communities to access life-changing products and services via the internet, often through a simple mobile phone.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, cost continues to be a barrier to internet access for communities in many developing countries. DFID has supported initiatives such as the Alliance for Affordable Internet – a cross-sector coalition which was formed to bring about policy change to drive down the costs of broadband in developing countries. DFID continues to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders on this agenda including our donor counterparts in the US and Sweden, philanthropic foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Omidyar Network and the World Wide Web Foundation, technology firms including Google and Facebook and bodies such as the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU).</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 14/07/2015 15:17:36 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	4394 label Biography information for Imran Hussain

388316

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	South Sudan: Offences against Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the UNICEF news note on children killed, abducted and raped in South Sudan attacks, dated 18 May 2015, if she will hold discussions with the government of South Sudan on the protection of children in that country from such attacks.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	5841
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2015 answer text <p>We have raised the issue of the protection of civilians, particularly children, both as part of our broader human rights engagement with the Government of South Sudan, as well as with the opposition, most recently on the 7<sup>th</sup> of July. Her Majesty’s Ambassador (HMA) to South Sudan, together with Heads of EU Missions in Juba, issued a statement on the 2<sup>nd</sup> July 2015 condemning the human rights atrocities in Unity State that were raised in the recent UNICEF and United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports. The joint statement strongly condemned the horrific acts against civilians, including children, and urged all parties involved to take steps to end these atrocities as a matter of urgency. We continue to call for the Government to allow further investigations by granting unimpeded access to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). We will continue to press the Government of South Sudan to ensure the protection of its citizens and investigate these atrocities.</p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 13/07/2015 13:50:42 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

388317

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	South Sudan
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in South Sudan.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
uin	5816
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2015 answer text <p>In May 2015, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) assessed that 4.6million people (40% of the population) of South Sudan would be in IPC Phases of Crisis or Emergency from May to July 2015. This assessment did not take into account the subsequent fighting which erupted in Unity State in May and has left up to a million people without access to vital humanitarian aid. To respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, the UK announced £40million of funding on 16<sup>th</sup> June 2015. This is in addition to the UK’s existing commitment of £132.5m in South Sudan (and a further £58.9 million for South Sudanese refugees in the region) since December 2013. Further funding is being considered.</p><p> </p><p>The South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan has sought $1.63 billion to meet the most urgent needs until the end of 2015 and it is so far 49% funded. The UK Government continues to urge the international community to respond as we have and follow our lead.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 14/07/2015 15:18:31 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

387875

registered interest
date	06/07/2015
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Developing Countries: Abortion
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent (a) in total on the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme, (b) for abortion services by the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme and (c) supporting locally-led changes to the regulatory and policy environments for abortion services as part of the Prevention of Maternal Deaths from Unwanted Pregnancy programme since the inception of that programme; what measures are in place to ensure value for money in the delivery of the programme; and what scrutiny is applied to organisations commissioned with the delivery of the international aspects of the programme.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	5734
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2015 answer text <p>Total spend to date on the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme has been £59.7 million. The programme works in a comprehensive and integrated manner and spend is not disaggregated by service type.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The programme delivers value for money when compared with both international standards and its own output targets. The programme is subject to DFID’s approach for conducting due diligence of delivery partners. Further information on both value for money and programme oversight can be found on DFID’s development tracker at <a href="http://www.devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/" target="_blank">devtracker.dfid.gov.uk</a>.</p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 13/07/2015 13:49:15 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

387322

registered interest
date	02/07/2015
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Department for International Development: Freedom of Information
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, on how many occasions her Department applied the exemption in section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (disclosure likely to endanger the physical or mental health of any individual) in wholly or partly refusing a freedom of information request in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Glenrothes
tabling member printed	Peter Grant
uin	5289
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2015 answer text <p>Statistics on the use of Freedom of Information exemptions are published by the Ministry of Justice (Table 10 of annual reports). They are available here <a title="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics</a>. These statistics provide the number of times section 38 as a whole has been used by each government department. Both sections 38(1)(a) and 38(1)(b) were used by DFID in all such cases.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 09/07/2015 11:39:27 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	4466 label Biography information for Peter Grant