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12 Nov 2009 : Column 825W—continued
Developing Countries: Vaccination
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the UK's contribution to the International Finance Facility for Immunisation was in each of the last five years; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the facility in preventing deaths; and if he will make a statement. [299944]
Mr. Michael Foster: In 2006 the UK committed £1.38 billion over 20 years to the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm). All pledges to IFFIm are legally binding and are used to raise money from selling bonds on the international capital markets. So far the following payments have been made by the UK; 2007-£9,043,200, 2008-£16,848,900, 2009-£25,064,800.
IFFIm will be formally evaluated in 2011. Its funding aims to allow the vaccination of over 500 million people and has the potential to save 10 million lives. Funds raised by IFFIm are used by the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation). Ongoing assessment by GAVI shows that the money provided by IFFIm has helped massively boost immunisation coverage and health service availability in the world's 72 poorest countries. Some of GAVI's achievements to date due to IFFIm funding have been: 194 million children in 32 countries immunised with life saving measles vaccine, the immunisation of more than 100 million children under the age of five against polio, helping poor countries target 26 million women with
immunisation against maternal and neonatal tetanus, and yellow fever immunisation activities in 12 West African countries that will strengthen health systems and support vaccine security and affordability to prevent approximately 687,000 deaths between now and 2050.
East Africa: Education
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of children receiving schooling in (a) Kenya and (b) Mozambique. [299946]
Mr. Thomas: The information is as follows.
(a) The Department for International Development (DFID) spends £11 million annually to support the Government of Kenya's Education Sector Support programme (KESSP) 2005 to 2010. Our funds are used to build classrooms, provide textbooks, train teachers and improve the way schools are managed. This year DFID has also provided an extra £5 million to improve water and sanitation facilities in 2,500 primary schools.
DFID's support in Kenya has contributed to a rise in enrolments in primary school from 7.6 million in 2005 to 8.6 million in 2008 and an increase in the proportion of children going on to secondary school from 56 per cent. to 68 per cent. over the same period. With the net enrolment rate currently at 92.5 per cent. (girls 90.5 per cent.), Kenya is on track to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2 by 2015.
(b) In Mozambique DFID supports the education sector through Mozambique's Poverty Reduction Strategy, in which we invested £44 million in 2009-10, and by direct support to the education sector. DFID has a 10-year funding commitment of £45 million with the Government of Mozambique up to 2016. DFID funding contributed to Mozambique's success in increasing the primary net enrolment rate from 87.1 per cent. in 2006 (84 per cent. for girls) to 99.2 per cent. 2008 (96.2 per cent. for girls). This increased enrolment means that there are 729,000 more children in school now than there were in 2006.
We have also supported both Kenya and Mozambique to receive substantial funding from the global Education For All Fast Track Initiative, managed by the World Bank, to which DFID is a major donor.
Fraud
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is on following established best practice in fraud investigations. [299943]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Fraud investigations are undertaken in accordance with professional standards and guidelines set by the Counter Fraud Professional Accreditation Board and other relevant professional bodies.
HIV Infection: Uganda
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of his Department's programme to reduce HIV/AIDS in Uganda; and if he will make a statement. [299945]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing £13.6 million towards a programme to help Uganda increase access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. An independent review in June of this year found that the programme was strengthening the leadership role of the Uganda AIDS Commission, improving co-ordination amongst United Nations agencies and increasing service coverage by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The independent reviewers concluded that the programme has been highly influential on the Ugandan response to the AIDS epidemic for a modest amount of funding.
The Civil Society Fund component, jointly funded by the United Kingdom, American, Danish and Irish Governments, has so far provided more than 120 grants to NGOs. This has resulted in (a) more than 1 million Ugandans benefiting from individual HIV services, including 46,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs); (b) over 800,000 people being reached with prevention messages, and (c) 66,000 people receiving an HIV test and counselling.
India: Polio
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of his Department's work to tackle polio in India. [299876]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) supports polio eradication in India though the Global Polio Eradication Programme (GPEP), to which the UK is the second largest bilateral contributor (£424 million to date).
In 2009, the World Health Organisation (WHO) carried out an independent evaluation of the GPEP, which found that the programme is well executed, has high coverage of the population and scrupulously implements recommendations from technical experts. In addition, the Expert Advisory Group on Polio convened by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that there is strong epidemiological and operational evidence that India is on track to eradicate the disease.
Intellectual Property
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is on (a) the protection and (b) public availability of the intellectual property arising from programmes funded by his Department. [299939]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: All intellectual property produced by Crown Servants in the discharge of their duties is deemed to be property of the Crown.
For DFID funded programmes, the designation of intellectual property rights can differ according to individual contracts.
Kenya: Overseas Aid
Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what recent discussions he has had on food shortages in northern Kenya; [298798]
(2) what recent steps he has taken to reduce food shortages in northern Kenya. [298795]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has had discussions with international partners on the current food shortages in Kenya and accepts the United Nations (UN) agencies and the Government of Kenya's recent assessment that almost 10 million people will be unable to access sufficient food.
DFID has provided £7.9 million this year to support food relief to the general population through the World Food Programme, and additional relief for acutely malnourished children through international non-governmental agencies. On 2( )October we announced an additional £5 million allocation to help those most in need. We are also pressing the Government of Kenya to do all it can to respond to the needs of its people, and in the longer-term to address the root causes of Kenya's chronic food insecurity.
Malaria
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to improve standards of anti-malaria treatment in developing countries; and if he will make a statement. [299942]
Mr. Michael Foster: DFID's work in health aims to strengthen countries' health systems to deliver decent basic health care, including for malaria prevention, control and effective treatment. We look to the World Health Organisation to take the lead in setting and supporting countries to implement appropriate standards of anti-malaria treatment.
We have committed £1 billion of long-term funding over the period 2008-15 to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to help countries get the malaria treatments they need. In addition we have committed £40 million to the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFm) that will help make highly effective ACT drugs available to poor people and postpone emergence of resistance. In helping displace ineffective monotherapy, the AMFm is an important element in our efforts to improve malaria treatment.
Overseas Aid
Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce (a) childhood diarrhoea and (b) diabetes in developing countries. [298335]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to improving health services in developing countries. 90 per cent. of diarrhoea cases can be prevented by increasing the availability of clean water and improving sanitation and hygiene. DFID has recently made a commitment to spend half of future UK direct support for developing countries on basic services. This includes a commitment to spend £1 billion on water, sanitation and hygiene in Africa over five years (2008-13) to ensure that up to 25 million additional people gain access to safe water and basic sanitation. DFID will also support at least 30 million more people to get access to improved sanitation and hygiene promotion in South Asia by 2011.
DFID also recognises the increasing importance of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and has committed £6 billion over the period 2008-15 to help developing countries strengthen their health systems to respond to all basic health needs. This support is aligned to the priorities identified by partner Governments in developing countries. In addition, at the UN high-level event in New York on 23 September 2009, the United Kingdom led the way in helping to secure a landmark £3.2 billion deal for more financing to improve health services across the developing world.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of his Department's funding to assist poorer countries investigate the effects of global warming has been spent in each year since its introduction. [299654]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) supports poorer countries to investigate the effects of climate change both directly through a portfolio of centrally managed research programmes and indirectly through our country programmes. Research is carried out by external agencies in both the UK and developing countries. Though it is difficult to disaggregate the amount spent in poorer countries, total previous and anticipated spending on this research is outlined in the table. DFID also provides substantial levels of funding through country programmes although we are unable to disaggregate the amount utilised specifically for this purpose.
| Previous and anticipated spend | |
| Financial year | £ million |
In our recent White Paper DFID has committed to invest £100 million in climate change research between 2008 and 2013. This will include bringing southern and northern institutions together to establish a Climate Change Knowledge Network (CCKN) to deliver policy advice and knowledge to over 60 developing countries.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department has a policy on the prevention of nepotism in respect of the use of overseas development aid. [300085]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department's policy on conflicts of interest is set out in its standing procedures and reflects the terms of the civil service management code.
Overseas Aid: Poverty
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the number of people taken out of poverty by UK foreign aid in each of the last five years. [299937]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development estimates that from 2007-08 it has helped to lift at least 3 million people permanently out of poverty every year.
Prior to 2007-08 we did not produce this estimate.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much and what percentage of all UK foreign aid was used for (a) poverty reduction and (b) other projects in each of the last five years. [299941]
Mr. Michael Foster: The 2002 International Development Act makes reducing poverty the core purpose of all UK aid.
Palm Oil: Sustainable Development
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) whether his Department was represented at the most recent Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil meeting; and if he will make a statement; [298526]
(2) when he last discussed the use of sustainable palm oil with (a) Ministerial colleagues, (b) representatives of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, (c) representatives of the palm oil industry, (d) representatives of environmental non-governmental organisations and (e) officials of other Government departments; and if he will make a statement. [298554]
Mr. Thomas: The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil annual meeting (2-4 November) was attended by a Government official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) posted to the South East Asia region. FCO officials work closely with counterparts in the UK to represent wider Government interests and to keep policy makers informed of relevant developments abroad.
In the last month, Ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Energy and Climate Change have met with UK based businesses who are members of the RSPO and with international NGOs on forestry and palm oil. Engagement with these groups and other Governments will continue as the UK Government work to support sustainable production and consumption of palm oil.
Sudan: Humanitarian Aid
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much humanitarian aid his Department has provided for Darfur in each of the last five years. [299969]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not systematically disaggregate humanitarian aid by region within Sudan. Most of DFID's humanitarian funding is channelled through the UN's Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) or appeal funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). These funding channels combine DFID's money with other donors', and allocate resources to where they are needed most throughout the year. In order to allow flexibility to respond quickly where the needs are greatest, we do not earmark our contributions for specific regions.
DFID's humanitarian funding in Sudan is some £50 million in 2009, including £36 million through the Common Humanitarian Fund, £6 million to ICRC and the remainder delivered directly through NGOs.
Information on the Department for International Development's funding to Sudan is available in the publication Statistics on International Development 2007-08. This is available in the Library of the House and online at:
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