Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to reports of HSBC allegedly facilitating investment in Xinjiang Tianye Ltd, what plans she has to create a modern slavery risk register to prevent UK financial services investing in companies overseas which are complicit in atrocity crimes.
Answered by Amanda Milling
On 24 March 2021, the Government announced a review of the 2014 Modern Slavery Strategy.
In the meantime, to further enhance transparency, the Government launched an online GOV.UK registry for modern slavery statements. This service enables investors, consumers, Non-Governmental Organisations and others to scrutinise the effectiveness of the actions being taken and monitor progress across sectors over time.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she made representations on ending Ukrainian supply of arms to the Myanmar military in her meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart on 8 December 2021.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a longstanding supporter of an arms embargo on Myanmar. Since the coup, we have intensified efforts to stem the flow of weapons and duel-use goods reaching the military, through the G7, UN and with other close partners. We noted, with concern, the reports of arms sales from Ukraine to Myanmar but are pleased that Ukraine signed up to the UN General Assembly Resolution in July, which commits to preventing the flow of arms to Myanmar. The British Embassy in Kyiv has also engaged directly with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue, and coordinated with partners on lobbying efforts. We continue to urge them to ensure they are delivering on their commitments. The UK is coordinating with partners to further investigate any allegations of arms sales, and engage and apply pressure on those countries who continue to enable the flow of weapons to Myanmar.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) girls and (b) girl-led groups are partners in initiatives on girls’ education supported by the UK.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We used our Presidency of the G7 in May to agree a leader-level Girls' Education Declaration prioritising girls' education in the recovery from the pandemic. The Girls' Education Declaration commits the G7 to work with developing country partners, multilateral institutions, civil society, girl-led groups and youth leaders, to remove the obstacles to education that stand in girls' way and empower girls to lead change, including in peacebuilding and efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The Prime Minister also launched the Girls' Education Action Plan in May which commits the UK, through our Special Envoy, to engaging with youth activists and encouraging their leadership as a powerful catalyst for change.
Our flagship 'Girls' Education Challenge' supports girls to gain the critical skills needed to make the most of their potential. For example, in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe we are working with CAMFED to support over 269,000 girls to get a high quality education and thousands of learner guides, graduates from the programme, to lead initiatives to support girls' education within their communities and join forces with district and national authorities to drive change at a wider scale, ultimately re-setting the context for future generations of girls.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will restore funding for (a) women and girls to access family planning and contraceptive supplies and (b) efforts to end female genital mutilation.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to support and strengthen partner countries' own ability to deliver life-saving maternal, reproductive and child health services, promote and support family planning and address efforts to end female genital mutilation. We continue to fund partnerships such as the Global Financing Facility and FP2030 - the family planning initiative- to work on these issues. Funding levels will be confirmed after departmental planning processes taking place over the coming months.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to allocate increased funding to local women and girl-led organisations that play a leadership role in responding to humanitarian crises.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK knows that Women's Rights Organisations and women-led civil society are critical to achieving lasting transformation in women's and girls' rights. This is recognised in the Integrated Review which specifically commits the UK to promote gender equality by "working with women's rights organisations". The UK continues to promote the rights of women and girls including in humanitarian crises and emergencies, through our commitments made under our G7 Presidency, where we galvanised international action through the G7's first ever Compact on famine prevention and humanitarian crises, committing G7 nations to supporting women and girls in such contexts.
Last week I announced more than £20 million of new funding to help stop violence against women and girls around the world, including a £3 million boost to fund women's rights organisations on the frontline, to tackle this issue through the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, bringing our total contribution to £25 million since 2014. In addition our latest Spending Review showed, we will increase aid funding for our highest priorities, including support for women and girls.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to ensure that gender equality remains a strategic priority for her Department.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Fundamentally, our new foreign and development policy is about freedom, the freedom for men and women alike to live and thrive around the world, empowered by education and enterprise. Throughout this year's UK's G7 Presidency, we have prioritised action on gender equality guided by the 3E's: 'Educating Girls, Empowering Women and Ending Violence against women and girls' which continues to reflect FCDO priorities. Last week I announced how women and girls will be at the centre of our foreign policy priorities, with more than £20 million of new funding to help stop violence against women and girls around the world, exploring options to strengthen the international response to sexual violence in conflict, including exploring a new Convention and plans for an international conference in 2022.
We will be refreshing FCDO's Strategic Vision for Gender Equality in the new year, which will look to 2030 and show how FCDO will continue to prioritise women and girls. In addition, our latest Spending Review showed, we will increase aid funding for our highest priorities, including support for women and girls, focusing on giving more girls a quality education; ending the extremely harmful practice of female genital mutilation and supporting girls' health.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to ensure that aid funding allocated to support women and girls in the developing world will include provision for (a) sexual and reproductive health services, (b) maternal health care and (c) family planning.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is firmly committed to defending comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally - this includes family planning and maternal health, both central to the empowerment of women and girls. SRHR is also central to achieving the UK Government's commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children by 2030 and our ambitious commitments on girls' education. We plan to launch an Ending Preventable Deaths Approach Paper soon. The 2021 Spending Review concluded on 27 October 2021. Our internal business planning process to agree individual budgets across the FCDO will begin shortly and conclude this financial year. Any funding for SRHR will contribute to UK objectives to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide.