Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that children are central to his Department's Ukraine response.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK prioritises protection of the most vulnerable and hard to reach, including children, in its humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Our £15 million contribution to UNICEF's appeal for Ukraine helps provide education to over 850,000 children, and access to essential services. We use regularly multilateral fora to highlight child protection issues in the context of Russia's invasion, and led a joint statement on Ukrainian children in November to mark World Children's Day. On 16 June 2022, we sanctioned Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for her alleged involvement in the forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in the context of his Department's response to Ukraine, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of producing a cross-Departmental child rights strategy to help ensure that children are prioritised in UK's humanitarian response work.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK is committed to the promotion, protection, and realisation of children's rights as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children are a central part of FCDO's work to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, whether through investing in children and ensuring access to education and health care, or through protecting them from violence and advocating for a child-rights approach to tackle child labour.
We work closely with UNICEF to further children's rights, strengthen child protection in emergencies and expand opportunities for children. We have given £20 million pounds to the UNICEF appeal in Ukraine and the region.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
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 ensure that humanitarian support to Ukraine includes targeted child protection and psychosocial support for children.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK has contributed £20 million to UNICEF's appeal for Ukraine and the region. This support has helped UNICEF provide targeted child protection, formal and non-formal education to over 850,000 children, as well as access for Ukrainian children to essential services including health, nutrition, specialist trauma, psychosocial support and Gender Based Violence services. An assessment of UNICEF delivery will be published in the Annual Review of the UK's humanitarian support this year.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
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 include psychosocial support for children in its Ukraine response; and what steps his Department has taken with the Home Office to help ensure that vulnerable children from Ukraine are protected during their journey to the UK.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK has provided humanitarian funding to UNICEF (£20 million), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (£25 million) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (£15 million) to support people and children in need in Ukraine and the surrounding region. Our funding supports provision of psychosocial support, including through Blue Dot safe spaces along major crossing points and transit routes.
FCDO has regular dialogues with Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The government has issued guidance on GOV.UK for children and for parents and legal guardians of children travelling from Ukraine.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-welcome-guide-for-ukrainian-children-under-18
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-parents-or-legal-guardians-children-and-minors-applying-without-parents#safeguarding-and-welfare
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that investment in universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights is prioritised within the upcoming Women and Girls strategy.
Answered by Vicky Ford
A Women and Girls Strategy will build on the May 2022 International Development Strategy, which framed our work on women and girls through the 3Es (Educating girls, Empowering women and girls, and Ending violence against women and girls). It included a strong commitment to drive progress on universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will make it its policy to introduce specific targets for climate finance that support gender equality and women and organisations at the frontlines of the climate crisis.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Since 2011, UK International Climate Finance (ICF) has directly supported 88 million people to cope with the effects of climate change. We have committed to doubling our ICF to £11.6bn between 2021 - 2026 and through this will continue to empower and support women and girls. Through the UK COP Presidency, we are championing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Action Plan which seeks to increase the gender-responsiveness of climate finance.