Syria
International Development
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department plans to provide to the charity Hand in Hands for Syria.
Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)
The UK
has no current plans to provide humanitarian funding to Hand in Hand
for Syria. We are already providing substantial support to international
organisations and humanitarian agencies with the ability to deliver
assistance at the level required to meet the significant needs in Syria
and neighbouring countries. UK funds are providing nearly 24,000
families in Syria with emergency food supplies, as well as delivering
life-saving medical care, shelter and clean water for tens of thousands
of people.
The UN-managed Emergency Response Fund (ERF),
to which the UK has contributed £2 million, will support the work of
humanitarian agencies, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
to meet needs in Syria and the region. We have therefore advised Hand
in Hand for Syria to contact the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to find out whether they are eligible for ERF funds.
