Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UN Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism on controlling and monitoring the supply, distribution and use of building materials in the Gaza Strip.

The UK is working closely with international partners to support the work of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM). The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not carried out a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the GRM, which only began functioning in November 2014. However, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process informed our Consul General in Jerusalem on 30 January that the GRM is working, and the UK is continuing to encourage the full implementation of the mechanism.