Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take to increase the involvement of British embassies in humanitarian work as part of the merger if the Department for International Development with his Department.
Answered by James Duddridge
Merging the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID) will bring together the best of what we do in development and diplomacy. As the world becomes ever more complex, we need single cross-government strategies implemented on the ground by the Ambassador or High Commissioner heading all of HMG's work in-country. There is already very close co-ordination between the DFID's provision of life-saving humanitarian aid and the FCO's work to enable humanitarian responses politically and support humanitarian processes, and we expect this to continue and improve in the new structure.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve the quantity and quality of evidence collected to secure prosecutions related to sexual violence in conflict.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK remains at the forefront of global efforts to tackle conflict-related sexual violence through our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). The UK launched the draft Murad Code on documenting conflict-related sexual violence to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, on 19 June. Developed together with Nobel Peace Laureate and campaigner against sexual violence, Nadia Murad, this code of conduct will respect survivors' rights and ensure investigation of sexual violence crimes is safer, more ethical, and more effective. By adhering to the Code, governments, international organisations, civil society, and other actors will uphold international standards, which in turn will strengthen the collection of evidence in order to secure prospections.
The Murad Code is part of the UK's commitment to strengthening justice for all survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, also demonstrated by UK-funded efforts of TRIAL International to improve access to legal support for survivors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the work of UNITAD in gathering evidence of Daesh crimes in Iraq.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to raise the matter of gender-based violence at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Unfortunately, in light of Covid-19, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda 2020 has been postponed. The Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon looks forward to attending the next CHOGM when it takes place in Kigali. Gender equality remains as important as ever in these times given the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on women and girls. We are working hard to ensure that they are at the forefront of our response. The UK is proud to be a world leader on efforts to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we are committed to eliminating it in all its forms.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to raise the matter of gender-based violence at the next meeting of the UN Security Council.
Answered by Nigel Adams
COVID-19 has reinforced the urgency to tackle pervasive and endemic gender-based violence. The UN Security Council will be an important platform to demonstrate the UK's continued leadership on Violence against Women and Girls and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict as part of our broader ambitions on gender equality. This includes the upcoming UN Security Council Open video-conference on Women, Peace and Security on 17 July, which will focus on conflict-related sexual violence.
The UK has led efforts to strengthen language on conflict-related sexual violence through UN Security Council Peacekeeping Mandates and Resolutions. In April 2019, we advocated and voted for UN Security Council Resolution 2467 on sexual violence in conflict. This specified the importance of a survivor-centric approach in response to conflict-related sexual violence, highlighted the need to support children born of sexual violence, promoted specific language on sexual violence in sanction regimes, and also referenced the Mukwege Foundation/Nadia Initiative Global Survivors Fund.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing sanctions against those committing human rights abuses in Hong Kong through the Government's proposed global human rights sanctions regime.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have announced our intention to establish a UK autonomous Global Human Rights ('Magnitsky-style') sanctions regime. The regulations will come into force once secondary legislation is laid in Parliament in the coming months.
The purpose of a global human rights sanctions regime will be to promote compliance with international human rights law and respect for human rights and in particular, to provide accountability for and deter serious violations or abuses of human rights. It would not be appropriate to speculate on who may be designated under the sanctions regime; to do so could reduce the impact of designations under the regime.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
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 the recently appointed Prime Minister of Iraq on support for Yazidi people in Iraq.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We welcome the appointment of Mustafa al-Kadhimi as Prime Minister of Iraq. The UK is committed to supporting the new Government to address the significant economic, security, health and human rights challenges facing Iraq. As part of this we will urge the protection of minorities, including the Yezidi people, in our engagements with the new Government and emphasise the importance of reconstruction and reconciliation in those areas liberated from Daesh.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2020 to Question 39744, on Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences, whether his Department’s forthcoming strategy will include specific measures to support male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is fully committed to supporting all survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. As stated in my [Minister Adams] answer to PQ 39744, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's forthcoming three-year strategy on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) will be a priority for the UK Government. We are committed to ensuring that this strategy is survivor-centred throughout, and will work closely with the UK's PSVI Survivor Champion Kolbassia Haoussou to ensure that the needs of all survivors and children born of conflict-related sexual violence, including men and boys, remain at the centre of PSVI policy and programming.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterparts on the Chinese Government’s use of so-called exit bans.
Answered by Nigel Adams
FCO Travel Advice highlights the possibility of travel bans being imposed on those suspected of committing a crime. If an individual is subject to a travel ban, the level of assistance the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can provide is set out in our publically available guidance 'Support for British nationals abroad'. This includes raising individual cases with the Chinese authorities.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions officials of his Department have had with the UN Department of Peace Operations on increasing the proportion of female UN peacekeepers.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK strongly supports efforts to increase the proportion of female uniformed peacekeepers, as directed by the UN Department of Peace Operations' Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy. Through negotiations on mandates in the Security Council and in other fora, such as this year's Special Committee on UN Peacekeeping Operations, we ensure the UN works to increase the numbers of women peacekeepers in its missions. In the last financial year the UK provided £1m from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund for the Elsie Initiative to help troop-contributing countries overcome practical barriers preventing further deployment of uniformed female peacekeepers to operations. UK officials also raise this regularly with the UN Secretariat. More broadly, the UK is a leader among UN Member States championing Women, Peace and Security issues in peacekeeping, and encourages all troop contributors to fulfil their commitments made under the UN Secretary-General's Action for Peacekeeping initiative.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the January 2020 report of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, what steps he is taking to support a longer-term funding cycle for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative projects.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Funding for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) projects comes from a variety of sources. FCO-funded programmes within PSVI moved to a two-year programming cycle between 2018/19 and 2019/20 to allow for more strategic programming, although individual projects were contracted for one financial year to ensure effective learning and deliver value for money. Conflict Stability and Security Fund PSVI projects on the FCO baseline already operated multi-annually. The FCO will consider future funding cycles for FCO funded programmes as part of its preparation for the Spending Review, when that resumes.