Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they marked the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June; and what plans they have to promote the introduction of international controls on weapons and equipment that could be used for torture, including at this year’s UN General Assembly.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to preventing torture and tackling impunity for those who torture others. It is essential for safeguarding our security and integral to a fair legal system and the rule of law.
At the UN General Assembly, we will continue to work with allies to encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations. As a member of the Global Alliance on Torture Free Trade, the UK supports the initiative to stop the trade of goods used for capital punishment and torture. Goods are subject to export restrictions if they can be used for torture, capital punishment, or cruel and inhuman treatment. Export licence applications are considered against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The Government will not grant a licence for items where we determine there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate internal repression.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce in-donor refugee costs charged to the Overseas Development Assistance budget.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Home Secretary is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog and reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review (SR) period to ensure more of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget is spent on our development priorities overseas. The aid spent in the UK on refugee and asylum costs fell by a third last year and the Home Office is working to bring it down further.
In addition to this, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) budgets will no longer be exposed to the volatility of GNI fluctuations or ODA spending by other departments, including changes in asylum costs, providing greater predictability in our budgets.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support upcoming replenishment cycles for the Global Fund, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and other multilateral initiatives.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
We remain committed to supporting key global health institutions, including the Global Fund and Gavi, recognising their central role in the multilateral health architecture. The UK announced our new investment in Gavi at the High-Level Summit on 25 June. Following the spending review, we are working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used, including the decision regarding the UK's pledge to the Global Funds 8th replenishment, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase humanitarian funding for food assistance programmes in the light of the increase in the number of people facing catastrophic hunger.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK is deeply concerned by rising levels of acute food insecurity and catastrophic hunger. We are a key government donor to the World Food Programme (WFP); in 2024 we contributed over $600 million to WFP initiatives, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Sudan, South Sudan and Haiti.
We are also driving international action to scale-up Pre-Arranged Finance, making sure finance reaches the most vulnerable and hardest hit ahead of, or quickly after, a disaster strikes. This includes supporting vulnerable countries and humanitarian agencies to respond to harvest failures caused by drought. We recently supported anticipatory drought insurance for WFP in Syria, which paid out $7.7 million for emergency assistance.
However, simply responding to crises is not a long-term solution, and we are working with partners to improve early warning systems, to act ahead of shocks and invest in strengthening countries' resilience to food crises in the longer-term.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that child-related official development assistance spending is not disproportionately impacted by cuts to the official development assistance budget.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they carried out any child rights impact assessments prior to applying restrictions on the official development assistance budget; and, if so, whether they intend to publish them.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mitigate the impact on the most vulnerable children globally of the cuts to the official development assistance budget.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Minister for Latin America held during her recent visits to Chile regarding their policies on promoting gender equality, progress on LGBT+ rights and their priorities in formulating policies on sexual and reproductive rights.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
During my visit to Chile in January, I launched a report on digital rights of indigenous women alongside Chile's Deputy Minister for Women, Luz Vidal. The UK is firmly committed to promoting gender equality and fostering inclusive growth worldwide.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Minister for Africa held during his recent meeting with the Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives on gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights and sexual and reproductive rights.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to championing the human rights of women, girls, LGBT+ people, and those belonging to other marginalised groups. In my meeting with the Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives on 22 January, I raised a variety of issues relating to the UK-Nigeria bilateral relationship, including the importance of championing human rights, inclusive economic growth and supporting women's participation in politics. Through programmes and advocacy, the UK government is supporting women and girls affected by conflict in North-East Nigeria; helping girls access education; supporting women's economic empowerment; tackling gender-based violence; and improving access to health services.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Minister for Africa held during his recent visit to Botswana regarding their policies on promoting gender equality, progress on LGBT+ rights and their priorities in formulating policies on sexual and reproductive rights.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I met with a wide range of civil society groups on my visit to Botswana in January, including Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals of Botswana, Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, and Feminist Alliance Botswana. Discussions included the challenges that LGBT+ groups and women face living in Botswana, as well as the political space they have to promote further equality. We also discussed the challenges of gender-based violence and women's representation in politics. I set out UK thinking on these issues, and where we feel we can support Botswana's policy goals to address them.