Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the perspectives of women are considered when making any foreign policy decisions, especially in relation to Afghanistan and the conflict in the Middle East.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Ministers and officials regularly engage with women stakeholders, including from across the Middle East and Afghanistan, to ensure our policy and programming reflect their views and needs.
The Minister for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan has hosted Afghan women leaders to hear their perspectives and discuss women's inclusion in Afghanistan's future.
We are aware that the specific needs of marginalised groups, including women, will need to be integrated into planning for recovery in Gaza. Officials engage with both Palestinian and Israeli women-led organisations to seek their views. The UK is steadfast in its commitment to women's participation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support refugees from Afghanistan who have been deported from Pakistan.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Since September 2023, we have committed £18.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable returnees in Afghanistan. This support forms part of a broader package of £161 million in assistance to the Afghan people this year. The UK is closely monitoring Pakistan's policy on the deportation of Afghans and has raised the issue on many occasions with the Government of Pakistan. We are working with international partners, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), IOM and the World Bank to ensure Pakistan adheres to its international human rights obligations with respect to those affected.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to deny preferential trading rights to companies from countries with poor human rights records.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses. The UK monitors all countries on the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) on an ongoing basis for serious and systemic violations of human rights (including gender rights), labour rights and environmental obligations based on international conventions. The DCTS includes the power to suspend a country's preferential tariffs for such violations, however, it does not have the power to individually suspend a company's trade preferences.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to remarks by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 24 May 2023 (HL Deb col 870), when the initial £5 million, including £2 million in South Sudan, to meet the urgent needs of refugees and returnees who were fleeing the violence in Sudan was released; and on what it has been spent.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
On 4 May 2023, the UK Government announced an initial £5 million allocation to support those fleeing the conflict in Sudan. In Chad, this included £1.75 million for the World Food Programme on food and logistics ahead of the rainy season and £1 million to the Sahel Regional Fund to support urgent protection and assistance by NGOs. In South Sudan, this included £1.5 million to the World Food Programme for use in border areas, £500,000 to UNICEF for Sexual and Gender Based Violence protection services and £250,000 to REACH towards initiatives to improve analysis about evolving needs to support wider humanitarian action. In total, since the outbreak of conflict in Sudan, the UK has allocated £15 million to support those fleeing to Chad, and £7.75 million to support existing and new Sudanese refugees as well as vulnerable returnees and host communities in South Sudan.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on poverty reduction of conditionalities on World Bank funding to lower and middle-income countries that incentivise smallholder farmers to purchase commercial seeds and fertilisers; and whether they plan to make representations to the World Bank to ensure that such conditionalities allow smallholder farmers to retain their own seeds.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We have previously engaged with the World Bank on this matter. The World Bank has confirmed to us that they do not have a policy in place that restricts farmers in choosing their seeds. The World Bank advocates the use of quality seeds as part of their overall approach to productivity and climate resilience. Furthermore, World Bank operations are designed at a country level, in support of local government priorities and plans, and in consultation with other stakeholders.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the £100 million pledged at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Ethiopia pledging conference in April is new and additional funding.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
At the high-level pledging conference for Ethiopia which took place in April, the Deputy Foreign Secretary announced £100 million in UK funding. This support had not been previously announced. This included £30 million to treat acute malnutrition for those in greatest need.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of official development assistance humanitarian spend in East African countries has been received by local and national non-governmental organisations in country over the last year; and what steps they will take to ensure UK commitments on such funding are met, such as the Grand Bargain commitment to provide 25 per cent of humanitarian funding to local and national organisations.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Local organisations play a vital role in delivering UK funded humanitarian support across East Africa including in Ethiopia and Somalia where we support a range of different national entities. The UK strongly supports the role of national agencies in responding to humanitarian crises and building resilience. This is demonstrated in the recent International Development White Paper which commits the UK to publishing a strategy on engagement with national relief actors. Work to develop this strategy is now underway.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 11 December, whether they plan to call a meeting at the UN Security Council to discuss Myanmar’s non-implementation of the provisional measures set out by the International Court of Justice to protect the Rohingya in The Gambia v Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are aware of concerns that Myanmar is not meeting its obligations, under a Provisional Measures Order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to protect the Rohingya. We are clear that Myanmar must comply with the Order. In November, we jointly filed a declaration of intervention at the ICJ in The Gambia's case alleging Myanmar has perpetrated genocide against the Rohingya, in order to set out our interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Genocide Convention before the Court. We will continue to use our UN Security Council leadership role to maintain a spotlight on Myanmar, including the Rohingya.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking with respect to the effective enforcement of sanctions against Russian entities and individuals.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is committed to ensuring that our sanctions are robustly enforced and potential breaches are investigated and appropriate action taken. Departments from across HMG including HMT (through the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI)), HMRC, Home Office, and NCA, are working together, and with UK companies, to promote compliance and ensure that sanctions are enforced.
Since 2022, HMRC has imposed fines in excess of £1.3 million to five UK companies relating to the unlicensed trade of goods in breach of the Russia sanctions regime. In August, OFSI also published an enforcement notice against Wise Payments Limited (Wise), a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated company, for breaching Russia sanctions by making funds available to a company owned or controlled by a designated person.
The Government announced a new Economic Deterrence Initiative in the 2023 Integrated Review Refresh. With funding of up to £50 million over two years, the initiative is maximising the impact of our trade, transport and financial sanctions, including by improving our sanctions implementation and enforcement.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Myanmar military is implementing the provisional measures set out by the International Court of Justice in The Gambia v. Myanmar case, in which they recently filed their declaration of intervention.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is aware of concerns that Myanmar is not meeting its obligations, under a Provisional Measures Order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to protect the Rohingya. We are clear that Myanmar must comply with the Provisional Measures Order. On 15 November, the UK jointly filed a declaration of intervention at the ICJ in The Gambia's case alleging Myanmar has perpetrated genocide against the Rohingya, in order to set out our interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Genocide Convention before the Court. We reiterate that there must be accountability for the atrocities committed in Myanmar against the Rohingya.