Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2023 to Question 1027 on Military Attachés, if he will publish an updated list of countries without a resident UK Defence Attache.
Answered by James Heappey
The Global Defence Network (GDN) utilises Resident and Non-Resident Defence Attachés (DA), who engage in Defence diplomacy in over three-quarters of the world’s nations. The table below has a list of countries covered on a Non-Residential Accreditations (NRA) basis, where a UK DA is not resident in country, but a DA elsewhere has the responsibility.
Country (NRA) | Location of DA |
Angola | Mozambique - Maputo |
Anguilla (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Antigua & Barbuda | Jamaica - Kingston |
Armenia | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Azerbaijan | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Bahamas | Jamaica - Kingston |
Barbados | Jamaica - Kingston |
Belarus | Ukraine – Kyiv |
Belize | Jamaica - Kingston |
Benin | Accra - Ghana |
Bermuda (British overseas territory) | USA – Washington DC |
Botswana | Harare - Zimbabwe |
British Virgin Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Burkina Faso | Ghana - Accra |
Burundi | Uganda – Kampala |
Cambodia | (In process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi |
Cayman Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica – Kingston |
Chad | Cameroon - Yaoundé |
Cuba | Mexico – Mexico City |
Djibouti | Ethiopia – Addis Ababa |
Dominica | Jamaica - Kingston |
Dominican Republic | Jamaica - Kingston |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | Kampala - Uganda |
Eritrea | Sana’a - Yemen (temporarily relocated to Riyadh) |
Ecuador | Bogota - Colombia |
Grenada | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guinea | Sierra Leone – Freetown |
Guyana | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guatemala | Mexico – Mexico City |
Guinea-Bissau | Senegal - Dakar |
Haiti | Jamaica - Kingston |
Hungary | Croatia - Zagreb |
Iceland | Norway - Oslo |
Ivory Coast | Ghana – Accra |
Khartoum | Egypt - Cairo |
Kosovo | Macedonia - Skopje |
Kyrgyzstan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Laos | (in process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi |
Lesotho | South Africa - Pretoria |
Liberia | Sierra Leone - Freetown |
Luxembourg | Belgium - Brussels |
Malawi | Zimbabwe – Harare |
Mali | Senegal - Dakar |
Malta | Rome - Italy |
Mauritania | Morocco – Rabat |
Monaco | France – Paris |
Mongolia | Japan – Tokyo |
Myanmar | Thailand - Bangkok |
Montserrat (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Namibia | South Africa – Pretoria |
Niger | Cameroon – Yaoundé |
Papua New Guinea | Australia – Canberra |
Paraguay | Argentina – Buenos Aires |
Peru | Colombia - Bogota |
Rwanda | Uganda – Kampala |
Seychelles | Kenya - Nairobi |
St Kitts & Nevis | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Lucia | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Vincent | Jamaica - Kingston |
Slovakia | Czech Rep - Prague |
Slovenia | Austria – Vienna |
South Sudan | Addis Ababa – Ethiopia |
Switzerland | Vienna - Austria |
Syria | Lebanon - Beirut |
Tajikistan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Tanzania | Kenya – Nairobi |
The Gambia | Senegal - Dakar |
Timor-Leste (East Timor) | Indonesia - Jakarta |
Togo | Ghana – Accra |
Tonga | Fiji – Suva |
Trinidad & Tobago | Jamaica - Kingston |
Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan - Tashkent |
Turks & Caicos Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Uruguay | Argentina - Buenos Aires |
Vanuatu | Fiji – Suva |
Venezuela | Bogota - Colombia |
Zambia | Zimbabwe - Harare |
Supported by MOD from in the UK |
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Cape Verdi Islands |
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Congo |
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Gabon |
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Panama |
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Puerto Rica |
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Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the disruption to shipping in the Red Sea on global transfer of (a) fertiliser and (b) energy.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Red Sea is a vital sea lane for international shipping. 12 per cent of international trade, worth over $1 trillion, passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Suez Canal every year. The global economy has therefore been threatened by the Houthi's dangerous and destabilising attacks since 19 November.
Djibouti and Ethiopia, for example, are particularly dependent on importing fertilisers through the Red Sea (75 per cent from Morrocco, and 70 per cent from North Africa, respectively). Supply of fertiliser is time sensitive (because it is needed at specific points in a crop's life) and so delays in delivery may be more impactful on such countries' food security, than the consequences of delays to other goods.
