Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 as penholder on Sudan to support the development of options for the deployment of a civilian protection mission for that country in coordination with the (a) African Union, (b) UN and (c) Intergovernmental Authority on Development.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
We have used our position as penholder at the UN Security Council to call meetings to call for a ceasefire, and for all warring parties to protect civilians in Sudan. On 13 June, the UNSC adopted a UK-led resolution 2736 demanding a halt to the Rapid Support Forces' siege of El Fasher and requesting the Secretary-General to provide recommendations on the protection of civilians. The UK is engaging closely with the UN on the development of those recommendations which will be released in October ahead of the next 120-day meeting on Sudan. I met with the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa to discuss pathways to ceasefire negotiations and we will continue to work alongside our international partners, including those in the region such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the AU, to urge the warring parties to engage constructively to secure a ceasefire.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of (a) UNITAD in September 2024 and (b) camps for internally displaced people in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on the safety and security of the Yazidi community in Iraq.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK will work to ensure a smooth closure of UNITAD as its mandate ends on 17 September 2024. We have supported Iraq to develop capacity for Daesh accountability through UNITAD and international efforts to deliver justice will continue.
The UK remains committed to the safety and security of Iraq's Yazidi community. We continue to collaborate with the Iraqi and Kurdish governments, international agencies such as UNHCR, and the broader humanitarian community to resolve displacement-related issues. We want to ensure that any camp closures are supported by relevant UN agencies and that durable solutions ensure the safe reintegration of residents of IDP camps, including Yazidis, to their locations of settlement.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department plans to offer to the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty launched by the G20 Brazilian Presidency.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
At the G20 Development Ministers Meeting in July, I announced the UK would join the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty when it launches in November, offering UK expertise support to the secretariat, to join the Board of Champions, and to galvanise our networks to support the Alliance, including the UK development community, civil society and academia. We so far supported the Alliance's taskforce with expertise, co-financing a technical report on resource mobilisation delivered by the Overseas Development Institute. As we join, the UK will bring to bear our investments and expertise in food security, nutrition, social protection and more.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that overseas development aid to (a) Sudan, (b) Ethiopia and (c) other East African countries reaches (i) local and (ii) national non-governmental (A) youth, (B) women-led and (C) faith-based organisations.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Local and national organisations - including youth, women-led and faith-based organisations - play a vital role in delivering UK-funded development work across East Africa, where the UK plans to invest almost £750 million in ODA in 2024/25. In Sudan, we are providing technical assistance to the UN to develop a strategy for partnering with local organisations and using our seat on the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) advisory board to encourage a greater portion of assistance to be channelled to local, community-led organisations. The recent International Development White Paper is also clear on this priority and commits the UK to publish a strategy on partnering with national relief actors.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how much and what proportion of funding announced at the pledging conferences for (a) Sudan and (b) Ethiopia is new; and how will that funding be released.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
On 15 April Lord Benyon attended the Sudan Humanitarian Pledging Conference in Paris where the UK re-affirmed our funding for Sudan this financial year of £89 million. We are still in the process of allocating funding in Sudan for 2024/25, but part of it includes funding to UNICEF which will provide emergency and life-saving food assistance to support people in hard-to reach areas in Sudan, including nutrition, water and hygiene services for 500,000 children under 5. At the high-level pledging conference for Ethiopia which took place in April, I announced £100 million in UK funding. This support had not been previously announced. This included £30 million to treat acute malnutrition for those in greatest need.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help secure the release of Ms Elizabeth Tsurkov who was kidnapped in Iraq in March 2023.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK is concerned over the kidnapping of Israeli-Russian dual national Elizabeth Tsurkov. The Government of Iraq opened an investigation into her kidnapping last year and we await the findings. Those suspected of criminal responsibility for her kidnapping should be brought to justice in fair trials. However, as Elizabeth Tsurkov is not a British citizen, we are not in a position to offer direct consular assistance.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to paragraph 199 of the Guide to Parliamentary Work, published by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, if he will he make an assessment of the adequacy of his Department’s performance against that paragraph in his Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1578 on Afghanistan; and if he will take steps to improve the adherence of his Department to the principles set out in that Guide.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The FCDO holds data on how much aid we have provided for Afghanistan and our commitment to ensure that at least 50 per cent of those reached with our aid are women and girls. The FCDO does not hold the breakdown of how much UK aid has been allocated specifically to women-led organisations based in Afghanistan. We have not withheld information on funding allocations. The department is confident that the answer provided to PQ 1578 adequately meets the guidelines laid down by the Leader of the Commons in the Guide to Parliamentary Work.
The FCDO attaches great importance to the effective handling of Written Parliamentary Questions (WPQs) and recognises the importance of Parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the oral evidence given by Andrew McCoubrey, Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan of his Department, to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Follow-up to Afghanistan Inquiry on 17 October 2023, Q33, HC 1888 of Session 2022-23, what steps the Government has taken to encourage the World Bank to release further funds from the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund to provide (a) humanitarian assistance following the recent earthquake in Afghanistan and (b) support for Afghan people during winter 2023-23.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The FCDO is committed to supporting Afghanistan's citizens, including helping them respond to the recent earthquake. We provided an additional £1 million to Red Cross and the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund to provide emergency shelter, food and health assistance. The UK has been instrumental in unlocking over $1 billion through the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund and we continue to work with the World Bank to deliver support at scale in health, food security and community resilience in the earthquake affected areas.
In 2023/24, we are providing the World Food Programme with over £30 million to deliver humanitarian assistance, including prepositioning essential winter food supplies in hard-to-reach areas.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the oral evidence given by Andrew McCoubrey, Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan of his Department, to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Follow-up to Afghanistan Inquiry on 17 October 2023, Q33, HC 1888 of Session 2022-23, if he will make a commitment to publishing his Department’s analysis of the implications for UK aid funding decisions for Afghanistan of the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment of Afghanistan, due to be completed by the end of November 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty
As the Development White Paper highlights, the UK Government prioritises humanitarian assistance to people in greatest need. On Monday the UK hosted the Global Food Security Summit, announcing up to £100 million in new humanitarian funding to countries worst hit by food insecurity, including Afghanistan. We continue to monitor the food security situation in Afghanistan, including analysing Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data and other assessments and evidence, and use these to inform portfolio planning. In recognition of the needs in Afghanistan this year, we provided the World Food Programme with over £30 million for emergency food, cash and nutrition assistance.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the implementation of UK sanctions against the Burmese military.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Since the coup in February 2021, we have imposed sanctions on 25 individuals and 29 entities. On 31 October, we announced our sixteenth round of sanctions, targeting those who profit from supplying Myanmar's military with finance and arms. Our sanctions implementation is robust - HM Treasury assesses every instance of reported non-compliance and takes action in all cases where we conclude a breach has occurred. The UK is considering a range of further targets to hold the Myanmar regime to account and will continue to maintain international efforts to ensure sanctions are effective and investigate activities that support circumvention.