Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to Article 3, on the prohibition on torture, of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government remains committed to protecting the rights of children and refugees, and preventing torture and we continue to play a leading role in supporting international conventions and alliances that uphold these goals.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to Article 8, on the qualified right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence, of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government remains committed to protecting the rights of children and refugees, and preventing torture and we continue to play a leading role in supporting international conventions and alliances that uphold these goals.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review how the European Convention on Human Rights has been implemented in practice.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government remains committed to protecting the rights of children and refugees, and preventing torture and we continue to play a leading role in supporting international conventions and alliances that uphold these goals.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government remains committed to protecting the rights of children and refugees, and preventing torture and we continue to play a leading role in supporting international conventions and alliances that uphold these goals.
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to join Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands in their case against Afghanistan before the International Court of Justice for violations of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government supports the initiative to refer the Taliban to the International Court of Justice for violations of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. We have repeatedly condemned Taliban restrictions on women and girls' rights, including through UN Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions. As the Foreign Secretary said on 24 August, the exclusion of women from all aspects of public life is another tragic setback for Afghanistan. We are discussing with international partners ways to hold them accountable. More broadly, officials regularly press the Taliban to reverse their inhuman restrictions, both bilaterally and with international partners.
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.