Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

On 19th April, the UK called an open briefing on the situation in Sudan at the UN Security Council, where we reiterated our calls for the warring parties to facilitate unimpeded cross-border and crossline humanitarian access. However, the continued lack of humanitarian access across Sudan makes it extremely difficult for humanitarian organisations to provide the necessary levels of assistance. Nearly five million people in Sudan are currently at risk of famine. We are working with the UN, other donors and humanitarian agencies to improve and increase the delivery of aid into and across Sudan. We will continue to urge the warring parties to achieve a ceasefire, protect civilians and increase much-needed humanitarian assistance and access.

The UK Government is aware that the Court of Appeal in Kano has reduced the sentence of Mubarak Bala, from 24 years to five. The UK Government continues to raise Mr Bala's case with the Nigerian authorities. In August 2023, the British High Commissioner handed over a letter from Fiona Bruce MP, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, on Mubarak Bala's case, to the Kano State Governor, and in January 2024, FCDO officials raised the case again with the Deputy Kano State governor. In the UK, officials remain in communication with Humanists UK and received an update on Mr Bala's case from them on 16 May. The right of individuals to express opinions, including expressing their non-belief, is essential to a free and open society. Dialogue on human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief, will remain an important part of the UK's partnership with Nigeria.

The FCDO recognises the importance of organisations like Human Rights Watch and the work that they do. Our High Commissioner in Rwanda has spoken with the individual concerned and, along with other international partners, discussed the incident with the Rwandan government. The Monitoring Committee, agreed as part of the UK-Rwanda Treaty, will have the power to set its own priority areas for monitoring and have unfettered access for the purposes of completing assessments and reports.

The FCDO recognises the importance of organisations like Human Rights Watch and the work that they do. Our High Commissioner in Rwanda has spoken with the individual concerned and, along with other international partners, discussed the incident with the Rwandan government. The Monitoring Committee, agreed as part of the UK-Rwanda Treaty, will have the power to set its own priority areas for monitoring and have unfettered access for the purposes of completing assessments and reports.

UK ministers regularly raise human rights concerns with the Saudi authorities where appropriate. We will continue to raise human rights with the Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels, including via Ministers and the British Embassy in Riyadh.

There are no officials stationed in the British Antarctic Territory. The Territory has no permanent population and is administered by officials in London. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) operates three research stations in the BAT and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) manage the historic base, post office and museum at Port Lockroy.

FCDO is aware of Mr Ghahremani's case. We continue to call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions, including at the UN General Assembly last year. We have sanctioned 94 individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022, including the Prosecutor General and Deputy Prosecutor General who are responsible for Iran's application of the death penalty. We continue to call for the release of all those who are unjustly detained in Iran.

The table below shows (in £ thousands) UK's total bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided for Cuba from 2010-2022 (the latest year for which data has been published). The UK publishes further details of programme funding on DevTracker. The UK also spends ODA in the form of unearmarked contributions to multilateral organisations and there is bilateral spend to programmes which benefit multiple countries or regions. Some of this may benefit Cuba but it is not possible to provide a specific breakdown.

The UK has a long standing policy of engagement with Cuba. Our relationship allows us to collaborate positively in areas of mutual interest and to talk frankly on matters where our views differ.

Source: Statistics for International Development

The UN and humanitarian agencies estimate that 200,000 litres of fuel a day are needed in Gaza.

The UK is doing all it can to reach a long-term solution to this crisis by calling for the immediate release of all hostages, the removal of Hamas' capacity to launch attacks against Israel, Hamas no-longer being in charge of Gaza, the formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza accompanied by an international support package, and a political horizon to a two-state solution.

The Prime Minister has spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu several times, most recently on 30 April. The Foreign Secretary spoke with Foreign Minister Katz on 13 May. He also visited Israel with German Foreign Minister Baerbock on 17 April, met G7 partners in Italy immediately afterwards, and has spoken with leaders and counterparts in the OPTs, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran in recent weeks.

The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously. With regards to this specific incident, UNRWA has said that while it cannot verify the authenticity or the content of this video, it is likely that it is from an UNRWA warehouse in Rafah that was evacuated during the week of 6 May following forced displacement orders from the Israeli authorities. UNRWA has condemned the use of UN facilities by any party to the conflict for military and fighting purposes.

In our engagement with all international partners, we emphasise the importance of refraining from actions that prolong the conflict. To this end, we welcome reported plans to restart talks in Jeddah in the coming weeks, with the involvement of the UAE alongside Egypt and African representation. The UK continues to work with a range of partners to end hostilities, allow safe unhindered humanitarian access, and protect civilians.

