Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they spend on iodine fortification programmes via international aid.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) does not directly fund traditional iodine fortification programmes but currently supports a range of nutritionally impactful interventions, including home fortification and supplementation containing iodine. Through our support to initiatives like the Child Nutrition Fund, a platform that aims to transform how nutrition is financed and delivered, the fund intends to contribute to reaching 320 million children and women annually with essential nutrition services by 2030. FCDO is also a long-standing and significant funder of CGIAR, which drives progress on biofortified crops. With UK support, 300 million people were estimated as consuming CGIAR-supported biofortified foods by 2024.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many ministers have been responsible for the Government contribution to the BBC World Service since July 2024; and when the current minister with that responsibility was appointed.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
A range of Ministers have answered questions and held meetings on the BBC World Service since July 2024 depending where, and at what level, those issues have been raised. The Minister for Multilateral and Human Rights is the current Minister responsible.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since 4 July to monitor the actions that the government of China has taken against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
This Government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.
We continue to monitor the situation closely. For example, the Government conducts independent visits to areas of major concern wherever possible, and supports NGOs in exposing and reacting to human rights violations.
We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang at the UN General Assembly on 22 October.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what response they have received to requests for consular access to Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HMG Ministers and officials at the British Embassy in Cairo continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian government at the highest levels. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 7 October. The Prime Minister raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August and I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Ambassador on 11 September.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Egypt regarding Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HMG Ministers and officials at the British Embassy in Cairo continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian government at the highest levels. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 7 October. The Prime Minister raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August and I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Ambassador on 11 September.