The Department for Transport assesses jet fuel to be the most concerning commodity at risk of this disruption; globally, 30 per cent of seaborne jet fuel, 12 per cent of seaborne oil, and 8 per cent of seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through the Red Sea.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the impact of the disruption to shipping in the Red Sea on food supplies to the developing world.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Houthi's attacks in the Red Sea are putting innocent lives at risk, threatening the global economy and destabilising the region. Risks to food security and price increases are higher in the region, especially in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Lebanon, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
The Government is working closely with shipping operators to mitigate any potential impact on consumers.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the disruption to shipping in the Red Sea on international food security.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Houthi's attacks in the Red Sea are putting innocent lives at risk, threatening the global economy and destabilising the region. Risks to food security and price increases are higher in the region, especially in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Lebanon, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
The Government is working closely with shipping operators to mitigate any potential impact on consumers.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to help secure a peace agreement in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK continues to work with international partners, including The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union and the UN, to bring the warring parties together and secure an end to hostilities. We welcome the mediation efforts of IGAD, including the Extraordinary Assembly of Heads of State & Government on Sudan in Djibouti where regional leaders and international representatives called for an unconditional ceasefire and a one-to-one meeting between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) General Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Hemedti. We also welcome the meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the end of October of a broad group of Sudanese civilian actors and stakeholders. This is as an important step towards the formation of a genuinely inclusive and representative pro-democracy civilian front.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential risk to civilians of a closure of Hudaydah port.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Yemen is almost entirely reliant on imports for food, importing approximately 90 per cent of food staples such as wheat. Hodeidah Port is key to food security in Yemen, as it receives 40 to 50 per cent of the country's food imports, as well as essential food aid.
The disruption to shipping in the Red Sea caused by Houthi attacks, risks driving up costs of supplies of food and humanitarian aid in the region, including to Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Lebanon.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many Chevening scholarships have been awarded to each country for awarded for the 2023-24 academic year.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Chevening operates in over 160 countries and territories. For the 2023-24 academic year, our budget of £57.7 million Official Development Assistance (ODA), £1.6 million non-ODA funding, and additional income of around £13.2 million from tuition fee-waivers and external partners allowed us to offer 1440 awards of which 1383 were from ODA funding and 57 from non-ODA funding. Attached is a table indicating numbers from each eligible country. For countries where we offered fewer than five places we withhold the exact number as this would contravene one of the data protection principles. In this case, Sections 40(2) and 40 (3A)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act apply.
| ODA | Country | Awards made (incl. full/part partner funded awards) |
| ODA | AFGHANISTAN | 22 |
| ODA | ALBANIA | 11 |
| ODA | ALGERIA | 7 |
| ODA | ANGOLA / SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE | 15 |
| ODA | ARGENTINA | 15 |
| ODA | ARMENIA | 5 |
| ODA | AZERBAIJAN | 7 |
| ODA | BANGLADESH | 21 |
| ODA | BELARUS | 7 |
| ODA | BELIZE | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | BHUTAN | 5 |
| ODA | BOLIVIA | 6 |
| ODA | BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA | 6 |
| ODA | BOTSWANA | 5 |
| ODA | BRAZIL | 46 |
| ODA | BURUNDI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | CAMBODIA | 14 |
| ODA | CAMEROON / CHAD / EQUATORIAL GUINEA / GABON | 8 |
| ODA | CHINA | 33 |
| ODA | COLOMBIA | 14 |
| ODA | CONGO, The Democratic Republic Of The/Central African Republic/Republic of Congo | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA | 6 |
| ODA | COTE D'IVOIRE | 7 |
| ODA | CUBA | 8 |
| ODA | DJIBOUTI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/HAITI | 13 |
| ODA | EAST CARIBBEAN ODA (GRENADA, ST LUCIA, DOMINICA, ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA) | 11 |
| ODA | EAST TIMOR | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ECUADOR | 6 |
| ODA | EGYPT | 30 |
| ODA | EL SALVADOR | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ERITREA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | Eswatini | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ETHIOPIA | 13 |
| ODA | GAMBIA | 5 |
| ODA | GEORGIA/South Caucasus | 14 |
