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1198123

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	World Health Organization: Intellectual Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether it is the Government's policy to support calls for research projects funded through the COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator to be subject to mandatory inclusion into the World Health Organisation COVID-19 Intellectual Property Pool.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	52017
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>The UK has welcomed the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator since its launch on 24 April 2020. We look forward to further engagement with this collaborative arrangement and continue to support the work done under the ACT Accelerator to develop new vaccines, treatments and tests, and to accelerate global access to these essential health technologies for everyone. We are engaging with our international partners on the best ways to support equitable and affordable access to new innovations, and the UK is committed to collaborating with public and private partners in the UK and internationally. This includes exploring voluntary arrangements and approaches such as non-exclusive voluntary licensing, which promote affordable access for all while also providing incentives to create new inventions. We believe that a voluntary approach to intellectual property has advantages over mandatory approaches, and creates a sounder basis for long-lasting, beneficial relationships, and incentives to create new innovations.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 04/06/2020 15:32:54 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1198124

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	World Health Organization: Intellectual Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, following the World Health Assembly and pre-launch of the World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 Intellectual Property Pool, whether the Government plans to support the WHO to establish an effective global pool of rights for Covid-19 health technologies.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	52018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>The UK believes that a robust and fair intellectual property system is a key part of the innovation framework that allows economies to grow, while enabling society to benefit from knowledge and ideas. We have long supported affordable and equitable access to essential medicines, including in low and middle-income countries. We are committed to collaborating with public and private partners in the UK and internationally. This includes exploring voluntary arrangements and approaches that promote affordable access for all while also providing incentives to create new inventions, to accelerate development and equitable access in all countries and to ensure affordable health technologies for responding to COVID-19. There are a number of existing mechanisms that facilitate pooling and sharing intellectual property that could be expanded to cover COVID-19, such as the Medicines Patent Pool, which have the potential to provide a more efficient way forward than creating new mechanisms.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 04/06/2020 15:33:42 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1198298

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
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: Bank Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's press release, UK calls for global action to protect vital money transfers, published on 22 May 2020, what recent steps her Department has taken to make it easier for diaspora communities in the UK and other countries to continue to transfer money to their relatives during the covid-19 pandemic.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
uin	52330
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>Previous DFID support is already helping to make money transfers easier, by helping 65 million people in the poorest countries access digital financial services so they can receive funds – including from diaspora communities in the UK – via their mobile phones or online. DFID support is also helping to give 2 million more people access to digital remittance services so that they can send and receive money from home.</p><p>In the crisis, the UK Government has made it clear that in the UK people can continue to visit money transfer businesses should they need to, while observing social distancing and staying safe.</p><p>And as referenced in the question, the UK has launched – along with Switzerland, and with support from the World Bank and UN agencies – a global Call to Action on remittances, which calls on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers round the world to take action to ensure that diaspora communities can continue to transfer money to their relatives during the crisis.</p> answering member constituency Rochford and Southend East answering member printed James Duddridge question first answered 04/06/2020 15:30:50 answering member 1559 label Biography information for Sir James Duddridge
tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1198335

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
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: Water
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle disparities of access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in developing countries among (a) women and girls and (b) marginalised people and groups.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	52561
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>Women and girls are particularly disadvantaged when adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities are not available, as women bear the primary burden for collecting water. The DFID approval process screens all programmes for compliance with the International Development (Gender Equality) Act at the point of approval to assess whether a programme is likely to reduce gender inequalities. DFID water and sanitation programmes are targeted to people without access to water and sanitation, which includes marginalised people and groups. Of the water and sanitation results that have been disaggregated by gender from 2015 to 2019, DFID programmes have reached 18.6 million women.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 04/06/2020 15:34:15 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1198603

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
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: Climate Change
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 the funding her Department commits to tackling the covid-19 pandemic in developing countries does not negatively affect programmes to tackle climate change.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
uin	52333
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>Tackling climate change and building resilience remain priorities for the Government. Our international response to COVID-19 is focused on securing a strong global health response, accelerating the search for a vaccine and new treatments, and supporting the global economy. We believe that there is a connection between healthy lives, healthy societies and a healthy environment.</p><p>The steps taken to support and rebuild economies will have an impact on future sustainability, resilience and well-being. At the invitation of the United Nations Secretary General, the Prime Minister recently addressed other world leaders on ‘recovering better for sustainability,’ and as we prepare for COP26, the Government is urging the world to take the opportunity to make the recovery clean, inclusive and resilient.</p> answering member constituency Rochford and Southend East answering member printed James Duddridge question first answered 04/06/2020 15:32:08 answering member 1559 label Biography information for Sir James Duddridge
tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1199116

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Africa: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential humanitarian and security effects on (a) Somalia and (b) other African countries of reductions in remittances as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	52662
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world and the challenge posed by COVID-19 to these flows. Recent projections by the World Bank’s suggest that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% - or USD 11 billion – in 2020. In Somalia, remittances represented more than one quarter of GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.</p><p>We are deeply concerned about the combined impacts of COVID-19 with ongoing conflict and climate-induced natural disasters in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances.</p><p>We are working closely with our international partners to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis.</p> answering member constituency Rochford and Southend East answering member printed James Duddridge question first answered 04/06/2020 15:31:33 answering member 1559 label Biography information for Sir James Duddridge
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1197886

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Africa: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the COVID-19 pandemic is progressing in Africa at a slower rate than they expected; and if so, what assessment they have made of why that is the case.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL4851
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2020 answer text <p>The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is currently increasing more rapidly in Africa today than many other regions in the world. Currently cases in Africa are growing by approximately 5% each day compared with 3% in Asia and 1% in Europe. Cases continue to rise in Africa and while overall it took 52 days to reach the first 10,000 cases, it took only 11 days to move from 30,000 to 50,000 cases, and Africa now has over 100,000 cases.</p><p>However, confirmed cases of COVID-19 are growing at a slower rate than was the case in Europe and Asia at the same stage of their epidemics. This slower growth in Africa may be explained by under-reporting due to low testing rates. For example, as of 7 May, an average of 69 tests were carried out in Africa per 100,000 people compared to over 30 times this rate in Europe. It is possible that the lower mortality to date could be as a result of Africa being the youngest continent demographically, with a lower proportion of older people who are at higher risk of death. It is important to remain vigilant for the potential increase in cases that Africa could see in the coming months. Africa is also likely to see disproportionate indirect impacts of COVID-19 on wider health, economic, and social outcomes, which will be important to mitigate.</p><p>So far, the UK has pledged £764 million of UK aid to help end this pandemic as quickly as possible. This includes support to Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to model the future trajectory of the pandemic in low- and middle-income countries. This will help understand how COVID-19 is progressing in Africa and help to inform governments in the region on how best to respond to the pandemic.</p> answering member printed Baroness Sugg question first answered 03/06/2020 15:32:37 answering member 4584 label Biography information for Baroness Sugg
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1197446

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
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: Correspondence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the average length of time was for Ministers of her Department to respond to correspondence from hon. Members in each month in the last two years.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	49738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>In line with Cabinet Office guidance, the Department for International Development has a target of responding within 15 working days where a response is required.</p><p>As you will understand, we are currently dealing with unprecedented volumes of correspondence due to COVID-19. We ensure that urgent cases raised by hon. Members are prioritised and are taking steps to provide substantive responses in as short a time as possible.</p><p>All correspondence received from hon. Members is being reviewed and will be responded to as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency Selby and Ainsty answering member printed Nigel Adams question first answered 02/06/2020 16:23:20 answering member 4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1197513

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Education: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the Government’s commitment to ensure that every girl in the world receives 12 years of quality education.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
uin	49804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>Ensuring 12 years of quality education for all children, especially girls, remains a UK priority. As the effects of the COVID-19 crisis play out, the socio-economic impact on girls has become increasingly clear, with the education of poor girls in particular being disproportionately affected.</p><p>The UK’s response to the pandemic entails mitigating short term risks by focussing on safety, nutrition, wellbeing and learning whilst schools are closed; and supporting countries to protect and maintain education budgets and work towards reopen schools safely in the longer term.</p><p>DFID is adapting its bilateral education programmes in 18 countries. The Global Partnership for Education, to which the UK is the largest donor, is flexing over £200 million to support education sector stability in response to the pandemic. We have also announced further funding to support emergency education in fragile contexts.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 02/06/2020 08:08:42 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1197515

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Commonwealth Veterans' Programme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) veterans, (b) widows of veterans and (c) households have been supported through the Commonwealth Veterans Programme in each of the last two financial years.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
uin	49805
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>The first disbursements to recipients of this programme began in April 2019. In the financial year 2019/2020, 2,490 veterans and 3,229 widows of veterans were supported through the Commonwealth Veterans Programme. Disbursements are currently underway for this financial year (April 2020 to March 2021). To date, 1,815 veterans and 1,960 widows of veterans have received support. We do not track the number of households benefitting from this programme, because support is made on an individual basis.</p> answering member constituency Aldridge-Brownhills answering member printed Wendy Morton question first answered 02/06/2020 08:09:42 answering member 4358 label Biography information for Wendy Morton
tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill