Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to incorporate objectives on working with human rights defenders into (1) all "open societies", and (2) Human Rights Directorate, plans and strategies.

The FCDO puts human rights and their defenders at the heart of its work. We regularly assess how the UK can enhance our ability to assist human rights defenders to carry out their work safely and without fear, including in the context of the increased risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2019 we published a report titled 'UK Support for Human Rights Defenders', which publicly underlined the UK's commitment to protecting them. In the recent Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, we said that one of our priority actions would be to defend universal human rights, including by working with local civil society and human rights defenders. As part of a wider review of departmental strategy, we are considering a range of options for how we should advance the human rights agenda globally, including our support for human rights defenders.