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1150853

registered interest
date	21/10/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Pakistan: Religious Freedom
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report of the Pakistani Minorities and Freedom of Religion or Belief All-Party Parliamentary Group entitled, Religious Minorities of Pakistan: Report of a Parliamentary Visit, published on 9 September 2019.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	2737
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2019 answer text <p>We welcome the recent All-Party Parliamentary Group report which identifies a range of concerns facing religious minorities in Pakistan. These are important issues and the UK is committed to promoting inclusion and tolerance through our development aid in Pakistan.</p><p> </p><p>We regularly review how our assistance benefits poor and marginalised people in Pakistan, including those from religious minorities. Baroness Sugg and Lord Ahmad will be meeting with the Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for <em>Pakistani minorities</em> and <em>International Freedom of Religion or Belief</em> to discuss the report’s findings and consider what more can be done in the future.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 29/10/2019 15:12:07 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

1150854

registered interest
date	21/10/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Pakistan: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will allocate additional funding for programmes in Pakistan to (a) educate school children from minority backgrounds, (b) institute a scheme of specialist educational scholarships for minority students and (c) provide professional training to adults from religious minority groups.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	2738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2019 answer text <p>UK aid prioritises support for the poorest and most excluded people and communities in Pakistan regardless of race, religion, social background or nationality. DFID Pakistan is currently developing new education programmes and as part of this process we will actively consider what we can do to benefit these groups.</p><p> </p><p>Previous and current DFID programmes in Pakistan have supported senior secondary and higher education scholarships for children from minority groups in Punjab. The Alif Ailaan education campaign had a focus on religious minorities in regions such as Tharpakar, Badin, Multan, and Rahimyar Khan where the local campaigners have advocated for religious minorities and highlighted their issues to authorities at the district and provincial levels.</p><p> </p><p>Nearly 6,000 people from religious minorities have received training through the Punjab Skills Development Fund’s regular skill schemes, and the Fund is launching an exclusive skills scheme for religious minorities from January 2020. Under this scheme, a further 5,000 people from religious minorities (40% women) who are unemployed will be trained in a variety of trades that will lead to work. Lessons from this experience will help the Punjab Skills Development Fund further refine its interventions for minorities.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 29/10/2019 15:13:07 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

1150693

registered interest
date	18/10/2019
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: Religious Freedom
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will include modules on freedom of religion or belief in his Department's capacity building programmes in Pakistan and other countries with reported violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	1914
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2019 answer text <p>DFID already includes elements in our capacity building programmes which benefit religious minorities in Pakistan. Our new Aawaz II Accountability, Inclusion and Reducing Modern Slavery Programme builds on the Aawaz Voice and accountability programme. It will continue to work with communities to promote rights of children, women, youth and religious minorities, protect them from exploitation, and prevent discrimination.</p><p> </p><p>Through our Skills Development Programme, we fund the Punjab Skills Development Fund to provide technical and vocational skills training to the poor and vulnerable, including those from minority communities. An exclusive skills scheme has recently been launched by this Fund for religious minorities. Under this scheme, 5,000 people from religious minorities (40% women) who are unemployed will be trained in a variety of trades.</p><p> </p><p>More widely, through UK Aid Connect, DFID is funding a consortium led by the Institute of Development Studies to address challenges in building tolerance and freedom of religion and belief. In November 2018, Lord Ahmad and Lord Bates launched a £12 million UK Aid Connect programme to promote and defend freedom of religion or belief. This will make poverty reduction programmes more inclusive by highlighting and redressing religious inequalities, with a focus on highly volatile contexts.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 25/10/2019 12:29:10 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

1150694

registered interest
date	18/10/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Pakistan: Minority Groups
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will include the category of religious minorities to the data that his Department collects on vulnerable populations in Pakistan.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	1915
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2019 answer text <p>DFID Pakistan is making efforts to include the category of religious minorities into the data that it collects on vulnerable populations by improving government data collection and protecting the rights of minorities. We currently collect data on minority status when there is a specific need for it, such as for our programmes which specifically aim at helping minority groups. We recently had some success in collecting more and better-quality data on people with disabilities in Pakistan. We learned from that and will build on it to focus our energy on collecting data from other vulnerable and minority groups.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 25/10/2019 12:30:57 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

1150695

registered interest
date	18/10/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Pakistan: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if his Department will provide specific training courses for religious minority candidates under the Punjab Skills Development Fund in coordination with the Punjab Government.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	1916
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2019 answer text <p>Nearly 6,000 people from religious minorities have received training through the Punjab Skills Development Fund’s regular skill schemes. This Fund is launching an exclusive skills scheme for religious minorities from January 2020. Under this scheme, a further 5,000 people from religious minorities (40% women) who are unemployed will be trained in a variety of trades that will lead to work. Lessons from this experience will help the Fund further refine its interventions for minorities.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 29/10/2019 17:24:12 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

1150696

registered interest
date	18/10/2019
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Pakistan: Textbooks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to (a) ensure that schools in Pakistan supported by his Department do not use textbooks with content that stigmatises religious minorities and (b) encourage provincial governments in Pakistan to work with religious minority groups to remove that content.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	1917
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2019 answer text <p>Inclusion and respect for minority communities forms an integral part of our provincial and national education programmes in Pakistan. Through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Education Support Programme and the Punjab Education Support Programme II, DFID has also provided technical assistance to provincial governments to revise the school curriculum and remove discriminatory content from textbooks. Other work to promote tolerance and interfaith harmony includes: training nearly 100,000 teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in equity and inclusion; funding the Alif Ailaan education campaign which focusses on religious minorities; and engaging with education civil society organisations to champion issues of inclusion and raise these with government.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 29/10/2019 17:24:27 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

999709

registered interest
date	01/11/2018
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Pakistan: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of people enrolled on training courses provided by the Punjab skills development fund are (a) from minority communities and (b) on nursing courses.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	187066
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2018 answer text <p>41,818 trainees are currently enrolled on Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) training courses. The number of trainees who have disclosed their status as non-Muslim is 647 (1.55%). PSDF does not provide nursing courses.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 06/11/2018 15:32:36 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

984632

registered interest
date	10/10/2018
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: Private Sector
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps she is taking to ensure that private contractors in receipt of aid spending are held to the same safeguarding standards as charity and non-governmental organisation contractors.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	906957
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/10/2018 answer text <p>DFID holds all partners to the same high safeguarding standards. Private sector organisations must follow our Supply Partner Code of Conduct. It sets high, legally enforceable standards for ethical behaviour and compliance with human rights, including specific clauses on sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 10/10/2018 13:31:15 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

847197

registered interest
date	22/02/2018
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	USA: UNRWA
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to increase its contribution to UNWRA funding as a result of the decision by the US Administration to reduce its contribution to that body; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	129371
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2018 answer text <p>UK officials are working closely with the UN Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), the United States and other donors on how best to ensure continuity of essential services to Palestinian refugees at this time, in line with humanitarian principles. The UK remains firmly committed to supporting UNRWA, and has so far provided around £50 million in 2017/18 based on the Agency meeting rigorous performance indicators. The UK is closely monitoring UNRWA’s ability to deliver services in all fields of operation and is supporting UNRWA’s fundraising efforts. I recently met with the Commissioner General of UNRWA to understand how donors can help. I discussed the importance of UNRWA’s services to the region with a senior US official last week.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 27/02/2018 16:28:01 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer