Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen domestic healthcare systems in developing countries and increase the training of professionals to lead them.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK has placed strengthening health systems at the heart of our global health work to achieve Universal Health Coverage, end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths and ensure country systems are prepared for and can respond to health threats, such as COVID-19.
The UK has a wide portfolio of health system investments. This includes support to the multilaterals such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and WHO. We provide strategic bilateral support at country and regional levels, share public health expertise with developing countries, support research and development and use our strong diplomatic networks at a country, regional and global level to support evidence-based health policies. We recognise that having a strong health workforce is an essential building block for an inclusive, resilient health system. Our health systems programmes support health workforce education and training, curriculum development, continuing professional development, qualification development, and national health workforce policy.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect human rights and the right to peaceful protect (a) in India and (b) around the world.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Respect for human rights and democratic freedoms underpin the UK's foreign policy. UK Ministers and officials have regular and frank discussions about the full range of human rights concerns, wherever they occur, and we use our bilateral relationships, our development programmes, and our presence in multilateral institutions to drive progress. In discussions with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ministers and officials raise the most pressing human rights issues of the day. We also set out concerns on a wide range of countries at every session of the Human Rights Council. The UK co-sponsored a resolution on Peaceful Protests at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
We engage with India on a range of human rights matters, including at ministerial level. On his visit to India in December 2020, the Foreign Secretary discussed human rights with the Minister of External Affairs, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle the persecution of religious minorities abroad.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK remains deeply concerned about the severity and scale of violations and abuses of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in many parts of the world. The UK is committed to defending FoRB for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with governments, including at Ministerial level.
In 2019, the Bishop of Truro released a report commissioned by the then FCO with recommendations to improve the lives of people persecuted for their religion, faith or belief. Of the 22 recommendations, we have fully delivered 10, made good progress on a further 8, and we are confident that all 22 will be delivered by the time of the independent review in 2022.
The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon has underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB, including in November 2020 at the Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Ministers' Forum of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister appointed Fiona Bruce, MP for Congleton, as his Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief. Mrs Bruce will work with ministers, officials and others to deliver the Government's goal of seeing everyone, everywhere able to have and practise a faith, belief, or no religious belief, in accordance with their conscience.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans his Department has to repatriate people with non-UK passports that have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
From the outset, our priority for the charter flight programme has been getting British travellers home. But after we launched the charter flight programme, it became clear that there are people with indefinite leave to remain (ILR) who normally reside in the UK, and want to get back, particularly in countries such as India and Pakistan. So where possible, we are working to help vulnerable UK residents with ILR. This is beyond the scope of our standard consular assistance, which is usually just for UK nationals. But these are exceptional times. We are seeking to help vulnerable people with ILR wherever possible, provided that they have lived in the UK within the last year.