Developing Countries: Human Rights

(asked on 3rd July 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s support to human rights defenders on the ground; and what plans he has to increase that support.


Answered by
Harriett Baldwin Portrait
Harriett Baldwin
This question was answered on 11th July 2019

DFID works closely with the FCO on safeguarding of Human Rights Defenders. Support on the ground includes lobbying and programming for safe and open spaces for civil society and human rights defenders to operate. Officials monitor programme outcomes and regularly consult with civil society and directly with Human Rights Defenders to improve our response.

DFID’s Governance for Growth, Stability and Inclusive Development paper, published in March, set a refreshed strategic direction for our work on governance, with a renewed focus on protecting democratic space, where this is under threat, and supporting the rule of law and civic freedoms. A new programme, led by a UK human rights organisation, Article 19, will pilot responses to shrinking civic space and pressure on independent media and civil society.

This month, the FCO published a new document, ‘UK support for Human Rights Defenders’, which reflects the importance of human rights defenders and the support the UK provides to them through its network of embassies and high commissions. Human Rights Defenders and civil society organisations were consulted on the document prior to its publication.

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