Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Malawi on the treatment and work of Martha Chizuma, Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau Director.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK endorses the President of Malawi's commitment to fight corruption in Malawi. We welcome the reversal of the decision to suspend the Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Martha Chizuma, after criminal charges against her were dropped. The UK provides technical assistance to Malawian law enforcement agencies, such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau, to help increase their capacity to pursue cases linked to serious corruption.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many full time equivalent staff his Department has in Eswatini.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The full time equivalent FCDO staff in Eswatini is fewer than 10.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the democracy movement in Eswatini.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government remains disappointed by the lack of progress towards meaningful dialogue in Eswatini to address the restrictions on democratic and civil rights. We are clear that all citizens have the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression and that the Government of Eswatini must exercise restraint and respect the human rights of its people. Through our High Commissioner in Mbabane, representations on this matter have been made directly to King Mswati III, the Prime Minister of Eswatini and others, including senior officers in the police service. The High Commissioner has also engaged with political activists within the Political Parties Assembly (PPA) and the wider Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) to better understand their aspirations and capacities and to encourage constructive pursuit of their political goals. The FCDO will continue to monitor the human rights and security situation in Eswatini and promote dialogue and peaceful resolution of the political and social conflicts within the country.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of potential changes in the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory; and what assessment he has made of the relevance to those policies of the lessons learned from the lease of Hong Kong from China.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and Mauritius have decided to begin negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory/Chagos Archipelago. You will appreciate that we are not able to provide any detail on the content of ongoing discussions, or speculate on the possible outcome of negotiations. However, we will keep Members and Parliament informed at key junctures.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on extending the responsibilities of the Minister for Africa to the whole of Africa.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign Secretary has had no discussions with Cabinet colleagues on this matter.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment has he made of whether the eSwatini elections were free and fair.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The British High Commission in Pretoria deployed an informal election observation team to Eswatini in September. They, along with a number of official international observers, assessed the elections to be broadly free, fair and orderly. However, in line with the African Union's own election monitoring report, we note that the participation of political parties was prohibited and we recommend that Eswatini lift this restriction for future elections, so as to enable a more open and democratic system for its voters.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
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 level of human rights violations in eSwatini.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
In recent years the Eswatini Government has made a number of positive legislative changes, with respect to the human rights of its citizens. These include the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, which was signed into law in July 2018. However, the human rights situation in Eswatini remains troubling and we regularly raise our concerns with the Swazi authorities. The UK was a full participant in the Eswatini’s Universal Periodic Review, which took place in at the Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2016, where a series of recommendations were made. We continue to press for an improvement in the Human Rights situation in Eswatini, including the implementation of these recommendations.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with civil society organisations in the UK on eSwatini.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Officials in the UK last met representatives from Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and Swaziland Human Rights Network UK in May 2018 to discuss human rights and democracy in eSwatini.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress there has been on establishing a High Commission in eSwatini.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We are in the process of appointing a High Commissioner to Eswatini and in sourcing property in Mbabane. We expect to have representation in the country by mid-2019.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on the actions agreed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Further to my answer to PQ 162458, the UK continues to work with the three pillars of the Commonwealth – the Commonwealth Secretariat, its member states, and its people to people networks – to deliver on commitments set out in the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) communique. For example;
Member states have increased cooperation in international organisations. In Geneva, the UK hosted a meeting of Commonwealth Permanent Representatives to discuss multilateral issues in advance of the Human Rights Council. New Zealand has hosted a similar Commonwealth meeting to discuss issues relating to the World Trade Organisation. In New York, it has been agreed that Commonwealth members of the UN Security Council will regularly brief other Commonwealth countries in Security Council business.
The Prime Minister included a passage on the Commonwealth in her speech to the UN General Assembly. She spoke explicitly as Commonwealth Chair-in-Office on behalf of the Heads of Government of 53 Commonwealth countries – over a quarter of the UN membership – to reaffirm their shared shared commitment to work together within a rules based international system to address shared global challenges.
The UK and Ghana convened the inaugural meeting of the Commonwealth-led Digital Finance Champions Group in Accra on 26 September. The initiative will drive the use of secure and inclusive digital finance, especially for vulnerable and underbanked people.
The Commonwealth Standards Network launched in Geneva on 26 September. The network aims to boost trade between Commonwealth member states by increasing the use of existing international standards. The network will allow member states to share knowledge and enable the creation of vital links between our economies.
Following the lead of Commonwealth Heads of Government, 152 countries have now endorsed the joint statement calling on states to leave no girl behind, and provide opportunity for at least 12 years of quality education for all girls and boys.
Following its launch in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, over 1,300 women entrepreneurs have registered with 'SheTrades Commonwealth'. The Programme aims to increase economic growth and job creation by enabling the increased participation of women-owned businesses in international trade.
Guyana has become the first country to partner with the UK funded Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme to develop a Maritime Economy Plan. The Programme aims to support the sustainable growth and development of 17 Commonwealth Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Twenty countries, over a third of the Commonwealth, have now signed up to the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance – the Blue Charter Action Group co-chaired by the UK and Vanuatu to tackle marine plastic pollution. During her visit to Africa in September, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would make up to an additional £5 million available to provide technical assistance to developing countries that join the initiative.
The Prime Minister also announced a Young Leaders Plastic Challenge Badge, working in partnership with UN Environment, Scouts and Girl Guides, to help an estimated 50,000 young people in Kenya and two further African countries to become leaders in raising awareness about the importance of reducing plastic consumption.
In support of the Commonwealth Cyber Declaration, the UK has partnered with the World Bank to deliver national cyber security capacity reviews in 11 member states. With support from Oxford University's Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre and Australia's Oceania Centre, we are now well placed to meet the commitment for every Commonwealth country to voluntarily undertake reviews by CHOGM 2020.