Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which minister or ministers represented the UK at the EU Indo–Pacific Forum on 12 May; and which bilateral meetings were held by the UK representative with EU and Indo–Pacific ministers who attended the Forum.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I [Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations], represented the UK at the EU Indo-Pacific Forum in Stockholm on 13 May. I had substantive dialogue with many EU and Indo-Pacific Ministers during the meeting, as well as bilaterals with Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marsudi, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Rabbani Khar, Bangladesh's Minister of Information, Mahmud and Sweden's Foreign Minister Billström. Discussions at the Forum were useful and demonstrated strong collective commitment to promoting peace and security, stability and shared prosperity across the region. The UK will continue engaging with our EU and Indo-Pacific partners in multiple formats to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is provided by UK Development Aid to the role of local churches in South Sudan and faith-based organisations in peacebuilding, resilience building and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Faith-based actors play a crucial role, particularly in the areas of peacebuilding, health and education, across South Sudan. The Ecumenical visit in February 2023 demonstrates how the Churches can help to support peace building at a local and national level in South Sudan. The UK engages regularly with South Sudanese civil society, including faith-based organisations, through humanitarian and diplomatic fora. The UK-funded Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund (POF) has supported communities to reach local peace agreements, ensuring women's participation, and integrating gendered provisions including the return and reintegration of abducted women and children. The UK is chair of the Humanitarian Donor Group in South Sudan and is an important voice in coordinating donor response to the crisis. This includes through diplomatic action that aims to ensure the protection of civilians and improving the operating environment so humanitarian organisations can access difficult areas and reach those most in need.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the outcome of the meeting on 19 April between the Minister for Development and Africa, and the Africa Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, with regard to reducing the recent increase in attacks on aid workers delivering humanitarian aid to those in need in South Sudan.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK unequivocally condemns all attacks on humanitarian workers who must be able to carry out their vital work safely. The UK is chair of the Humanitarian Donor Group in South Sudan and is an important voice in coordinating donor response to the crisis. This includes through diplomatic action that aims to ensure the protection of civilians and improving the operating environment so humanitarians can access difficult areas and reach those most in need. The UK called on the Government of South Sudan to remove all constraints on humanitarian access at the UN Security Council on 6 March 2023. We also called for the Government of South Sudan to act urgently to address the ongoing theft of humanitarian resources.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial contribution they made in (1) 2021 and (2) 2022, to the bodies which oversee the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan: namely the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and the Ceasefire & Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring & Verification Mechanism; and what is their planned contribution for 2023.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Poor implementation of South Sudan's peace agreement to date is driving violence and the humanitarian crisis. It is vital that the South Sudanese government deliver progress according to timelines set out in their Roadmap. The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) and the Ceasefire & Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring & Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) play an important part in monitoring the peace agreement. The FCDO funds in-kind support through the placement of technical experts in both CTSAMVM and RJMEC. In Financial Year 2021-2022, this amounted to £1.2 million in-kind support and in Financial Year 2022-2023 support totalled £407,261. For Financial Year 2023-2024, the FCDO has committed to up to £480,000 continued in-kind support.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are their plans to reinstate aid funding to the Health Pooled Fund in support of hospitals and health care centres across South Sudan.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is the largest donor to the Health Pooled Fund (HPF) in South Sudan providing up to £175 million from 2018 to 2024. In August 2022, the FCDO, on behalf of HPF donors, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of South Sudan setting out how we'll work together to transition responsibility for funding for eight state hospitals. HPF completed the phased withdrawal from the eight state and referral hospitals by 31 March 2023. In mid-March 2023, the Minister of Health for South Sudan reported that the Government of South Sudan would be procuring essential medicines for the unsupported health facilities.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what were the outcomes of the first Saudi Arabia–UK Strategic Aid Dialogue, held in London on 15 March.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Aid Dialogue between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia took place on 15-16 March. Discussions highlighted how the UK and Saudi Arabia can work together to address global food insecurity, delivering humanitarian aid including in areas of conflict, targeting support where it is most needed across Africa and enhancing the effectiveness of aid. As major global aid donors, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia are committed to partnering together to tackle global challenges and support those most in need.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular in the province of Kasai, in order (1) to strengthen its health system, and (2) to reduce the frequency of preventable deaths of mothers and children.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK has supported the health sector in Kasai province since 2013. Minister Mitchell visited the UK's bilateral health programme in Kasai on March 19. The programme supports implementation of The Democratic Republic of the Congo's policy on Universal Health Coverage by strengthening pillars of the national health system and increasing access to lifesaving reproductive, maternal and child health services (including nutrition and family planning).
From 2017 to 2022 UK supported provinces increased childhood immunisation coverage from 63 percent to 90 percent, and the proportion of births attended by a skilled attendant from 83 percent to 99 percent. The prevalence of child malnutrition was halved over the same period.
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 mark World Water Day on 22 March; and which minister will be attending the UN Water Conference from 22–24 March.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK has taken a leadership role at the first UN Water Conference in decades, which coincides with World Water Day, as co-chair of the interactive dialogue on water for health. Lord Goldsmith, the FCDO Minister of State with responsibility for Climate and Environment portfolios, opened the meeting and announced new support to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) systems in up to five countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This will prevent disease, protect people's health and safeguard the environment. It contributes to the UK government's commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, children and babies by 2030.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who represented the UK at the Horn of Africa Drought Conference on 26 April; and what financial pledge they made at the Conference on behalf of the UK.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK's Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford MP, represented the UK at the Horn of Africa Drought Roundtable on 26 April, and announced a £25 million package of support for Somalia. Senior officials also attended the event including the UK's Envoy for the Red Sea and Horn of Africa as well as the UK's Development Director for Somalia.
The UK also played a critical role in convening the recent 'UN Horn of Africa Drought Roundtable' which took place in late April in Geneva. This included working with states in the region and the UN to ensure appropriate levels of participation. It helped to bring much needed focus to the drought and importantly it mobilised roughly US$400 million in new funding.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on international food markets; and what steps they intend to take to ameliorate that impact.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Putin's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is leading to further steep price rises in commodity markets, exacerbating the already deeply worrying deterioration in global food security. Even before the war, almost 1 billion people in 92 countries did not have enough food to eat on any given day, and 55 countries were already in acute hunger crises, emergency or famine conditions.
We know from the last crisis that the most immediate way to contain prices is to keep trade flowing. The UK has led a statement at the WTO, supported by nearly 60 countries, including a commitment by signatories to keep their food and agricultural markets open, predictable and transparent. We have announced a package of emergency humanitarian assistance to address critical rising food insecurity in the Horn of Africa and in Yemen and have pledged £286 million to meet needs in Afghanistan. Over the next 3 years, we will direct £3 billion to the most vulnerable countries and people to help them recover from crises. With our G7 allies, we support Germany's proposal for a Global Alliance on Food Security, to help scale up a rapid, needs-based coordinated response in a way that avoids a fragmented global response.