Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress has been made on improving the lives and health of women and girls in the Global South.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Advancing gender equality and women's and girls' rights are a core part of this Government's mission, including fulfilling every girl's right to 12 years of quality education, empowering women socially, economically, and politically, and ending violence against women and girls. This is also highlighted in the Integrated Review (IR) which was published earlier this year, the joint US-UK Statement following President Biden's visit to the UK and the G7 Leaders Communiqué. We know that women and girls are amongst the hardest hit by the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why we donated an additional £10 million for the United Nations Population Fund's Covid-19 response and an additional £1 million to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women for the COVID-19 Crisis Response Window. The UK takes action to advance SRHR, including access to modern family planning methods in the world's poorest countries. Between April 2015 and March 2020, the UK reached an average of 25.3 million total women and girls with modern methods of family planning per year.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what fiscal steps he is taking to increase access to family planning.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to play a significant role in increasing access to voluntary family planning globally, as part of our efforts to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights. UK aid is supporting UNFPA, the Global Financing Facility, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, MSI Reproductive Choices and other partners, to advance the availability of modern contraception in the world's poorest countries. In 2021/22 UK aid is also supporting the launch of the new global family planning partnership, FP2030, to accelerate country leadership on family planning.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the joint communication issued by nine UN Special Rapporteurs on the recent hostilities in Gaza which found that potential war crimes had been committed in that conflict, what steps he is taking to ensure accountability for violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK is a steadfast supporter of international justice and does not hold back from voicing or raising concern about Israel's actions when warranted. However, Israel has a legitimate right to self-defence, and the right to defend its citizens from attack. In doing so, it is vital that all actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law, and make every effort to avoid civilian casualties. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of reports that Israel has prevented cancer patients from exiting Gaza for treatment since the beginning of recent hostilities; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza on 20 May. The UK priority now is ensuring timely humanitarian access in to and out of Gaza, including for people to leave Gaza for critical health services. We are urging the Government of Israel to ensure this access is maintained. The long-lasting movement restrictions and the serious constraints imposed by the occupation can impact the provision of medical care. The wounded and critically ill should be able to access the urgent medical care they need. The UK Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the importance of access to healthcare with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 1 June.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help prevent the misuse of blasphemy legislation globally.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all, and to promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. We remain deeply concerned by the use of blasphemy laws. These laws generally limit freedom of expression and are only compatible with international human rights law in narrow circumstances. We regularly apply diplomatic pressure to countries that use blasphemy laws. This often involves private lobbying, as it can be the most effective way of resolving a sensitive case or bringing about longer term change.
Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's human rights priorities. Bilaterally, ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and discuss practices and laws that discriminate on the basis of religion or belief. Multilaterally, we work within the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance ('Alliance'), and other international organisations and networks to promote and protect FoRB for all where it is threatened. The Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, underlined the UK's commitment to FoRB for all in a number of international meetings in November 2020, speaking at the Ministerial to Advance FoRB and the Ministers' Forum of the Alliance. On 20 December 2020, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to FoRB by appointing Fiona Bruce MP as his Special Envoy for FoRB. Mrs Bruce represents the UK at meetings of the Alliance, which works to advocate for the rights of individuals being discriminated against or persecuted on the basis of their faith or belief.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
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 effect of the application of blasphemy laws in India on freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression in that country.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The British High Commission in New Delhi maintain a continuous assessment of the human rights situation in India, including the situation for minorities and the right to freedom of expression. India has a proud history of religious tolerance and a vibrant civil society. We look to the Government of India to address the concerns of any people that may be affected by blasphemy legislation. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK was represented at the reported demarche meeting in Tel Aviv on 25 February 2020 on transfer of ballistic missiles.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK did not attend a demarche on 25 February 2020 in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the financial capacity of the Palestinian Ministry of Health to purchase sufficient covid-19 vaccines for its population.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We remain in regular, close contact with the Palestinian Authority to discuss their plans for access to safe COVID-19 vaccines in the OPTs including on their ability to finance the purchase of vaccines.
The UK is committed to rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines as demonstrated by our commitment of up to £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) - the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines. Our commitment to the COVAX AMC will support access to COVID-19 vaccines for up to 92 developing countries, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by contributing to the supply of 1 billion doses in 2021. We are pleased to note that the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) will be among the first to benefit from the COVAX scheme with delivery of a first batch anticipated in mid-February.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he had with his Indian counterpart on the treatment of Punjabi Farmers during his recent visit to India.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign Secretary discussed protests about agricultural reforms with his Indian counterpart during his visit to India in December, whilst making it clear that the handling of protests is an internal matter for the Indian authorities. The right to gather lawfully and demonstrate a point of view is common to all democracies. Governments also have the power to enforce law and order if a protest crosses the line into illegality.