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Iraq, Ebola, Humanitarian Responses, Medecins Sans frontieres, DFID

Ebola crisis and aid in Iraq one-off evidence session

11 November 2014

Image of UK Parliament portcullis

The International Development Committee hold a one-off evidence session on the Ebola crisis and aid in Iraq on Tuesday 11 November.

Witnesses

Tuesday 11 November, Wilson Room, Portcullis House

At 9.45am:

  • Andre Heller-Perache, Head of UK Programmes, Médecins Sans Frontières UK
  • Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, Doctor, Médecins Sans Frontières Sierra Leone Ebola project
  • John Edmunds, Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

At 10.30 am:

  • Rt Hon Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for International Development
  • George Turkington, Director Ebola Crisis, DFID
  • Lindy Cameron, Director, Middle East Humanitarian and Conflict, DFID

Purpose of the Session

The first panel covers the UK response to the recent Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The Committee will question representatives from Medecins Sans Frontieres – including a doctor recently returned from Sierra Leone - and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine on the current situation on the ground.

The Committee will then question Secretary of State for International Development Rt Hon Justine Greening MP on the UK response to the Ebola crisis, and healthcare issues more widely.

DfID has allocated £230 million for the Ebola crisis, and recently announced a commitment to spend £5m on strengthening and supporting health systems in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Committee will question the Minister on the response, as well as:

  • What has been done to support NHS professionals volunteering and sharing their expertise abroad?
  • Why was the response by DFID’s multilateral partners – notably the World Health Organisation – and other national donors slow to get off the ground?
  • What is DFID’s strategy for post-epidemic reconstruction in Sierra Leone?

The Committee will then take evidence from the Minister on DFID’s humanitarian response in Iraq. Questions are likely to cover the coordination of aid, the use of air drops, and what more could have been done from a development perspective during the British occupation of parts of Iraq to try to tackle the emergence of insurgency and terrorism.

Further information