Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing for investigations of any alleged war crimes currently taking place; and whether they will increase the resources available to support those investigations.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
International criminal justice and accountability is a fundamental element of our foreign policy. The UK supports the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its role as the primary international institution with the mandate to investigate and prosecute war crimes and other international crimes of the most serious concern.
On 14 July 2022, I represented the UK at the Ukraine Accountability conference in The Hague. I met with ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and stressed the UK's continued commitment to ensuring that our assistance in the investigation of atrocity crimes and support to victims, is effective. The UK has also joined with the United States and the European Union to launch the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), which is supporting the Office of the Prosecutor General to investigate and prosecute conflict-related crimes. The UK will commit £2.5 million to delivering justice for war crimes in Ukraine, through the ACA's vital work.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what budget they allocate to (1) the support they are providing to Ukraine in response to investigating alleged Russian war crimes committed in that country, and (2) investigating alleged Rwandan war criminals living in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Russia's use of indiscriminate force against innocent civilians in Ukraine amounts to war crimes. Those must be investigated and those responsible must be held to account. The UK led efforts to refer the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is for the ICC Prosecutor to independently determine who should be prosecuted for war crimes committed in Ukraine. The UK will provide the necessary support to the ICC, including through £1 million in funding and technical assistance. In addition to supporting the ICC investigation, the Attorney General led a scoping mission to the region in May, to assess how UK Government Departments can assist Ukraine's domestic investigation into war crimes.
Regarding alleged Rwandan war criminals in the UK, an ongoing Metropolitan Police Service investigation into five alleged Rwandan genocidaires remains a priority for the Police, Home Office and wider UK Government.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurances they have received from the government of the United States that the permitted airport Homeland Security checks are random and not based on racial and other profiling.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
US airport security checks are a matter for the US authorities. The US Department for Homeland Security has established mechanisms for anyone to submit a complaint if they feel they have been subject to discriminatory checks at US airports. Further details are on their website at: https://www.dhs.gov/file-civil-rights-complaint.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the recent cuts to Overseas Development Assistance on research and preparedness for future pandemics; and how many grants for research into pandemics and global health have been affected by these cuts.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have prioritised our aid to be more strategic and remain a force for good across the world. Following a thorough review, the FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against a challenging financial climate of COVID. FCDO will now work through what this means for individual research programmes, in line with the priorities we have identified.
We will focus our research on the core priorities for poverty reduction, including COVID recovery, pandemic preparedness and other international health priorities. Overall, we have committed up to £1.3 billion of aid spending to counter the health, socio-economic and humanitarian impacts of the pandemic. Scientific and technological innovation runs through every one of the seven priority themes for our ODA spend. UK expertise in science, research and development has led to one of the first effective and affordable COVID-19 vaccines. We will remain a world-leading aid donor and across Her Majesty's Government we will spend more than £10 billion this year to address poverty, climate change and global health threats - including ensuring that developing countries have access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect that UK production of vaccines will be sufficient to send doses to developing countries, beyond those doses already arranged through the COVAX framework.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government recognises that the fight against COVID-19 is a global effort requiring international collaboration, but our first priority is to protect the British public.
We are committed to rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, and have committed to sharing the majority of any excess doses from the UK supply with COVAX. As the multilateral mechanism set up to support international cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines, COVAX is best placed in allocating any surplus vaccines, and the UK has already committed £548 million to COVAX.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 3 July (HL16512), how many UK-funded programmes and projects to support actions agreed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 have been evaluated with those evaluations published; and what is the timeline for the evaluation of remaining programmes.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All UK-funded programmes and projects to support actions agreed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2018 are subject to regular reviews. The majority of such programmes and projects are subject to the standard Annual Review processes of either the Department for International Development (DfID) or the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), which look at the effectiveness and value for money of each programme, and consider how teams have assessed risk and changing contexts. Summaries of the annual reviews are published on the CSSF page on gov.uk, while DfID reviews are published on DfID's Development Tracker, again accessed through gov.uk. DfID annual reviews are published throughout the year, depending on the date of the review. CSSF annual reviews are carried out in the first quarter of the financial year and summaries of the reviews are published later in the year.
A small number of programmes and projects are not funded by DFID or the CSSF, but they also undergo regular reporting throughout their implementation and on completion, including published annual reviews and/or internal annual progress reports.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress made in reforming the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At CHOGM 2015, Heads of Government mandated the Secretary-General to convene a high-level group (HLG) to review the full governance arrangements of the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that its governance is streamlined and integrated in order to improve oversight, efficiency and transparency. This mandate was reiterated by Heads at CHOGM 2018, who asked Foreign Ministers to make decisions in response to the HLG's findings. Reform and strengthening of the Commonwealth Secretariat is a priority for our period as Commonwealth Chair-in-Office. We have worked with member states and the Commonwealth Secretariat to support the fulfilment of the mandate set by Heads.
An HLG, convened by the Secretar- General, first met shortly before CHOGM 2018. Since then, the HLG has submitted two reports. The first - covering roles and responsibilities, funding, and arrangements for the appointment of Secretaries-General - was submitted in early September 2018, and discussed by Foreign Ministers when they met in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York. At that meeting, Foreign Ministers instructed the Commonwealth Secretariat Board of Governors (of which the UK Commonwealth Envoy is a member) to agree recommendations in the light of that report by 30 November 2018. The Board fulfilled that instruction, unanimously agreeing a set of recommendations through a thorough, transparent and inclusive process. At the end of December 2019, the HLG produced a second report, focused on the Secretariat's collaboration with accredited Commonwealth organisations and other partners. Through a further thorough, transparent and inclusive process the Board of Governors unanimously agreed a set of recommendations in response to that second HLG report.
The Foreign Secretary, as current Chair of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, has recommended that they adopt the recommendations. A few of them have some outstanding questions. We hope that those can be resolved, and the recommendations adopted, soon. Once implemented, they will make a significant difference to the effective governance and operation of the Commonwealth Secretariat and its collaboration with member states and Commonwealth organisations.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries the UK Commonwealth Envoy has visited since the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since taking up the role in June 2018, the UK Commonwealth Envoy has visited the following Commonwealth countries: Rwanda, Kenya, India, Barbados, Saint Lucia, South Africa and the Seychelles. The Commonwealth Envoy has called on all Commonwealth High Commissioners in London, and is in regular contact with them (including at frequent meetings of the Commonwealth Secretariat Board of Governors and Executive Committee).
Outside of the Commonwealth he has travelled to New York: for a Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting, a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting and other Commonwealth-related meetings; Dubai, for Commonwealth meetings at the Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and to consolidate Commonwealth members' support for the re-election of the British Deputy Secretary General of the ITU; and to Addis Ababa, for a UN conference on implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (for which the UK is supporting several Commonwealth countries), and to discuss Commonwealth-African Union collaboration.
He has also visited: Brussels, to meet the Ambassador of a Commonwealth government which is not represented in London; and Geneva, for a Commonwealth Health Ministers' Meeting, discussions with the International Trade Centre (which is implementing the UK-funded She Trades Commonwealth Project) and the ITU (re the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation), a discussion with Commonwealth member representatives about increasing collaboration, and to visit the Commonwealth Small States Office, to which the UK has provided specific financial support.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which programmes they are funding to support the actions agreed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 broken down by (1) the budgeted amount, (2) the current level of actual expenditure, and (3) the expected timeline for disbursing that funding.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Leaders agreed a range of actions to deliver a future that is fairer, more prosperous, more sustainable, and more secure. The Government has allocated approximately £526.7 million to programmes and projects to support delivery of these ambitious commitments. As of 31 March, £187.1 million had been disbursed. The remaining funds are expected to be disbursed over varying timeframes with completion dates ranging from March 2020 to March 2025.
A list of UK-funded programmes and projects has been placed in the Library of the House. Furthermore, the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) on 15 May to provide an update on delivery of CHOGM commitments. This report can be accessed via the FAC's website.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what mechanisms will be used to evaluate the UK funding used to support the actions agreed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All UK-funded programmes and projects to support actions agreed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2018 are subject to thorough monitoring and evaluation. The majority of such programmes and projects are subject to the standard monitoring and evaluation processes of either the Department for International Development (DFID) or the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. Annual Reviews of those projects are published online on gov.uk and DFID's Development Tracker.
Mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of other UK-funded programmes and projects to support actions agreed at CHOGM 2018 vary, but common elements include annual reviews, site visits, log frame reporting, and regular progress meetings.