We committed over £100 million in 2023-24. This funding was mainly allocated and delivered through partners; for example: £8.25 million to the World Food Programme, £13.75 million to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Pooled Fund, £7.75 million to the Red Cross/Crescent Movement, £12.22 million to UNICEF, £2.75 million to Emergency Health Response, £1.35 million to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, £1.5 million to WHO.

The Antarctic Treaty and its Protocol on Environmental Protection prohibits the commercial exploitation of minerals. The Antarctic Treaty Parties, which includes Russia, reaffirmed their ongoing commitment to this prohibition in a Declaration on Climate Change and the Antarctic, agreed by consensus in June 2023. Russia has a long-standing programme of surveying and mapping the geology of Antarctica, but has repeatedly assured the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting that these activities are for scientific purposes, and of their commitment to sharing data through the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research's Seismic Data Library System. There is no evidence of any drilling or extraction activities. We will continue to monitor that situation and Russia's activities.

Since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, there has been a significant escalation of gender-based violence (GBV) in Sudan. The UK has pivoted our programme delivery to focus on GBV protection and care for rape survivors. We have also integrated consideration of conflict-related sexual violence into the humanitarian system, making use of Women's Centres, mobile clinics and internally displaced persons' gathering points, for community engagement and service provision for GBV care.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) rules state that activities to support routine civil policing functions with the overall goal of promoting economic development and welfare of developing countries are ODA-eligible. Robust processes are in place, including Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance, to ensure ODA spend on civilian policing meets these requirements. The FCDO continually keeps under review its guidance on support for security sector reform. There is no specific plan to issue new guidance on the use of ODA to fund civilian policing tasks.

The UK supports multilateral institutions by providing both core and non-core project funding to help tackle complex governance challenges in developing countries. For example, we provide funding to UN agencies, including UNDP, to promote inclusive, effective and accountable governance. The UK funds the World Bank, IMF and OECD to deliver capacity building on tax and public financial management, including supporting the flagship "Tax Inspectors Without Borders" partnership between the OECD and the UN. Last month the UK announced £2 million new funding to World Bank and IMF Trust funds focused on supporting developing countries build stronger systems to tackle corruption and illicit finance issues. The UK has consistently championed delivering good governance outcomes across the multilateral system, including by playing a leading role to champion and shape SDG 16 that provides the overarching international framework for this.

We trebled our aid commitment in the last financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.

As of 9 May, the UK has participated in 12 airdrops into Gaza, and on 17 April we announced £3 million of additional funding for equipment to support UN and aid agencies to get more aid into Gaza, including trucks, forklifts, generators, fuel stores and lighting towers.

On 6 April, the UK announced a £9.7 million package of military and civilian support to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza, including the deployment of a Navy ship.

In addition, a field hospital, provided by UK Aid funding to UK-Med, is up and running in Gaza and has already treated thousands of patients, and we have funded more than 2,000 tonnes of food aid, which entered Gaza in March for distribution by the World Food Programme (WFP) on the ground.

Updates on the number of aid trucks and type of aid entering Gaza are published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on their publicly available aid dashboard at gazadashboard.unrwa.org. Between 2 November and 2 May 24,390 trucks entered Gaza. It remains challenging to track deliveries by weight and origin.

The UK uses its position as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and penholder on Sudan to take action to bring an end to the conflict and atrocities in the country. There is a UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which the UN renewed in March 2023. There is also a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. In our engagement with international partners, the UK continues to emphasise the importance of refraining from actions that prolong the conflict. On 15 April, a year after the outbreak of conflict in Sudan, the UK imposed new sanctions targeting three businesses linked with the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support forces.

In 2024/2025, UK ODA to Sudan will nearly double to £89 million. This includes funding to UNICEF, providing emergency, life-saving food assistance to support people particularly in hard-to reach areas; and the World Food Programme food commodities including cereals, pulses, oils and salt.

Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk by embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. The UK is aware of reports of Hamas using healthcare facilities and other infrastructure, such as schools, as bases and command nodes.

All parties must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. Care must be taken to limit operations to military targets and to minimise harm to civilians and civilian objects.

To recognise the work that is being done to support resilience building in the most climate-vulnerable countries a fixed proportion of 30 per cent International Climate Finance will be applied to programmes delivering and supporting humanitarian work being done in countries that fall into the bottom 10 per cent in terms of recognised climate vulnerability rankings, including Afghanistan.