| ODA | GHANA / BENIN / TOGO /BURKINA FASO | 16 |
| ODA | GUATEMALA / HONDURAS | 5 |
| ODA | GUINEA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | GUYANA / SURINAME | 5 |
| ODA | INDIA | 38 |
| ODA | INDONESIA | 43 |
| ODA | IRAQ | 18 |
| ODA | JAMAICA | 13 |
| ODA | JORDAN | 8 |
| ODA | KAZAKHSTAN | 9 |
| ODA | KENYA | 33 |
| ODA | KOSOVO | 8 |
| ODA | KYRGYZ REPUBLIC | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | LAOS | 13 |
| ODA | LEBANON | 10 |
| ODA | LESOTHO | 6 |
| ODA | LIBERIA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | LIBYA | 10 |
| ODA | MADAGASCAR/COMOROS | 8 |
| ODA | MALAWI | 6 |
| ODA | MALAYSIA | 41 |
| ODA | MALDIVES | 7 |
| ODA | MALI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | MAURITANIA | 5 |
| ODA | MAURITIUS | 7 |
| ODA | MEXICO | 34 |
| ODA | MOLDOVA | 6 |
| ODA | MONGOLIA | 17 |
| ODA | MONTENEGRO | 7 |
| ODA | MOROCCO | 11 |
| ODA | MOZAMBIQUE | 15 |
| ODA | MYANMAR | 11 |
| ODA | NAMIBIA | 14 |
| ODA | NEPAL | 11 |
| ODA | NIGER | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | NIGERIA | 39 |
| ODA | NORTH MACEDONIA | 6 |
| ODA | OVERSEAS TERRITORIES | 12 |
| ODA | PACIFIC POOL | 32 |
| ODA | PAKISTAN (DOES NOT INCLUDE FELLOWS) | 46 |
| ODA | PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES | 11 |
| ODA | PANAMA | 5 |
| ODA | PARAGUAY | 17 |
| ODA | PERU | 11 |
| ODA | PHILIPPINES | 23 |
| ODA | RWANDA | 8 |
| ODA | SAMOA + COOK ISLANDS | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | SENEGAL / CAPE VERDE /GUINEA-BISSAU | 8 |
| ODA | SERBIA | 7 |
| ODA | SIERRA LEONE | 6 |
| ODA | SOMALIA | 17 |
| ODA | SOUTH AFRICA | 47 |
| ODA | SOUTH SUDAN | 6 |
| ODA | SRI LANKA | 10 |
| ODA | SUDAN | 14 |
| ODA | SYRIA | 15 |
| ODA | TAJIKISTAN | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | TANZANIA | 17 |
| ODA | THAILAND | 24 |
| ODA | TUNISIA | 6 |
| ODA | TURKEY | 20 |
| ODA | TURKMENISTAN | 6 |
| ODA | UGANDA | 21 |
| ODA | UKRAINE | 37 |
| ODA | UZBEKISTAN | 7 |
| ODA | VENEZUELA | 7 |
| ODA | VIETNAM | 23 |
| ODA | YEMEN | 9 |
| ODA | ZAMBIA | 11 |
| ODA | ZIMBABWE | 7 |
| Non-ODA | AUSTRALIA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BAHAMAS | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BARBADOS (+ ST KITTS AND NEVIS) | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BRUNEI | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | CANADA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | CHILE | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | HONG KONG | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | ICELAND | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | ISRAEL | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | JAPAN | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | NEW ZEALAND | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | SEYCHELLES | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | SINGAPORE | 5 |
| Non-ODA | SOUTH KOREA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | TAIWAN | 5 |
| Non-ODA | TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | URUGUAY | 10 |
| 1350 |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many surplus vaccine doses were shared with poorer countries in 2022; and if he will provide a breakdown of that provision by country.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
As of April 2023, we have donated more than 85 million vaccines to over 40 countries in need and offered over 100 million.
The following less-developed countries have requested and received donated doses either bilaterally or via COVAX to date:
- Afghanistan;
- Angola;
- Bangladesh;
- Cambodia;
- Chad;
- the Democratic Republic of Congo;
- Djibouti;
- Ethiopia;
- Laos;
- Malawi;
- Myanmar;
- Nepal;
- Niger;
- Rwanda;
- Senegal;
- Somalia;
- Sudan;
- Tanzania;
- Uganda;
- Yemen; and
- Zambia.
The following countries also requested and received donations:
- Antiqua and Barbuda;
- Armenia;
- Belize;
- Cote D’Ivoire;
- Dominica;
- Egypt;
- Ghana;
- Grenada;
- Guyana;
- Indonesia;
- Jamaica;
- Kenya;
- Mauritius;
- Malaysia;
- Namibia;
- Nigeria;
- Pakistan;
- the Philippines;
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;
- St Lucia;
- Thailand;
- Ukraine; and
- Vietnam.
We are unable to provide a breakdown by year or country as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent trends in population migration in the Horn of Africa, given the famine in that region.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Across East Africa levels of displacement are increasing due to the humanitarian impacts of conflict and climate change. For example, the International Organisation for Migration estimate that, in 2022, 2.8 million people were displaced by drought across Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Armed violence continues to cause significant displacement including of 2.2 million refugees from South Sudan who are currently hosted in the region.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which countries (a) requested covid-19 vaccines from the UK and (b) had this request granted and dispatched to them in 2020.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The following countries requested and received United Kingdom donated doses either bilaterally or via COVAX: Afghanistan, Angola, Antiqua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belize, Cambodia, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Mauritius, Malawi, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Senegal, Somalia, St Lucia, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia.
No COVID-19 vaccinations were dispatched prior to 2021.