Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North and Kimberley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help support Gambia following recent flooding in that country.
Answered by Vicky Ford
[Minister Ford] express my condolences for the civilians who have lost their lives or been displaced following recent floods in The Gambia. The UK is a major financial contributor to the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team, which provides emergency assistance for sudden on-set emergencies, and is the third largest donor to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, which most recently allocated $1 million to provide humanitarian assistance to The Gambia. The UK is working closely with UNDAC and like-minded partners to support the Government of The Gambia's humanitarian response to the crisis.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North and Kimberley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the human rights situation in Cameroon.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The human rights situation in the north-west and south-west of Cameroon is concerning. Recent incidents have caused tragic civilian casualties on 1 June and a hospital being burnt on 8 June. Violations are likely being committed by all sides. We welcome the government investigation into the incident on 1 June and have called on all parties to protect civilians.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North and Kimberley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in other countries on progress towards universal access to (a) water, (b) sanitation and (c) hygiene in healthcare facilities.
Answered by Amanda Milling
Improving access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services, including in healthcare facilities, is a global health priority for the FCDO. It forms a core part of the UK's new Ending Preventable Deaths of mothers, babies and children strategy published in December 2021, and is critical to our wider global health objectives.
The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development office continues to engage with international partners, including through the G7, G20 and the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) forum, to ensure WASH is included in efforts to prevent the spread of infections including COVID-19, to prevent future pandemics, and to reduce the threat of anti-microbial resistance. We will also continue to pursue these objectives through our membership of the "WASH In Healthcare Facilities" international taskforce, through our bilateral programming such as our innovative hand hygiene partnership with Unilever, and through our core multilateral funding including to the World Bank and the World Health Organisation.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North and Kimberley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to close the global covid-19 vaccine gap; and what steps she is taking to help ensure access to covid-19 vaccines in Tanzania.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is committed to help bring the acute phase of the pandemic to an end and strongly supports the COVAX Facility as a key multilateral mechanism to deliver this. The UK is one of the largest donors to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million, and will donate 100 million vaccine doses by mid-2022. This support has helped COVAX deliver over 1 billion vaccines worldwide so far. There are many factors to increasing global COVID-19 vaccination coverage, including not only supply but health system capacity and community demand. UK and COVAX partners are working with countries to help health systems deliver vaccines. This includes engaging with communities and leaders to build trust, provide correct information, and encourage uptake.
To date, Tanzania has received around 8 million doses of vaccines from both bilateral donations and from the COVAX facility to which the UK is one of the largest contributors. Around 2 million people have been vaccinated so far. The UK government has supported Tanzania's efforts to increase vaccine uptake by providing technical assistance to the government, including to enable it to address myths and misconceptions about COVID 19 vaccines. We will continue to consider bilateral donations to developing countries as doses become available.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North and Kimberley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which non-governmental organisations and individuals were formally consulted by the Government as part of preparations for the Summit for Democracy 2021.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK Government hosted four formal engagement sessions with civil society in the run up to the first, virtual Summit on 9-10 December, with support from BOND (www.bond.org.uk), the UK network for organisations working in international development and the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition. The first session was led by Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for South and Central Asia, UN and the Commonwealth, and Paul Williams, Director for Open Societies and Human Rights at FCDO. In a conversation with over 20 Civil Society Organisation (CSO) representatives, they outlined the UK's anticipated approach to the Summit, including participating at the Summit and related side events. This initial session was then followed up with three, more detailed discussions - each attended by 20 or more CSO representatives - on the Summit's main themes: Fighting Corruption; Defending Against Authoritarianism; and Advancing Human Rights.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North and Kimberley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of encouraging deliberative democracy to strengthen citizens engagement with UK democracy; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK Government welcomed the opportunity to participate in the first virtual Summit for Democracy in December, with the main topics being: Fighting Corruption; Defending Against Authoritarianism, and Advancing Human Rights. Throughout the Year of Action, we will work with the US and other Summit participants to advance the goals of the Summit and the UK's own commitments. Alongside other Summit participants, we will discuss the agenda for the second, in-person Summit as it develops throughout the year.
The Government takes a keen interest in initiatives to facilitate discussion and interest in constitutional issues and the UK's constitutional arrangements, including citizens' assemblies, as part of our commitment to supporting space for the expression of a wide range of citizens' views.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North and Kimberley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Ministers participated in the Summit for Democracy 2021 and what contribution did they make.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK Government welcomes the US-led Summit for Democracy and the "Year of Action" that follows. The UK's engagement included the Prime Minister setting out the key themes of the UK offer in a pre-recorded message aired at the Summit. The Foreign Secretary also joined the opening session for President Biden's remarks on 9 December, while Minister of State for South and Central Asia, UN and the Commonwealth Lord Ahmad attended a side event on disability-inclusive democracy in the run-up to the Summit. Other UK ministerial engagement included Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries joining a side event on tech and democracy, as well DCMS Minister Chris Philp speaking at a session on defending democracies against disinformation.