We do not believe that seeking warrants will help get hostages out, get aid in, or deliver a sustainable ceasefire. This remains the UK's priority.

As we have also said from the outset, we do not think the ICC has jurisdiction in this case. The UK has not yet recognised Palestine as a state, and Israel is not a State Party to the Rome Statute.

Current humanitarian access into and within Sudan remains highly constrained. Our top humanitarian priority remains securing immediate humanitarian access and operational security guarantees for humanitarian agencies. The UK continues to speak out publicly and vigorously to press the warring parties to facilitate unhindered, crossline & cross-border humanitarian access. On 20 March, the UK highlighted at the Security Council the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) White Note's clear warning that obstruction of humanitarian access by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces is resulting in people in Sudan starving. On 8 March, the UK led the Security Council to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire for Ramadan and for urgent humanitarian access.

In their most recent assessment, dated 18 April 2024, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) recorded 16,650 reported fatalities in Sudan. However, the reported number of people killed in Sudan is a conservative estimate due to the extremely limited access environment and ongoing internet and telecommunication disruptions. We continue to call on both warring parties to de-escalate immediately and abide by their responsibilities under International Humanitarian Law to protect civilians.

The UK policy on settlement expansion is clear: settlements are illegal under international law and only make it harder to progress to achieving peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians. We have called on the Israeli Government to halt seizures of Palestinian lands immediately.

On 3 May, the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions on extremist groups and individuals for inciting and perpetrating settler violence in the West Bank. The measures impose financial restrictions on the entities and individuals, and travel restrictions on the individuals. The UK will not hesitate to take further action if needed, including through further sanctions.

The Foreign Secretary has made our position clear to his Israeli counterparts, including during his visit to the region on 17 April.

The UK continues to pay close attention to developments in Mozambique, including the recent attacks, and is monitoring with partners the impact of these attacks on the civilian population and on the delivery of UK priorities. UK funding is supporting humanitarian assistance for those displaced from Macomia and across the north, alongside longer-term support. In May 2023, the Deputy Foreign Secretary met President Nyusi and discussed UK support for the Government of Mozambique's response to the insurgency, including new programmes on peacebuilding and resilience to violent extremism, increased humanitarian support and military capacity-building. MOD will begin a next round of training of Mozambique's Armed Forces in June, with over 200 members already trained in human rights.

Attacks by extremists on aid convoys en route to Gaza are appalling. Gazans are at risk of famine and in desperate need of supplies. Israel must facilitate immediate, uninterrupted humanitarian access in Gaza, and hold attackers to account. Aid will not make a difference unless it can be properly and safely distributed. Guaranteed deconfliction for aid convoys and other humanitarian work is essential. The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns with Israeli Minister Gantz on 16 May.

We are in contact with the local authorities following the armed attacks in Kinshasa. We advise all British nationals to follow our travel advice. British Nationals in DRC who require urgent help should call the British Embassy Kinshasa on +243 81 556 6200.  Anyone in the UK who may be concerned about relatives or friends should call the FCDO on 020 7008 5000.

The UK believes that the economic reforms agreed to by the Zimbabwean Government as part of the arrears clearance dialogue remain essential for improving Zimbabwe's long term economic trajectory. The UK is therefore engaging constructively on the Zimbabwe arrears clearance dialogue led by African Development Bank President Adesina and former Mozambican President Chissano. I (Deputy Foreign Minister) recently met Zimbabwe Finance Minister Ncube at the World Bank Spring Meetings to discuss the dialogue. I also regularly speak to a range of ministers and experts across Southern Africa on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa, where we continue to provide support following the recent declaration of drought, including through Africa Risk Capacity, a UK-supported African Union-led disaster risk insurance mechanism.

The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Ahmad, met with the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, on 4 April and the Deputy Foreign Secretary spoke with the Commissioner General on 5 March.

They discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the steps UNRWA is taking in response to the Colonna report on UNRWA's mechanisms and processes to ensure neutrality. Ministers explained that the UK will set out its position on future funding to UNRWA following careful consideration of Catherine Colonna's final report, UNRWA's response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation into these allegations.

