Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to re-appoint a Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The current set of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) envoys is presently under review. FCDO Ministers will take decisions on envoys in due course, and appointments of any new envoys will be announced publicly.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to strengthen the global response to conflict-related sexual violence by (1) addressing the root causes of sexual violence, (2) improving justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and (3) enhancing support for survivors of, and children born from, sexual violence in conflict.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Strategy, launched in 2022, sets out the UK's approach to tackling conflict related sexual violence (CRSV). It covers the period 2022-2025. Discussions on exact future strategies will be taken by ministers in due course.
Empowering women and girls and preventing the conflicts that disproportionately impact on them is a key priority for this new government. We are working to prevent and respond to CRSV, including as vice chair of the International Alliance on PSVI and by providing medical, psychosocial, and legal support to thousands of survivors around the world.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the continued implementation of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative strategy in its final year, and whether they have considered extending the strategy after that point.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Strategy, launched in 2022, sets out the UK's approach to tackling conflict related sexual violence (CRSV). It covers the period 2022-2025. Decisions on exact future strategies will be taken by ministers in due course.
Empowering women and girls and preventing the conflicts that disproportionately impact on them is a key priority for this new government. We are working to prevent and respond to CRSV, including as vice chair of the International Alliance on PSVI and by providing medical, psychosocial, and legal support to thousands of survivors around the world.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to ensure that there is ministerial leadership dedicated to women, peace and security.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK remains committed to advancing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.
The Rt Hon Anneliese Dodds was appointed on 8 July 2024 as Minister of State for Development at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and will assume responsibility for WPS. She is also Minister for Women and Equalities at the Department for Education. The Minister will attend Cabinet.
The Ministry of Defence lead on WPS will be the Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, who will be supported by the Minister for the House of Lords, Lord Coaker.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to embed ageing and older women’s rights in (1) implementing the White Paper on International Development published in November 2023 (CP 975), and (2) supporting grassroots women’s rights organisations.
Answered by Lord Benyon
The International Development White Paper, published in November 2023, reaffirms the goals of the International Women and Girls Strategy 2023-2030. The Strategy adopts a life course approach, targeting investment to the key life stages for women and girls to ensure we secure the greatest life-long and intergenerational impacts. Age is an important dimension in our approach to leave no one behind and ensure inclusion. The UK engages closely with the UN's open-ended working group on ageing (OEWGA) and supports UN resolutions on the human rights of older people. The White Paper restates FCDO's ambition that locally-led women's rights organisations (WROs) should be at the heart of setting development priorities in their communities. We include age and disability as considerations in our growing number of partnerships with diverse WROs globally, including women-led Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs).
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of personnel levels in relation to delivering their women, peace and security agenda.
Answered by Lord Benyon
The UK's fifth National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) recognises the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls and includes tangible actions across government to promote their vital role in conflict prevention through to resolution.
The delivery of the WPS agenda is a cross government effort, with personnel across five Government departments and two devolved administrations delivering on specific commitments. One year since the WPS NAP's publication, 75 percent of the 117 commitments are in progress. As a joint FCDO-MOD strategy, both Departments are committed to driving forward NAP implementation over the next year, including getting 100 percent of commitments in progress.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the government of Israel regarding the safety of UK and international non-governmental organisations delivering humanitarian aid and medical help in safe zones in Gaza.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most. We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to be respected. Too many civilians have been killed and we want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
The Foreign Secretary underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza and to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of medical personnel and facilities during his visit to Israel on 24 January.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that four UK medical staff were injured in a bombing of the facilities of International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most. We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to be respected. Too many civilians have been killed and we want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
The Foreign Secretary underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza and to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of medical personnel and facilities during his visit to Israel on 24 January.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the government of Israel regarding the protection of civilians during the Gaza conflict.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have reiterated the vital steps needed for a sustainable, permanent ceasefire in their contacts with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, including during the Foreign Secretary's visit to Israel on 24 January. There must be a reduction in civilian casualties. All parties must act within International Humanitarian Law. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) address, and (2) advocate against, the incidence of female genital mutilation being performed by healthcare workers in countries where it is nationally banned but historically performed.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a priority for the FCDO and we are clear that there is no medical justification for the practice.
The UK Government is investing £35 million through our Africa-Led Movement (ALM) to End FGM programme.
Data generation through the programme has helped to build awareness of increased rates of medicalised FGM. The UK has engaged healthcare workers, through the World Health Organisation, to prevent FGM and care for survivors.
We are strengthening the health system response through our support to the UN Joint Programme on FGM. In 2021, the programme developed advocacy guidelines for health care providers in Indonesia on ending medicalised FGM.