Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what outcomes were agreed at the third Summit for Democracy held in Seoul on 18 to 20 March.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Participants at the Third Summit for Democracy agreed the importance of harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging digital technologies to uphold democratic values and institutions, noting their potential to open new channels for participation and enhance transparency, openness and accountability. Participants also agreed the importance of strengthening laws and institutions to mitigate risks associated with emerging technologies that could undermine democratic values, including threats such as infringements on privacy and the spread of misinformation and disinformation. Hosts the Republic of Korea, along with key partner governments, confirmed their intention to continue supporting the Platform for Engagement of Civil Society and their work on the Summit process.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many foreign officials have been granted special mission status to visit the UK in each year since 2011; and if he will list the (a) names and (b) country of origin of those officials.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in 2013 by the former Foreign Secretary William Hague, a special mission is a 'temporary mission, representing a state, which is sent by one state to another with the consent of the latter, in order to carry out official engagements on behalf of the sending state'. Since starting to issue special mission status (SMS) certificates in 2013, the FCDO has given consent for 57 special mission status visits to the UK for the following officials and their delegations:
2013 | Israel | · Maj. Gen. (res) Amos Yadlin, Former Chief of Military Intelligence DMI; Deputy Commander of Air Force · Maj. Gen. (res) Doron Almog Senior Adviser on Beduoin Issues (cancelled) · Lt. Gen. Benjamin Gantz, Chief of Defence Staff, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) · Dr. Yuval Steinitz, Minister of International Affairs, Strategy and Intelligence |
2014 | Egypt | · Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Abdul Nasr, Minister of Education (cancelled) · Mr Mounir Faqhry Abdel Noor, Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment · Ambassador Yasser Atef, Deputy Assistant Minister for European Affairs · Dr Sherif Mohamed Ali Hammad, Minister of Scientific Research · Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy, Chief of Staff of Egyptian Armed Forces · Mr Sameh Shoukry, Minister for Foreign Affairs · Dr Mahamoud Aboel Nasr, Minister of Education |
Israel | · Ms Tzipi Livni, Minister for Justice · Ms Tzipi Livni, Minister for Justice | |
Iran | · Mr Ebrahim Rahimpour, Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania | |
2015 | Egypt | · Dr Mahmoud Abdoul Nasr, Minister of Education · Mr Ashraf Salman, Minister of Investment · Mr Ashraf Salman, Minister of Investment · Dr Hany Kadry Demain, Minister of Finance · Prof. Dr SHerif Hammad, Minister of Scientific Research · Sheikh Dr Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, Grand Imam · Mr Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Foreign Minister · Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy, Chief of Defence Staff · Mr Tarek Kabil, Minister of Trade and Industry · Mj. Gen. Mohamed Elkeshky, Assistant to the Minister of Defence for International Relations · Mr Khaled Fawzy, Chief of General Intelligence · Dr Ahmed Emad Eldin Rady, Minister for Health · President Sisi's Advance Delegation · President Sisi's Delegation · Major General Mohammad Farag Elshahat, Head of Military Intelligence |
Israel | · Ms Tzipi Livni, Member of the Israeli Knessett · Delegation of Former Security Officials · Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister · Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Chief of Military Intelligence | |
Qatar | · H.E, Dr. Ali bin Fetais Almarri, Attorney General | |
2016 | Egypt | · Mr Ashraf El Sheihy, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research · Mr Saad Elgyoushi, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research · Mr Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Foreign Minister |
Qatar | · H.E, Dr. Ali bin Fetais Almarri, Attorney General. | |
Israel | · Ms Tzipi Livni, Member of the Israeli Knessett · Maj. Gen. (ret) Amos Yadlin, Director, Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) · Mr Shaul Mofaz, Former CDS and Minister of Defence · Mr Avi Dichter, Member of the Israeli Knessett | |
Rwanda | · Mr James Kararebe, Minister of Defence | |
2017 | Egypt | · Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Ibrahum Mahmoud Hegazy, Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces. · Eng. Sherif Ismail, Prime Minister · Mr Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs |
2018 | Saudi Arabia | · Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia |
2019 | Egypt | · Mr Mahmoud Sharawy, Minister of Local Development · Mr Kamel El-Wazer, Minister of Transport |
2020 | Egypt | · Mr Abdel Fattah Alsisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt · Mr Kamel El-Wazer, Minister of Transport |
Saudi Arabia | · Colonal Turki Al Maliki, Coalition Spokesman and Joint Head of Delegation | |
2021 | Egypt | · Mr Kamel El-Wazer, Minister of Transport |
2022 | Egypt | · Mr Kamel El-Wazer, Minister of Transport · Mr Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs |
Saudi Arabia | · Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. (cancelled) | |
2024 | Israel | · Mr Benny Gantz, Minister of the State of Israel |
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Ugandan counterpart on the (a) arrests and (b) treatment of people campaigning against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Through our High Commission in Kampala, we have previously raised concerns around detentions of climate protesters in Uganda; both I and the High Commission regularly engage with the Ugandan Government on human rights, both bilaterally and with likeminded countries.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 19159 on Overseas Investment: Fossil Fuels, if he will publish a full energy portfolio for British International Investment setting out investments in (a) fossil fuels and (b) renewable energy in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
BII already discloses the percentage of assets in its portfolio that can be considered climate finance and 'carbon-related' (i.e. in the fossil fuel value chain) as part of its annual Task Force on Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reporting in its Annual Accounts (published on BII's website), in line with TCFD recommendations.
