Annex A: Letter from Harriet Baldwin MP, Minister of State for Africa, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to Stephen Twigg MP, Chair, International Development Committee
3 June 2019
Dear Stephen
I welcomed the inquiry by the International Development Committee (IDC) into forced displacement in Africa and was grateful to receive your report ‘Anchors not Walls’. I appreciate the Committee’s commitment to this important issue, particularly your visit to Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya to gather evidence. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your report, which was due to key officials being deployed on the emergency response to Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa. Thank you for your understanding in extending the deadline.
DFID is firmly committed to addressing forced displacement in Africa, including through the Global Compact on Refugees and the increased involvement of the World Bank on this agenda. We are working with the UN Secretary General to establish a High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement and we will continue to support the Kampala convention and call for its respect. Many of your recommendations are fully aligned with the UK Humanitarian Reform Policy, including to promote the localisation of aid, cash-based responses, multi-year financing, innovation, and the Humanitarian-Development Nexus. We acknowledge the importance of addressing the root causes of forced displacements and of finding durable solutions for uprooted populations. We are fully in agreement with the need to prioritise the protection of the most vulnerable including children, to fund education, and to support women who are not only the first victims of forced displacement but also the first responders. We have a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption, to sexual exploitation and abuse, and to sexual harassment of any kind.
Please find enclosed the Government’s response to your report, with detailed explanations for each recommendation. We have consulted with other relevant government departments including the Home Office and FCO to ensure a joined-up approach. In summary, we agree with your findings and accept the great majority of recommendations in the report.
I thank you again for your continued engagement into these important issues and look forward to hearing from you should you wish to discuss further.
Harriet Baldwin
Published: 27 June 2019