Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the roles and lines of accountability for UK trade envoys and trade commissioners, including their accountability to Parliament.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Trade Envoys are Parliamentarians appointed by the Prime Minister to support the Government’s trade and investment agenda in one or more specific markets. They report to my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State and are ultimately accountable to the Prime Minister.
HM Trade Commissioners are senior Civil Servants recruited under fair and open competition and appointed to head the overseas operations for this department. They are accountable to the Permanent Secretary and ultimately to the Secretary of State.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what administrative, logistical, and financial support is provided to UK trade envoys when they travel overseas in that capacity.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade, now known as the Department for Business and Trade, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the programme and each Trade Envoy has a Civil Servant relationship manager. Relationship managers act as the Trade Envoy’s point of contact, coordinating their activity and provide administrative support when they undertake overseas visits, by arranging flights, visas, a programme of activity and briefing.
The Trade Envoy role is unpaid, but this department meets the costs of any travel expenditure such as transport and accommodation to allow them to carry out their role.
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.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the allocation of funds to the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund’s (CSSF) Gender and Human Rights programme; and what proportion is that amount as a percentage of the total CSSF budget.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Progressing gender equality, through the protection and promotion of the rights and inclusion of women and girls and addressing gender-specific impacts of conflict, is a fundamental driver of all CSSF programming. Women, peace and security is one of the four Fund-level outcomes, each of which shapes the nature of CSSF programming. This means work on gender is addressed not just by the Gender, Peace and Security Portfolio but the Fund as a whole.
From April 2022 all CSSF projects will be assessed using a new Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Marker, replacing the existing Gender Equality Policy Marker, which has been in use since 2016. This will drive standards for GESI across CSSF and promote learning and adaptation, while also ensuring compliance with relevant legislation.
In 2020 (the latest available year for ODA reporting), 6% of ODA funded CSSF programmes (£36 m) had gender as a main objective, while 65% (£348m) of programmes had a significant gender component.
Spend by portfolio for FY22/23 will be announced, as usual, when the Written Ministerial Statement to accompany the Annual Report is laid before Parliament, later in the year. This ensures that Ministers retain sufficient in-year flexibility to pivot funding in delivery of the most pressing national security objectives.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the allocation of funds to the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund where (1) gender equality is the main objective of the project or programme, (2) gender equality is a significant but not the main objective of the project or programme, and (3) where gender equality is not targeted.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Progressing gender equality, through the protection and promotion of the rights and inclusion of women and girls and addressing gender-specific impacts of conflict, is a fundamental driver of all CSSF programming. Women, peace and security is one of the four Fund-level outcomes, each of which shapes the nature of CSSF programming. This means work on gender is addressed not just by the Gender, Peace and Security Portfolio but the Fund as a whole.
From April 2022 all CSSF projects will be assessed using a new Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Marker, replacing the existing Gender Equality Policy Marker, which has been in use since 2016. This will drive standards for GESI across CSSF and promote learning and adaptation, while also ensuring compliance with relevant legislation.
In 2020 (the latest available year for ODA reporting), 6% of ODA funded CSSF programmes (£36 m) had gender as a main objective, while 65% (£348m) of programmes had a significant gender component.
Spend by portfolio for FY22/23 will be announced, as usual, when the Written Ministerial Statement to accompany the Annual Report is laid before Parliament, later in the year. This ensures that Ministers retain sufficient in-year flexibility to pivot funding in delivery of the most pressing national security objectives.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean on 26 April that “conflict and horrendous sexual violence in South Sudan risks undermining commendable recent progress and leadership implementing the 2018 Peace Agreement”, what assessment they have made of the stability of the peace in process in South Sudan.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Implementation of the 2018 Peace Agreement remains the best prospect to a lasting end to conflict in South Sudan. Full implementation is needed to address the instability and humanitarian crisis that affect millions of South Sudanese. However progress is slow. The international community has needed to maintain pressure for the Parties to deliver their commitments.
Recent incidents of violence have put the progress that has been made since 2018 at risk. We have made our concerns clear in Juba and at the UN Security Council. Renewed public commitment by the Parties to the Peace Agreement and progress on unifying the armed forces are welcome. Given the slow pace of implementation and continued incidents of violence we have made clear that South Sudan's leaders must continue to deliver progress. We also urge the region, as guarantors of the Peace Agreement, to use their influence with the Parties to deliver progress.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, if any, in response to the statement by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on 25 April that, without urgent funding support from the international community, the World Food Programme and the UN Relief and Works Agency “will not be able to meet the food needs of the Palestinian population this year, which can have a destabilizing impact across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, particularly in the Gaza Strip”.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a long-term supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides protection and core services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and across the wider region. The UK is working with UNRWA and other donors to improve UNRWA's financial viability. This includes broadening UNRWA's donor base, encouraging the full disbursement of pledges and encouraging support through multi-year funding. The UK continues to monitor closely the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made regarding consultations on a new, enhanced UK–Israel trade agreement since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in November 2021.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The United Kingdom is strongly committed to our trade and investment relationship with Israel.
A public consultation on an enhanced bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel was formally launched on 1st February 2022.
We are now in the process of analysing the responses we received during this consultation and will publish a formal response to this in due course.
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 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian Territories that was published on 22 March.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the report. Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a human rights priority for the FCDO. As a friend of Israel, we have a regular dialogue on human rights. This includes encouraging the Government of Israel to abide by its obligations under international law.