Speeches

Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to encourage donors to increase access to accredited quality education for Syrian refugee children in host countries in the region.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID supports education for children inside Syria and the wider region through the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLGI). NLGIis an initiative that aims to prevent a whole generation being lost to the Syria conflict. To date, the UK’s total allocation for NLGI across the region is £115 million. As of August 2015, UK support has has provided over 250,000 children with education and over 673,000 children with psychosocial support. This includes accredited formal and non-formal education. The UK is also working with host governments to ensure non-formal education is gradually accredited by host country governments.

The UK will continue to lead international efforts to support the education of Syrian refugees. We are working with host governments in the region, key education partners such as UNICEF and other donors, to develop and finance ambitious targets on education. The London ‘Supporting Syria and the Region Conference’ in February 2016 will be an opportunity to push ahead with this.