The UK is concerned by intensification of fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its humanitarian consequences. We continue to urge all parties to deliver on their commitments, agreed through regional peace processes. We welcome the recent mediation efforts facilitated by the Angola-led Luanda peace process and continue to urge all parties to commit to further political dialogue. In March, Lord Benyon travelled to Kinshasa where he met with a range of representatives of the Government of DRC, including President Tshisekedi, to underline our support for the regional mediation efforts. Lord Benyon was also in Angola last month and discussed the conflict in eastern DRC with President Lourenco.

The UK is proud to have led efforts in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) last year to establish the independent and international Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan (FFM). We fully support the FFM's mandate to ensure credible allegations of human rights violations and abuses in Sudan will be investigated impartially. We are concerned about the impact of the ongoing UN liquidity crisis on its work, and accordingly will support an extension to its mandate to ensure it is given the necessary time, resources and access. We will continue to engage States, including African States who are members of the HRC, on the continued need for and importance of the FFM.

We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law to be respected and civilians to be protected.

We have one of the most robust arms export systems in the world, enshrined in law through the Export Control Act, and implemented through our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The Foreign Secretary has reviewed the most recent advice about the situation in Gaza and Israel, and his latest assessment leaves our position on export licences unchanged. We will keep the position under review.

Hamas, along with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), are already sanctioned by the UK in their entirety and are subject to an asset freeze and arms embargo. The UK, working closely with the US and other allies, has imposed several new rounds of coordinated sanctions against Hamas since 7 October, to disrupt the terrorist group's financial networks and cut off their access to funding.

Five entities connected to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been sanctioned under the UK Sudan sanctions regime. We do not speculate on future designations as it would reduce their impact. However, our sanctions policy is continually under review.

The UK is working with a range of partners to end hostilities, allow safe, unhindered humanitarian access and ensure the protection of civilians. Foreign Office Ministers are in regular contact with international partners on Sudan. The Deputy Foreign Secretary discussed Sudan with USAID Administrator Samantha Power on 29 January 2024. Lord Benyon spoke to US and French colleagues at the Paris Humanitarian Conference on 15 April 2024. The UK Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Red Sea also regularly engages with her American and French counterparts.

We are clear that we would not support a major operation in Rafah unless there is a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives. We have not seen that plan so, in these circumstances, we would not support a major operation in Rafah.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annually reports on Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure via the Statistics on International Development publications (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development). We report spend in line with OECD Development and Assistance Committee sector codes and do not readily hold spend on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), which can span across the OECD sector codes.

However, based on FCDO "Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2022", and the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) spend methodology laid out in the Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) led "Donor Delivering for SRHR" (https://donorsdelivering.report/all-editions/) we estimate the amount of UK ODA SRHR funding disbursed was £534 million or 4.68 per cent of the total Government official development assistance in 2021.

Please note these figures are not adjusted for inflation and thus are not directly comparable with the ones from the Donor Delivering for SRHR report.

Neither John Ging nor Matthias Schmale currently work for UNRWA. John Ging left the organisation in 2011 and Matthias Schmale in 2021, We hold regular discussions with UNRWA about their operations in Gaza and across the region. We are not currently aware of any threats made to their senior operations staff.

Aid Transparency remains a high priority for my department. The FCDO has returned to monthly publication of aid programme data and documents, following global best practice. Furthermore, we have delivered our ambitious Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 5 commitments and a new plan for the current year has been co-created with Civil Society. Additionally, ICAI's recent follow-up to their Review into Aid Transparency judges that adequate progress has been made against each of their four recommendations. FCDO also advocates for greater transparency in the aid spending of other donors, recently attending the 2024 International Aid Transparency Initiative's Members' Assembly.

We have not recently engaged with the Turkish Government on the reported granting of citizenship and passports to senior Hamas figures. Turkey granted citizenship to Ismail Haniyey in 2020, and Saleh al-Arouri was killed in January this year.

The FCDO accepted ICAI's recommendation in their 2022 Review into Aid Transparency that our clear and ambitious standards for transparency should be applied to Arm's-Length Bodies. The FCDO publishes information on ODA allocated to its Arm's-Length Bodies and is developing a new automated process to ensure this is done as efficiently as possible, reducing the administrative burden on FCDO teams. Furthermore, following the rollout of this new automated process, the FCDO will work with its ALBs to support improvements in aid publishing practice.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office were informed of the deaths of 15 British nationals killed in the terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023.

We do not have details on how many of the victims were dual nationals.

We strongly condemn the armed attacks perpetrated in Kinshasa on Sunday 19 May and condemn attempts to undermine democracy, peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In response to the attacks, it is important that the rule of law is upheld. We regularly engage with the GoDRC in support of robust democratic processes.