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Written question asked by William Cash (Conservative) on Wednesday, 13 February 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 18 February 2019. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 20 February 2019 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Developing Countries: Maternity Services

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the finding that her Department's global results claim on saving maternal lives was unable to be confirmed on page i, paragraph 1 of the Executive Summary of the Independent Commission for Aid Impacts report of October 2018, Assessing DFID’s results in improving Maternal Health: An impact review, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of that finding.

Answer

We welcome the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s impact review on DFID’s results in improving maternal health. The recommendations will feed into DFID’s strategic planning.

Despite the helpful points that the report highlights, we stand by our estimates for the overall number of maternal lives we saved. We used an internationally respected modelling tool – the Lives Saved Tool. We were forced to make some assumptions, however, and therefore used the tool conservatively, excluding some results from large programmes where we could not be sure of accuracy. This was our best way to account for UK Aid to the taxpayer.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
220759
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Developing countries Development aid Maternity services Maternal mortality
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk