The UK is committed to improving access to clean water and sanitation. In 2021, UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding for Water Supply and Sanitation was £78 million. In 2022, UK ODA funding for Water Supply and Sanitation was £48 million. Official 2023 figures will be published in Autumn 2024. FCDO data shows 46 active ODA-funded development programmes with water or sanitation components.

The UK has raised the issue of access to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the Israeli authorities. The Foreign Secretary has been clear that Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity. The Prime Minister pressed the urgency of getting significantly more aid into Gaza to alleviate the desperate situation in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 15 February.

To improve the effectiveness of UK Aid programmes that contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 6, the UK Government has shifted our approach from the direct provision of services to supporting partner governments to strengthen systems, a key theme in the recently published International Development White Paper. Our new WASH Systems for Health programme, mobilising in Bangladesh, Nepal, Malawi, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, contributes to this shift. We also use our convening power on the world stage, for example through chairing sessions at UN Water 2023 or via Sanitation and Water for All, to influence broader sector change.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a priority for the UK Government. We recently announced up to £210 million for the Fleming Fund. Improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) to prevent infections, including WASH in health care facilities, is critically important. The UK-funded Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies and trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements. UK bilateral ODA WASH spend totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilaterals spend was £63 million in 2021. In our ODA funding decisions, we seek to achieve multiple benefits, including through our investments in WASH.

The Statistics on International Development publication confirmed that UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on WASH totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilateral spend on WASH was £63 million in 2021. At this stage we are unable to confirm FCDO's future allocations to WASH.

The UK remains committed to supporting access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities. The UK-funded Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies and trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements. We also help rally international attention on antimicrobial resistance through the global taskforce on WASH in Healthcare Facilities, working with World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners. The Statistics on International Development publication confirmed that UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on WASH totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilateral spend on WASH was £63 million in 2021. At this stage we are unable to confirm FCDO's future allocations to overseas aid or WASH specifically. The FCDO works closely with the Treasury on our aid budget.

The UK remains committed to supporting access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities. The UK-funded Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies and trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements. We also help rally international attention on antimicrobial resistance through the global taskforce on WASH in Healthcare Facilities, working with World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners. The Statistics on International Development publication confirmed that UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on WASH totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilateral spend on WASH was £63 million in 2021. At this stage we are unable to confirm FCDO's future allocations to WASH.

The UK remains committed to protecting the lives and dignity of those in need of humanitarian assistance, including refugees, through providing safe and sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Our total Official Development Assistance spending on WASH in 2021 was £78 million through bilateral delivery and an estimated £63 million through multilateral delivery. The latest published and finalised data is available on GOV.UK in Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2021 [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2021]. We will continue to provide life-saving food and emergency health services, shelter, water, and hygiene services to refugee camps and vulnerable host communities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 07 MAR 2023 to Question 154012. [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-06-02/187224]. The Government aims to publish details of UK Aid spending for 2022 in the Statistics on International Development report in November 2023.

The FCDO recognises the importance that clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in healthcare facilities has in preventing the spread of infection and reducing the need for antimicrobials globally.

The UK helped found the WASH In Healthcare Facilities international taskforce, and we push forward this agenda through our programming such as our innovative hand hygiene partnership with Unilever and through our core multilateral funding including to the World Bank and the World Health Organisation. At UN Water 2023 the UK announced £18.5 million of new funding to help strengthen WASH systems, an important step for helping improve WASH services in health care facilities.

The FCDO welcomes the recent 'Prevention First' report on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and antibiotic resistance. We have ensured that action on WASH is included in the UK's action plan for antimicrobial resistance. We do not plan to add a ring-fence specifically for WASH in healthcare facilities but we are taking action. For example, through UK funding to the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition 14,800 health care facilities were supported with critical WASH supplies and services, and 460,000 health workers were trained on hygiene practices. Also, as a founding member of the WASH in Healthcare Facilities international taskforce, the FCDO works with partners to promote better hygiene, infection prevention and reducing the risks of antimicrobial resistance.

The FCDO recognises the importance of ensuring that all healthcare facilities have reliable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. We support this goal through our membership of the WASH In Healthcare Facilities International Taskforce, and we push forward this agenda through our programmes including a hand-hygiene partnership with Unilever. We also support WASH in health facilities in Malawi through the 'Our Health' programme and in Nepal through the Resilient WASH and Emergency Preparedness Programme.

The UK has committed £25 million to the new Pandemic Fund, launched by the World Bank. A priority for the UK is ensuring that the Pandemic Fund helps strengthen health systems in low-income countries - vital as these are for pandemic prevention and response, but also for addressing the health priorities of countries outside of a pandemic. As part of this, the UK recognises and advocates for the critical importance of adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services in health systems. The first round of funding from the Pandemic Fund has yet to issue - the UK will take part in the upcoming Board discussions that will determine the disbursement of this funding.

The UK played a leading role at the UN Water conference, calling for stronger leadership, governance, increased finance for water, and embedding water across all sectors. The UK is working through partners who have submitted transformative initiatives through the Water Action Agenda, including the Fair Water Footprints, The Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) Water Tracker, and Resilient Water Accelerator initiatives. The UK also announced £18.5 million in new support to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene systems. The Water Action Agenda provides a platform to improve alignment and coordination globally on solutions to the water crisis. We are working closely with international partners, including the US and EU Member States, to drive forward coordination and transformation in water security.

The UK played a leading role at the UN Water conference, calling for stronger leadership, governance, increased finance for water, and embedding water across all sectors. As co-chair of the interactive dialogue on water for health, Lord Goldsmith announced £18.5 million in new support to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene systems in up to five countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Lord Goldsmith also announced seed funding for a £38 million water security programme. This includes support to the Fair Water Footprints, The Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) Water Tracker, and Resilient Water Accelerator initiatives. These initiatives are part of the Water Action Agenda.

The UK's £18.5 million of funding of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Systems for Health has the potential, by strengthening systems, needed to establish reliable, resilient and inclusive WASH services, to help end preventable deaths in up to five developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Organisations and partners for the main delivery phase will be selected during the design phase. The financing model is expected to be a grant funding mechanism to partners that can demonstrate capability in supporting countries to strengthen their WASH systems.

We are taking action to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in developing countries through global leadership, strengthening WASH and health systems, improving hygiene and as part of our humanitarian programmes. FCDO work in this area is an integral part of Global Health policy and programming, as laid out in our ending preventable deaths approach paper.

In 2021 the UK spent £78 million of bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) on water and sanitation, this is equivalent to 1.1% of the overall bilateral budget. This excludes our share of multilateral spend, where there is a significant proportion of spend on water, sanitation and hygiene. We do not have an accurate figure for 2022 spend yet

Despite reductions in UK aid spending, FCDO continues to support the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector through bilateral and multilateral channels. To maximise our impact, the nature of our support is changing from direct delivery to helping governments strengthen the core systems used to deliver sustainable, resilient and inclusive WASH services at scale. Stronger systems increase access to WASH in health facilities, promoting better hygiene and reducing the risks of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Additionally, FCDO supports a wide range of activities to control AMR, including drug resistance surveys, surveillance systems, supporting infection prevention and control programmes, funding innovations and promoting good antibiotic stewardship practices.

Improving access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is a FCDO global health priority, forming a core part of the UK's approach to ending the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children. Since 2015, the UK government supported over 60 million people to gain access to clean water and/or sanitation. Our support to Sanitation and Water for All reinforces water sector leadership, accountability and collaboration in over 70 countries. Through engagement in the G7, the G20, UN summits and the WASH in Healthcare Facilities Taskforce we ensure WASH is included in efforts to prevent future pandemics and to reduce anti-microbial resistance.