Nigeria

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Thursday 17th December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for her work in such war-torn areas. She sees at first hand the devastation that these depredations by Boko Haram cause to individuals. She is right to point out the terrible position that people face when they seek to go back to what has been home.

In the 2015-16 financial year, the UK has already planned an additional £4 million of humanitarian support to north-east Nigeria, including through the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The UK development programmes in the north-east of Nigeria are supporting civil society organisations and NGOs that are working to reduce intra-community conflict, promote community governance and security dialogue, reduce violence against women and girls, and improve access to schooling in an area where 600,000 children are out of school.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)]

My Lords, given the importance in the new aid strategy announced in November by the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for International Development of conflict and development and the link between the two, will the forthcoming bilateral aid review for Nigeria take account, first, of the impact of these troubles in northern Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Cameroon, and secondly the key role that Nigeria plays in ECOWAS not just in economic regeneration and activity in the area but in conflict resolution and conflict prevention?

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

Yes, my Lords. The noble Lord is right to point out Nigeria’s position in ECOWAS and how important it is that it plays a strong role there and appreciates the position it ought to take. The advantage of the Conflict, Security and Stability Fund is that now we can have project funding on a four-year cycle, which makes it more certain.

Building Stability Overseas Strategy

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Thursday 16th July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the Building Stability Overseas Strategy.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Anelay of St Johns) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government currently have no plans for a formal review of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy, but the UK’s role in promoting stability overseas will be considered as part of the development of the national security strategy and the strategic defence and security review.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister for Government Policy, Mr Oliver Letwin, said in a Written Statement in March that the new £1 billion Conflict, Stability and Security Fund would be,

“underpinned notably by the building stability overseas strategy”.—[Official Report, Commons, 12/3/15; col. 19WS.]

The strategy was agreed in 2011, and since then we have had the tragedy in Syria, the development of ISIS and its allies around the world, and the crisis of migration in the Mediterranean and south-east Asia. Given that we now have a new sustainable development goal framework that is likely to include stability and peacebuilding, is the time now right to review the Building Stability Overseas Strategy? Perhaps the sustainable development goals agreed in September would give the Government an opportunity to do that.

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

I agree with the implication behind the noble Lord’s supplementary that Governments have to be responsive to change. He outlines significant events that have taken their toll on life and security. The principles within the Building Stability Overseas Strategy—early warning, rapid response and upstream prevention—remain as valid now as they were then. However, it is right that the Government focus more carefully on how one then delivers the aid in that strategy. That is why we have formed the new Conflict, Stability and Security Fund with £1.033 billion, and the National Security Council will be looking very carefully at how that money is best spent.

Burundi

Debate between Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Thursday 11th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are responding to recent developments in Burundi.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Anelay of St Johns) (Con)]

My Lords, my honourable friend the Minister for Africa has called on all parties to end the violence and respect the principles of the Arusha agreement, urging the Burundian Government to delay the elections to ensure that they are credible and inclusive. A political solution must be found. We are working closely with the African Union, the region and the United Nations to achieve this.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)]

My Lords, the decision of the President of Burundi to seek a third term—against the constitution of the country—and the violence that subsequently took place have pushed more than 90,000 refugees into Tanzania and other neighbouring countries. We know that violence in Burundi can spill over into Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and elsewhere, with grave consequences for the whole region. Will the Government support a strong and unanimous perspective from the international organisations—the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union—which have a role here, and will they push those organisations to be as strong as possible on the constitution and the disarmament of those armed groups linked to the political parties?

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

I agree entirely with the view put forward by the noble Lord. We are galvanising support across all the nations that should have an interest in the stability of east Africa, but more broadly, as the noble Lord said, multilaterally with the United Nations and all like-minded countries.