Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the meeting that took place between Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Ministers and the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 7 September, what plans they have to increase cooperation with Bahrain.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK and Bahrain have a close and longstanding relationship. We benefit from a genuine and open dialogue in which we work together on a wide range of mutually beneficial issues while also raising points of significant difference with one another. The UK provides technical assistance in support of Bahrain's ongoing reform agenda. Any technical assistance we provide is kept under regular review to ensure compliance with our human rights obligations and the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance process.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the counter proliferation programme has been suspended until further notice.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The FCDO suspended in part its Counter Proliferation Programme for FY 20/21 as we reprioritised to tackle the Covid-19 response, and in view of HMG's Overseas Development Assistance prioritisation exercise.
Covid-19 has made it more difficult to carry out international programme work with many Counter Proliferation programmes being deferred to next year.
However, we have made exceptions for critical national security activity for the remainder of FY 20/21 - including support to the IAEA in relation to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran. The Foreign Secretary has since approved remaining programme allocations for this financial year. The Counter Proliferation Arms Control Centre in the new FCDO is now assessing how to deliver a programme to ensure that we meet critical counter proliferation objectives for the remainder of this FY.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to respond to the recommendations of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales report, Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published 22 July.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July and are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We have repeatedly urged China to live up to its international obligations and raised our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council where we delivered a joint statement on behalf of 27 other countries on 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to support independent, impartial and international mechanisms to investigate any violation by the government of China of its obligations and responsibilities under international law.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We have repeatedly urged China to live up to its international obligations and raised our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council where we delivered a joint statement on behalf of 27 other countries on 30 June. We have also repeatedly called for China to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights meaningful access to the region, including on 30 June at the UN Human Rights Council.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Adolescent Girls' Education and Empowerment programme planned by the Department for International Development will still take place.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government remains committed to delivering 12 years of quality education for all girls. Education, particularly girls’ education, will remain a top priority in the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and a priority for the Prime Minister personally. In my role as Special Envoy for Girls’ Education, I am working to accelerate progress towards getting marginalised girls into schools, staying there and staying safe, and benefitting from quality learning. I am working closely with international partners to encourage greater global ambition, coordination, and investment on girls’ education.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa on 9 July (HC Deb, col 1119) and the decision of the Court of Cassation in Bahrain to uphold the death sentences of Mohammed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa, what plans they have (1) to issue a public statement, and (2) to make representations the government of Bahrain, about the use of the death penalty in that country.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are deeply concerned that on 13 July Bahrain's Court of Cassation upheld the death penalty verdicts imposed on Mohammed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister responsible for Human Rights, reiterated our concern in a tweet of 14 July. We have raised both cases at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain. Lord Ahmad also raised the cases with the Bahraini Ambassador to the UK on 14 July. The Government of Bahrain is fully aware that the UK opposes the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in their role as a co-lead of the Action Coalition on gender-based violence to highlight older women’s experiences of gender-based violence; and what plans they have to prioritise collecting data about violence against older women in low- and middle- income countries.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK is committed to working with our Action Coalition co-leads to ensure our joint objectives focus on tackling all forms of violence against women and girls and reaching the most marginalised, including older women.
We recognise that there is a knowledge gap in understanding the different forms, causes, and consequences of violence against older women. To help fill this gap, DFID is investing £6 million to support the UN Women-led flagship programme initiative on gender data – Making Every Woman and Girl Count – and the joint UN Programme on Violence Against Women and Girls data. These programmes are working to improve the production, availability, accessibility and use of quality data and statistics on gender equality and gender-based violence. This includes developing new global methodologies and standards for capturing older women’s experience of violence, including agreeing a minimum set of questions for women over 50 to be added to existing surveys or modules. We will ensure the Action Coalition draws on this learning from Making Every Woman and Girl Count.
DFID’s Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan (March 2019) also sets out our commitment to improve the quality, quantity and availability of inclusive and disaggregated data, including by age, in DFID and across the global system.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the International Federation of Journalists’ draft UN International Convention on the safety and independence of journalists and other media professionals; and what plans they have to support its implementation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government believes that the principal problem concerning the safety and independence of journalists and other media professions relates to the inadequate implementation of existing relevant human rights frameworks and instruments, which if respected themselves provide sufficient protection. We are currently investigating how the Media Freedom Campaign can best add value and reinforce existing mechanisms, including those of the UN and other international organisations.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to attend the World Press Freedom Conference hosted by the Netherlands and UNESCO.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK intends to participate fully in the World Press Freedom Conference in the Hague from 18 - 20 October, though we do not yet know whether COVID-19 restrictions will allow attendance in person, or whether participation will be virtual. The UK Government remains committed to marking this joint celebration of World Press Freedom Day and the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with our Dutch partners on press freedom.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to support humanitarian relief in Yemen.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Last financial year (2019/20), UK aid helped feed over 650,000 Yemenis every month, treated over 70,000 children for malnutrition and provided over 1 million people with improved water supply and basic sanitation.
Minister Cleverly announced the UK’s new pledge of £160 million in humanitarian funding for Yemen in the 2020/21 financial year at the Yemen Pledging Conference on 2 June. This pledge makes us the third largest donor to Yemen in the world this year and takes our total commitment to Yemen to nearly £1 billion since the conflict began.