Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to establish the role of the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief on a permanent basis.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government is committed to the role of the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB and has had three Special Envoys to date.
The current Special Envoy, Fiona Bruce MP, is a passionate advocate for FoRB, and this year was re-elected to serve a second term as the Chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, a network of 42 countries committed to protecting and promoting FoRB.
Defending FoRB for all is a longstanding priority for the UK Government. We shall continue to stand up for the rights of all individuals, and use our position at the UN Human Rights Council, and on the UN Security Council, to ensure violations and abuses of FoRB are highlighted and addressed.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation five of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation 12 of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to implement recommendation 17 of the Bishop of Truro's independent review of his Department's support for persecuted Christians in the period since the publication of the report entitled Assessment of the implementation of recommendations of Bishop of Truro’s independent review of FCDO support for persecuted Christians of 15 April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation 4 of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.
Asked by: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what further steps his Department has taken to progress the outstanding elements of recommendation six of the Truro Review following the publication of the 3-year Assessment of Implementation of the Truro Review in April 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Bishop's recommendations. We will continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work.
Since the Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure.
We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern. Ministers do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.