Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will adopt a strategic plan to (a) protect and (b) support human rights defenders throughout the world.

​In 2017, officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) collaborated with representatives of civil society organisations to update the FCO's "Guidelines on Working with Human Rights Defenders". These Guidelines were issued to all Ambassadors and High Commissioners in December. They give guidance on how UK diplomats should become well acquainted with civil society representatives, including human rights defenders. Each Ambassador and High Commissioner is able to decide how to apply the Guidelines in the context of the country to which they are accredited. With this decentralised, flexible approach, diplomats overseas are able to make decisions based on local knowledge and conditions. The FCO believes that this is a better approach than a prescriptive, centrally-driven strategy.