Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 14
Eighth Report - Covid-19 in developing countries: secondary impacts
Published 26 Jan 2021
Paragraph 97
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Humanitarian crises monitoring: coronavirus in developing countries: secondary impacts All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We welcome the FCDO’s continued commitment to prioritising girls’ education in UK ODA funding. However, we are concerned that the pandemic will push back progress in this area, with rising poverty levels forcing girls out of school and remote teaching techniques unable to reach key cohorts of girls of school age. To ensure that this commitment leads to high-quality education for girls, the FCDO should base future funding decisions upon data disaggregated by gender and age to assess impact. They should further ensure that their measures are adapted sufficiently to support girls who are hard to reach and at risk of leaving education permanently, including through close work with local NGOs to identify effective, local approaches for educating marginalised girls.
From: International Development Committee, Eighth Report - Covid-19 in developing countries: secondary impacts (HC 1186), paragraph 97, 26 January 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 April 2021.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government agrees on the need for a strategic approach and for efficient aid spending, but states there are "no plans for a separate covid-19 strategy" and "no immediate plans to publish a global health strategy".
- On ODA, it describes the move from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI as a "temporary decision" and says it "will return to the 0.7% target when the fiscal situation allows".
- On debt, the UK "will work with G7 and G20 partners to take a coordinated view on a further extension of the DSSI"; it is "willing to cancel debts where required in order to restore debt sustainability".
- On sexual and reproductive health, it does not ringfence contraception funding, saying ringfencing "could provide unnecessary limitations of choice for women and decrease integration between services".
- On nutrition commitments, the Department is "undertaking an internal review" and "will update as soon as is feasible"; it agrees that cash transfers can help different groups respond to secondary impacts.