Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
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 provide further support and flexible funding to local NGOs in East Africa whose recipients have been affected by drought in that region.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is a major humanitarian donor to countries in East Africa. We will provide at least £156 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa in financial year 2022/2023. to help support communities affected by conflict, drought, flooding and other pressures. We will continue to work with NGOs. In Ethiopia in 2021 the UK provided US$18 million to the UN's Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF). The EHF mechanism supported a range of international and Ethiopian NGOs, disbursing US$23 million to the latter. Similarly, the UK-funded 'Building Resilient Communities in Somalia' programme has supported a number of Somali NGOs alongside international civil society organisations.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 27 May 2021 to Question 6268 on Tigray: Armed Conflict, what the timescale is for deployment of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts to Tigray.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is appalled by reports of atrocities including widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by different armed groups in Tigray. As stated in response to question 6268, we are currently identifying personnel from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts who can deploy to the region to strengthen justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. We do not have a fixed date for deployment yet. COVID-19 restrictions and the conflict environment are practicalities that have to be factored in, but we are working to deploy as soon as possible.
The UK is supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN agencies, specialised NGOs and 9 civil society partners to provide adequate essential services to survivors. We currently contribute to the UNICEF, International Red Crescent and national Ethiopian Red Cross response supporting a total of 545 survivors (542 females and 3 males) with case management services.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance has been allocated to programmes based in the Tigray; and for what purposes that funding has been allocated.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK provided £241 million of bilateral Official Development Assistance in 2020/21. The UK made the decision in November 2020 to pause financial aid payments to the Government of Ethiopia destined for Tigray but we continue to provide support to people in Tigray via UN and NGO partners. £22 million has been allocated to the humanitarian response in Tigray to support those in need.
UK-funded partners such as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and International Committee of the Red Cross are providing food, shelter, water and healthcare in challenging circumstances. The UK is in the process of allocating budgets for programmes this financial year. As we do this, we will continue to review and adapt to the context.
The UK is also supporting civil society partners in Tigray to deliver gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health response, which includes helping rape survivors. Final budgets are under review but we are also planning to support the documentation and investigation of such crimes.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance the UK has allocated for the current financial year to help victims of rape and torture in Tigray.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK provided £241 million of bilateral Official Development Assistance in 2020/21. The UK made the decision in November 2020 to pause financial aid payments to the Government of Ethiopia destined for Tigray but we continue to provide support to people in Tigray via UN and NGO partners. £22 million has been allocated to the humanitarian response in Tigray to support those in need.
UK-funded partners such as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and International Committee of the Red Cross are providing food, shelter, water and healthcare in challenging circumstances. The UK is in the process of allocating budgets for programmes this financial year. As we do this, we will continue to review and adapt to the context.
The UK is also supporting civil society partners in Tigray to deliver gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health response, which includes helping rape survivors. Final budgets are under review but we are also planning to support the documentation and investigation of such crimes.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress has been made of the deployment of the UK Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative team of experts to Tigray.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is appalled by reports of atrocities including widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by different armed groups in Tigray. This is unacceptable. The G7, under the UK Presidency, issued a communique on 5 May which condemned rape and sexual exploitation, and other forms of gender-based violence and called for all parties to cease hostilities immediately, ensure respect for human rights and international law and hold those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, including sexual violence, accountable. The UK will support the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure that their joint investigations into atrocities in Tigray with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission are independent, transparent and impartial and that those responsible for these human rights abuses are held to account.
We are working to promote justice for survivors of sexual violence, to provide support to survivors and children born of conflict related sexual violence and to prevent sexual violence from occurring. British Embassy staff conducted a specific protection mission in Shire in Tigray on 4-7 April. It included the assessment of the current Gender-Based Violence response, specific emergency services provided in camps and the gaps that need to be filled. They interviewed staff and volunteers supporting survivors of sexual violence to identify essential activities required to address the immediate needs of the survivors as well as the accountability needs to ensure well-informed and effective assistance. We are currently identifying personnel from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts who can deploy to the region.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to report any evidence of sexual violence in Tigray to relevant international justice mechanisms.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is appalled by reports of atrocities including widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by different armed groups in Tigray. This is unacceptable. The G7, under the UK Presidency, issued a communique on 5 May which condemned rape and sexual exploitation, and other forms of gender-based violence and called for all parties to cease hostilities immediately, ensure respect for human rights and international law and hold those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, including sexual violence, accountable. The UK will support the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure that their joint investigations into atrocities in Tigray with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission are independent, transparent and impartial and that those responsible for these human rights abuses are held to account.
We are working to promote justice for survivors of sexual violence, to provide support to survivors and children born of conflict related sexual violence and to prevent sexual violence from occurring. British Embassy staff conducted a specific protection mission in Shire in Tigray on 4-7 April. It included the assessment of the current Gender-Based Violence response, specific emergency services provided in camps and the gaps that need to be filled. They interviewed staff and volunteers supporting survivors of sexual violence to identify essential activities required to address the immediate needs of the survivors as well as the accountability needs to ensure well-informed and effective assistance. We are currently identifying personnel from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts who can deploy to the region.