Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
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 British troops deployed on the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali tackle conflict-related sexual violence against women.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence work together to ensure that British troops deployed to the UN's peacekeeping operation in Mali, MINUSMA, receive comprehensive pre-deployment training, including on human rights, preventing sexual exploitation and abuse and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). The UK's long range reconnaissance task group in Mali is a high capability commitment intended to enable MINUSMA to conduct more effective intelligence-led operations across the full range of its mandated tasks, including protection of civilians and prevention of CRSV. UK troops themselves have visited a large number of Malian communities, including some which have not previously interacted with peacekeepers, to deter criminal activity and violence against civilians, to provide a UN presence and to understand local population's concerns.
The UK Government has a strong commitment to ensuring UN peacekeeping is equipped to tackle CRSV. Across all missions, including MINUSMA, and as a member of the UN Security Council, we support specific protection and assistance for women affected by armed conflict, and advocate for civilian and uniformed gender advisers to enable missions to address the needs of victims and survivors of CRSV.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What diplomatic steps he is taking to strengthen UK relations in the Indo-Pacific.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Deeper engagement with the Indo-Pacific is fundamental to the UK’s future economy, security and values.
The Foreign Secretary’s visits to India in December, and to the Republic of Korea and Vietnam in September, advanced collaboration across critical sectors. The UK’s application for ASEAN Dialogue Partner status and planned accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will deepen our political, security and economic relations across the region.
Asked by: Gareth Davies (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help improve the security situation in the Sahel.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is working with partners to address instability. I attended international meetings on the Sahel earlier this month and in Mauritania in February. I stressed the importance of improving governance and respecting human rights.
As part of our efforts, the UK is deploying 250 peacekeeping troops to Mali and has 3 RAF Chinook helicopters deployed to a Counter Terrorism operation. We are also one of largest humanitarian donors to the Sahel. Between 2015 and 2019, the UK provided humanitarian aid to 2.3 million across the region.