Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent injuries and deaths among children caused by explosive weapons in conflict.

Protecting civilians is at the heart of defence’s approach to human security where we work through multiple channels to promote human security and - within this - the protection of civilians.

The UK is the co-chair of the International Contact Group on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response and regularly delivers training on human security to other nations; is a signatory of the Political Declaration on strengthening the protection of civilians from the humanitarian consequences arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA); has endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration which outlines a set of commitments to strengthen the protection of education from attack and restrict use of schools and universities for military purposes, and; is a state party to Protocol V of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons which requires states to focus on prevention and clearance of unexploded ordinance.