Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with members of the Punjabi diaspora living in the UK who have raised concerns about the ongoing protests in India.
Answered by Nigel Adams
I am conscious of the level of concern from communities in the UK towards the farmers' protests in India. The right to gather lawfully and demonstrate a point of view is common to all democracies. Governments also have the power to enforce law and order if a protest crosses the line into illegality. The Foreign Secretary discussed the protests with External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar on his visit to India in December, while making it clear that this is an internal matter for the Indian authorities.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the £2.9 billion reduction to the Official Development Assistance budget on faith organisations throughout the world.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Faith groups play an essential role in reaching the "bottom billion" around the world, and we continue to engage extensively with them on development issues as part of our relationship with wider civil society. This engagement has included understanding the problems organisations are facing as a result of COVID-19, including financial. Furthermore, Lord Ahmad hosted a "faith in development" roundtable in June which discussed how faith groups are contributing to the response to COVID-19; where those interventions have been most effective, and what the challenges are for faith groups. We continue to assess the impact of potential Official Development Assistance reductions in all areas, and all amended programmes and projects are uploaded on DevTracker in the normal way.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote the empowerment of girls and women around the world.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Promoting gender equality is a key priority of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) work. As I stated in my answer of 10 November to question 110267, the challenges of advancing girls' education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, women's political empowerment and participation, women's economic empowerment, and ending gender-based violence, including conflict related sexual violence, are more acute now, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK Government's commitment to the issue of empowerment for women and girls was reflected by the appointment of Baroness Sugg as the UK Special Envoy for Girls' Education in March 2020. She is committed to promoting every girl's right to attend and stay in school, and to receive 12 years of quality education by 2030, by working to accelerate progress towards getting marginalised girls into schools, staying there and staying safe.
The UK is proud to be a world leader on efforts to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (PSVI). We are co-lead of the new global Generation Equality Action Coalition on gender-based violence (established to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action on Gender Equality). We have increased our efforts to reach girls and women with life-saving sexual and reproductive health services, including with an additional £10m for UN Population Fund's COVID-19 response. And FCDO continues to deliver on its National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security - focusing on elevating and legitimising the work of women peacebuilders. We will continue to engage virtually with our international partners and promote the empowerment of women and girls in multilateral fora including in the UN
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department will take to safeguard the human rights of Christians overseas made vulnerable by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK remains deeply concerned by the severity and scale of violations and abuses of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in many parts of the world. Defending the right to FoRB for all is a priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 on human rights globally, including members of all minority religious and belief communities. We are concerned by the secondary effects of the pandemic, including incidents of hate speech. We are also concerned by the rise in conspiracy theories that certain faiths or beliefs are to blame for the pandemic, and reports that some Christian communities have been denied access to aid and information. The UK will continue to refute these divisive and harmful claims.
The UK has called for states to ensure that any restrictions put in place to protect public health, including the right to FoRB, are necessary, proportionate and time-limited. The Minister of State for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, urged states to take steps to mitigate the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society, including religious and belief minorities, during the UK's closing statement at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council in July.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the UK’s international response to the covid-19 pandemic tackles gender inequality.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK is widely recognised for its leadership on gender equality and women and girls' rights. The challenges of advancing girls' education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, women's political empowerment and participation, women's economic empowerment, and ending gender-based violence, including conflict related sexual violence, are more acute now, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to engage virtually with our international partners and champion gender equality in multilateral fora including in the UN to ensure that this issue is a central element of the COVID-19 recovery. This was reiterated by the Foreign Secretary in his statement at the UN General Assembly on 29 September. He said that our global recovery must be inclusive and support the most vulnerable who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and we must commit to leaving no one behind. That includes standing up for gender equality and in particular every girls' right to 12 years of quality education. Baroness Sugg was appointed by the Prime Minister as the UK Special Envoy for Girls' Education in March 2020 and she works closely with international partners to encourage greater global ambition, coordination, and investment on girls' education.
The UK Government continues to build on our Strategic Vision for Gender Equality alongside our National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security. Also, through our Presidency of COP26, we will be promoting a clean, inclusive and resilient recovery by giving a voice to those most affected by climate change, including women and girls.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representation his Department has to the Indian Government on the detention of Jagtar Singh Johal; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) mental and (b) physical support available to Jagtar Singh Johal during that detention.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We regularly make representations on Mr Johal's case to the Government of India. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth, most recently raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian High Commissioner to the UK and the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, on 23 September and 28 July respectively. We monitor Mr Johal's health and welfare through regular consular visits or, during the Covid-19 pandemic, phone calls, and raise any concerns with local authorities in line with our public guidance set out in Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he plans to make to his Israeli counterpart on access to healthcare for Palestinians in Gaza affected by covid-19.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
I discussed our concerns about the impact of a COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 31 March. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv are also in regular contact with the Israeli authorities and last raised access to healthcare for Palestinians in Gaza with them on 26 May. UN agencies, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government are working together to ensure that essential medical supplies and staff are able to access Gaza. As I made clear during a meeting with Israeli Director General Rotem, Palestinian PM Shattyeh, and international donors on 2 June, we continue to welcome this ongoing cooperation. The UK is providing vital support to help respond to COVID-19 in the OPTs. Our $1 million funding contribution will enable the World Health Organization and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what criteria the Government uses to prioritise the repatriation of constituents stranded overseas.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government is working with the airline industry and host governments across the world to help bring back British travellers to the UK as part of the plan announced by the Foreign Secretary on 30 March - with up to £75 million available for special charter flights from priority countries, focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers.
We will prioritise vulnerable British nationals most at risk from the effects of Coronavirus who normally live in the UK and are trying to return home for these flights, together with their families who normally live with them in the UK. We are giving additional consideration to the local context and the situation of the individual themselves, this can include lock-down processes in country, access to reliable healthcare, possible reduction in access to routine medication, and those at additional risk if they contract the virus for example the elderly or those with pre-existing medical conditions.
In many countries, commercial flights have also continued to operate and have been able to return British nationals to the UK. We are working with host governments to keep flights running and airspace open where possible for this to continue to happen.