Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the level of (a) direct (b) indirect support provided by his Department to UK peace building and conflict resolution services globally in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK Government plays a leading role in financing and supporting peacebuilding and conflict resolution through a broad range of bilateral and multilateral channels. For example, in the last three financial years the UK has contributed £19,055,708 (FY2016/17), £22,547,737 (FY2017/18), and £20,708,625 (FY2018/19) towards the UN's Special Political Missions. In addition to our contributions through the UN, the Government has supported a range of bilateral conflict prevention, stabilisation and peacebuilding initiatives, many funded through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund - total expenditure £242.4m in FY2017/18. The cross-Government Stabilisation Unit and our offices and network of missions overseas also play an important role in delivering UK government support to peacebuilding and conflict resolution activities.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the UN Human Rights Council (a) condemning the detention and torture of female human rights activists in Saudi Arabia and (b) requesting the release of those women.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Government is very concerned about the reports that women's rights activists have been subject to torture during pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia. We consistently and unreservedly condemn torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat this wherever and whenever it occurs. We have raised concerns about these cases at Ministerial level a number of times with the Saudi authorities.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Saudi Arabian authorities to (a) release female human rights defenders detained in since May 2018 and (b) bring to justice those suspected of their torture.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Government is very concerned about the reports that women's rights activists have been subject to torture during pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia. We consistently and unreservedly condemn torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat this wherever and whenever it occurs. We have raised concerns about these cases at Ministerial level a number of times with the Saudi authorities.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to the Answer of 10 July 2018 to Question 160081 on Yemen: UN Security Council, what recent steps his Department is taking to use the UK’s penholder status on Yemen at the UN Security Council to bring a new resolution forward.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK continues to fulfil its role as penholder on Yemen in the UN Security Council by coordinating sessions with the Security Council President that respond to developments in Yemen and the will of the Council as a whole. Both the Foreign Secretary and I have recently visited the Middle East to have constructive discussions with the Saudi-led Coalition on pathways to achieve de-escalation and reduce tensions. The Foreign Secretary was clear that both sides would need to play their part in confidence-building measures. Meanwhile, the UK will continue discussions with partners on how the UN Security Council can support the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths' on the political process and improving the humanitarian situation. This will include discussions on the draft UN Security Council Resolution on Yemen ahead of a Security Council briefing on the issue on 16 November.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of strengthening the consolidated criteria for the sale of arms products by introducing an end use criteria post sale.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK operates one of the most robust export licensing systems in the world. It considers whether the goods might be used in a way which is inconsistent with the Consolidated EU & National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. We also retain powers to revoke licences, once issued, if circumstances or information available to us change. End user certificates are considered as part of the process already.
We believe that our existing system is robust and delivers a high level of assurance. The Government is always looking to see how it can improve its export controls and we are in contact with countries who carry out some limited end use checks to see if there is anything we can learn from their experience.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's strategy on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
Answered by Mark Field
The principles of the 2010 Protection of Civilians Strategy continue to guide our work and we consistently review our cross-Government approach. We aim to address the growing challenges of protecting civilians affected by conflict through political engagement, strengthening accountability, peace support operations, ensuring respect for international humanitarian law in UK military operations, strengthening state and non-state capacity, humanitarian action, and offering refuge to those in need of protection. The continuing evolution of our approach is demonstrated by the UK's endorsement, in April 2018, of the Safe Schools Declaration which supports the protection and continuation of education in armed conflict.
International humanitarian law (IHL) provides a robust legal framework for the protection of all civilians, including children. The UK works closely with states and NGOs to promote compliance with this legal framework. We regularly call on states and non-state actors engaged in armed conflict to respect IHL and act in accordance with their obligations under it.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the protection of children living in conflict.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK is committed to protecting children affected by armed conflict, including ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The UK is an active member of the United Nations Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict (CAAC), which leads the international response on the issue of child soldiers and child protection.
The UK is the largest single financial contributor to the office of the UN Security General's Special Representative (SRSG) for CAAC. The British Government has been funding the Office of the SRSG on CAAC for a number of years, and will contribute £100,000 per year for the next three years (2017/18 – 2019/20). Through DFID, we are the largest bilateral donor to “Education Cannot Wait”, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 to protect access to education for children in conflict zones. DFID’s education programmes have long addressed violence in schools and its Education Policy published in February 2018 (“Get Children Learning”) commits to focus even more on this in future. This includes supporting children’s psychological and social well-being and promoting inclusive education systems which minimise the negative effects of conflict and encourage reconciliation.
In 2018, the UK endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration as well as the guidance set out in both the Paris and Vancouver Principles which aims to ensure that child protection is an operational priority for UN peacekeeping missions. We press for the inclusion of child protection in peacekeeping responses through UN mandate renewals and resolutions. We call on other states to endorse and implement these instruments.
In November 2019, the UK will host an international meeting on preventing sexual violence in conflict. One of the key focuses will be how we can better support children born of sexual violence in conflict, including tackling stigma.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to update the Government's strategy on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
Answered by Mark Field
The principles of the 2010 Protection of Civilians Strategy continue to guide our work and we consistently review our cross-Government approach. We aim to address the growing challenges of protecting civilians affected by conflict through political engagement, strengthening accountability, peace support operations, ensuring respect for international humanitarian law in UK military operations, strengthening state and non-state capacity, humanitarian action, and offering refuge to those in need of protection. The continuing evolution of our approach is demonstrated by the UK's endorsement, in April 2018, of the Safe Schools Declaration which supports the protection and continuation of education in armed conflict.
International humanitarian law (IHL) provides a robust legal framework for the protection of all civilians, including children. The UK works closely with states and NGOs to promote compliance with this legal framework. We regularly call on states and non-state actors engaged in armed conflict to respect IHL and act in accordance with their obligations under it.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 adequacy of his Department's strategy on the protection of civilians in armed conflict on the protection of children in conflict.
Answered by Mark Field
The principles of the 2010 Protection of Civilians Strategy continue to guide our work and we consistently review our cross-Government approach. We aim to address the growing challenges of protecting civilians affected by conflict through political engagement, strengthening accountability, peace support operations, ensuring respect for international humanitarian law in UK military operations, strengthening state and non-state capacity, humanitarian action, and offering refuge to those in need of protection. The continuing evolution of our approach is demonstrated by the UK's endorsement, in April 2018, of the Safe Schools Declaration which supports the protection and continuation of education in armed conflict.
International humanitarian law (IHL) provides a robust legal framework for the protection of all civilians, including children. The UK works closely with states and NGOs to promote compliance with this legal framework. We regularly call on states and non-state actors engaged in armed conflict to respect IHL and act in accordance with their obligations under it.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to publish in full his letter to the Prime Minister on the border in the island of Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Government does not publish internal correspondence. The Prime Minister's latest speech on EU exit, at Mansion House on 2 March 2018, made clear the Government's commitment to no hard border in Ireland and to retaining the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK.