Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of the staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As of 31 December 2020, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) employed 122 apprentices, of whom 49 work for our Trading Fund, FCDO Services. This is 1.4% of the total of FCDO and FCDO Services UK Based (or "UK-registered") staff worldwide, and 1.9% of our staff working in the UK. We expect a further 2 FCDO staff to enrol on an apprenticeship by 31 March 2021.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2020 to Question 31501 on Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences, what steps his Department is taking under the prevention of sexual violence in conflict initiative in addition to the faith and belief leader's declaration of humanity to provide support for women from minority religious communities who are vulnerable to sexual violence in conflict situations.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As stated in my [Minister Adams] answer to PQ 31501, the UK is fully committed to supporting all survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and follows a survivor-centred approach. We recognise that women from minority religious communities can often suffer in situations of conflict because of both their gender and their faith. That is why we ensure that our human rights policy work considers the intersectionality of human rights, and the importance of addressing the specific vulnerabilities experienced by women from religious minority communities. Examples of our work include strengthening access to justice for survivors through training faith and belief groups on how to document and respond to sexual violence within their communities, and providing greater support and access to holistic care for children born of conflict-related sexual violence.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
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 (a) ensure progress on delivering the thematic strand of stigma contained in the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and (b) support faith leaders and faith groups to (i) help and (ii) care for women from minority religious communities that have experienced sexual violence in conflict.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) is part of the UK's Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan (NAP), which includes our strategy for tackling and preventing conflict-related sexual violence. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be developing an additional three-year strategy on PSVI, which remains a top priority for the British Government. Our PSVI objectives will remain to champion wider restorative justice for survivors and hold perpetrators to account; support all survivors and children born of conflict-related sexual violence, and tackle the stigma they face including those from religious minority communities; and prevent sexual violence in conflict.
We are working with international faith and belief leaders to issue a 'Declaration of Humanity' which calls for the end of sexual violence in conflict and to tackle the stigma so often faced by survivors. We will also provide support to faith leaders and faith groups by training them on how to document and respond to conflict-related sexual violence, and will strengthen access to holistic care for all survivors, including for women from minority religious communities who have experienced sexual violence. We will ensure that the three-year strategy is survivor-centred, working closely with the UK's PSVI Survivor Champions throughout its development.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking under the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative to protect women from religious minority communities who are specifically vulnerable to sexual violence.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is fully committed to supporting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and follows a survivor-centred approach. This includes working closely with survivor networks and organisations, including those from religious minority communities, to ensure their perspectives inform PSVI policy and programming. For example, strengthening support for the faith and belief leaders' Declaration of Humanity to tackle stigma faced by survivors and prevent sexual violence in conflict
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many cases in which a UK citizen was a victim of a serious crime in (a) Cambodia and (b) Vietnam did the UK (i) embassy and (i) local consular offices support in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Data regarding consular cases is published monthly on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Consular Data pages of GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-commonwealth-office-consular-data-2019#history