Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration; and whether it plans to encourage other states to endorse that Declaration.

The intention of the Safe Schools Declaration is for countries to support the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military use During Armed Conflict.

While we welcome the spirit of the initiative, we have concerns that the Guidelines do not mirror the exact language and content of International Humanitarian Law. We consider that the full implementation of International Humanitarian Law provides the best protection for civilians in all situations of armed conflict. The UK, along with the US, France, Australia and other countries, were therefore not able to sign the Safe Schools Declaration in Oslo in May 2015.