The UK's Development White Paper set the ambition for BII to become the most transparent bilateral Development Finance Institution. Subsequently, BII has published a Transparency Roadmap. For its existing portfolio, the Roadmap commits BII to state whether an investment is fossil fuel or renewable energy power generation. This will be available on its public investment database by the end of the year.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department has taken with the United Nations to help tackle (a) drug-resistant tuberculosis and (b) antimicrobial resistance.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The department actively contributed to the High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis held at the UN General Assembly last September, at which Lord Ahmad represented the UK. The UK's current £1billion commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will support treatment for 41,800 people with Multi-Drug Resistant TB.
The UK funds major programmes and research to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and strengthen health, water, sanitation, and hygiene systems. The High-Level Meeting on AMR is an excellent opportunity to catalyse global progress, set high ambitions across the One Health spectrum, and promote equitable access to and stewardship of antimicrobials.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the annual budget for the UK Action Against Corruption programme (a) was in 2023-24 and (b) is for 2024-25.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The annual budget for the UK Action Against Corruption Programme in 2023-2024 was £5,921,089.
The projected budget for 2024-2025 is up to £6,685,000.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Robert Carr Fund in advancing human rights of inadequately served populations.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is proud to be a long-term funder of the Robert Carr Fund (RCF), we consider it to be a very effective mechanism that supports the leadership, priorities and rights of some of the most marginalised people, in order to expand their access to the HIV, SRHR and health services they need.
Robert Carr is the world's leading international fund focused on funding global and regional networks led by, involving, and serving people who face a higher HIV risk than the general population, systematic human rights violations, and barriers to information and HIV and SRH services.
Working with community-led and grassroots organisations is key to achieving the targets in the Global AIDS Strategy. Our investment into the Robert Carr Fund, along with other organisations such as the Global Fund and UNAIDS, is important in helping countries to implement actions and make progress towards targets under the Strategy.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of funding the Robert Carr Fund to support the achievement of the targets in the UNAIDS Global AIDS Strategy 2024-27.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is proud to be a long-term funder of the Robert Carr Fund (RCF), we consider it to be a very effective mechanism that supports the leadership, priorities and rights of some of the most marginalised people, in order to expand their access to the HIV, SRHR and health services they need.
Robert Carr is the world's leading international fund focused on funding global and regional networks led by, involving, and serving people who face a higher HIV risk than the general population, systematic human rights violations, and barriers to information and HIV and SRH services.
Working with community-led and grassroots organisations is key to achieving the targets in the Global AIDS Strategy. Our investment into the Robert Carr Fund, along with other organisations such as the Global Fund and UNAIDS, is important in helping countries to implement actions and make progress towards targets under the Strategy.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Robert Carr Fund in advancing HIV and health outcomes for inadequately served populations.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is proud to be a long-term funder of the Robert Carr Fund (RCF), we consider it to be a very effective mechanism that supports the leadership, priorities and rights of some of the most marginalised people, in order to expand their access to the HIV, SRHR and health services they need.
Robert Carr is the world's leading international fund focused on funding global and regional networks led by, involving, and serving people who face a higher HIV risk than the general population, systematic human rights violations, and barriers to information and HIV and SRH services.
Working with community-led and grassroots organisations is key to achieving the targets in the Global AIDS Strategy. Our investment into the Robert Carr Fund, along with other organisations such as the Global Fund and UNAIDS, is important in helping countries to implement actions and make progress towards targets under the Strategy.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with (a) his Togolese counterpart, (b) the Economic Community of West African States and (c) the African Union on the impact on democratic accountability in Togo of recent constitutional reforms; and what steps he is taking to support monitoring of the forthcoming elections in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government engages with the Government of Togo through our High Commission in Accra. We encourage a peaceful and inclusive dialogue in Togo, to work through constitutional reforms; and we urge the Government to set a new date for legislative and regional elections without delay. The UK will continue to engage partners, including ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), and monitor for further developments.