Anas Sarwar, Glasgow Central, Labour, poverty and vulnerability in urban areas.

Developing Countries: Urban Areas
International Development

Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department assesses poverty and vulnerability in urban areas.

Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)

DFID draws on a range of information sources, including national poverty surveys and consultations with poor people, to assess poverty and vulnerability in urban areas.

The Department is working with others to improve the tools to measure and understand urban poverty. For example in Vietnam we are supporting a special poverty survey for urban areas. In Bangladesh, DFID supports the Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Programme, which has developed a new way of measuring and monitoring urban poverty that includes people living in slums and informal settlements, who were previously excluded from the official statistics.

Anas Sarwar, Glasgow, Central, Labour, refugees in urban areas

Developing Countries: Urban Areas
International Development

Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the vulnerabilities of refugees in urban areas.

Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)

DFID recognises that, in developing countries, refugees in urban areas often face a wide range of risks which include threat of arrest and detention, exploitation, inadequate shelter, human trafficking, prohibition on movement and residence and lack of documentation. This is why DFID is providing support to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to deliver protection and assistance programmes in urban areas. DFID has also funded research, through the Norwegian Refugee Council, to identify the most effective approach for assisting urban refugees, on which humanitarian organisations can draw to improve their programmes of support.

Anas Sarwar, Glasgow, Central, Labour, Developing Countries: Urban Areas International Development

Developing Countries: Urban Areas

International Development

Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of her Department's expertise in urbanisation and urban development.

Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)

DFID has built up internal expertise in urbanisation and urban development over the past decade. DFID has experience from India and other settings in urban development, experience which can be leveraged as we develop our urban programming going forward.

DFID's expertise on urban issues resides in a number of technical advisory groups, especially in infrastructure, climate and environment, livelihoods, private sector development, economics, governance, social development and humanitarian. An internal network of 60 DFID specialists working on urban issues was created in early 2012 to promote improved understanding of the challenges of urbanisation by drawing on the existing knowledge and expertise and to share experience across DFID's country programmes. Themes of current interest include poverty, health, migration, enterprise development, climate change adaptation and disaster resilience.


I was wondering why MP's had taken to addressing MP Alan Ducan as She or Her?

Here is Mr Duncan's response.

Dear Mr Brookes

Thank you for your e-mail.

The reason the question is written this way is that all questions tabled for oral answer are addressed to the Secretary of State and then subsequently allocated to the relevant minister. Mr Sarwar’s question is therefore formally addressed to Justine Greening as Secretary of State, even though it was ultimately answered by me.

Regards

Alan Duncan

So if you notice any future question and answers with what appears to be in correctly sexed that is the reason.