Gender-based Violence
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years ago)
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Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]
My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord that we must do all we can to ensure that these desperate victims see justice. We are firmly committed to protecting members of the religious minorities in Iraq and providing assistance to them, and also to galvanising international efforts to ensure that Daesh members are brought to justice. That included leadership in ensuring that the UNSC unanimously adopted Resolution 2379 on Daesh accountability. We have established an investigative team to help collect, preserve and store evidence of Daesh’s crimes, beginning in Iraq, so that we can do everything we can to ensure that these women see justice.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked. We now come to the second Oral Question.
USA Presidential Election
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years ago)
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Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]
My Lords, of course I praise President-elect Joe Biden for standing up for what is right. The UK Government stand firmly against genocide. I mentioned Nagorno-Karabakh in my previous answer; of course, we face challenges in Europe, Nagorno-Karabakh and Belarus. We will continue to work with the US and the new Administration on the challenges that we face here in Europe and across the world.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, all supplementary questions have been asked and we now come to the third Oral Question.
Zimbabwe
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years ago)
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Baroness Sugg (Con)
My Lords, the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does offer further opportunities to help integrate development and diplomacy into a single new department that aims to bring together the best of our diplomatic and development efforts. We will continue to work with the African Union—I agree with the noble Baroness that it has done a sterling job on Covid-19—in order to try to bring about long-lasting change.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed and we now come to the second Oral Question. I call the noble Lord, Lord Rose of Monewden.
Nagorno-Karabakh
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Sugg (Con)
I acknowledge the noble Lord’s point on the length of this conflict, and of course we must use every avenue we have to try to bring about an end to the conflict. We continue to urge dialogue and we are clear that the only lasting solution to the conflict can be a negotiated one, but I will certainly take the noble Lord’s point on the Council of Europe back to the department to see if there is yet further we can do within that organisation.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allotted for this Question has elapsed and we have come to the end of Question Time.
Nagorno-Karabakh
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Sugg (Con)
As the noble Lord will know well, the conflicts and issues that he has raised are incredibly complex and very different in their nature and history; there is no easy answer to them. The UK fully supports efforts under the OSCE to find peaceful and lasting solutions to these issues and we will continue to work with the organisation to make sure that it becomes ever more effective.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, all the supplementary questions have been asked.
Covid-19: UN Sustainable Development Goals
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Sugg [V]
My Lords, the Covid-19 crisis has had an incredibly negative impact on the education of millions of children—at least 1.5 billion children in more than 150 countries were out of school at its height. We are working to ensure that we are pivoting our existing programmes to allow remote learning, through radio and television programmes. The important thing is to make sure that all pupils, especially girls, return to schools as and when they reopen. We know that children outside school are at risk of child marriage and violence, so the important thing is to get girls back into school and then ensure that we are doing more to deliver 12 years of quality education for every girl in the world.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.
East Africa: Food Security
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Sugg
DfID and the FCO already have a joint Sudans unit covering both Sudan and South Sudan. That work will continue and, as the noble Earl says, with the new department we will be able to ensure that we use both our diplomatic and development expertise to the highest effect.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.
Gavi: Covid-19
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Sugg
I reassure my noble friend that we are working closely with the Commonwealth, which has an essential role to play in our global response. Most recently, on 14 May, there was a virtual meeting with all Commonwealth Health Ministers, which was also attended by the director-general of the WHO and representatives of Commonwealth organisations, such as the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Medical Association. We will continue to work closely with our Commonwealth partners to ensure that we end this pandemic.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
Lords, we move on the second Question but, before we do, I will say that this was the first time we got through all 10 questions. I congratulate Members and the Minister on their prompt questions and replies.
Africa: Support
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Sugg
My Lords, as I said, the Commonwealth has an essential role to play in the global response to Covid-19. We obviously have a presence in the vast majority of countries that need our presence and, where we do not, we work closely with international agencies to make sure that they are delivering the help needed on the ground. However, I will certainly take the noble Lord’s suggestion of working with other Governments back to the department.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed.
Overseas Development Assistance: Gender-based Violence
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Sugg
My Lords, we must of course recognise the challenges that are going to be faced by economies all around the world. We are considering carefully what that means for our 0.7% aid commitment, but we are proud that the UK is keeping that commitment; it is more important than ever. Given that we are in the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, we do not yet know the exact implications, but we will ensure that we use all possible financial levers to support our response. As my noble friend says, we must maintain and indeed increase the quality and quantity of our work to protect women and girls.
Baroness Helic (Con)
My Lords, fighting sexual and gender-based violence remains the most chronically underfunded sector in the humanitarian appeals of the United Nations. What consideration has been given to allocating a specific minimum percentage of the DfID budget to fighting sexual and gender-based violence not only during emergencies but as part of the regular allocation of funds?
Baroness Sugg
The noble Lord is right to point out that we are working really closely with our partners on doing exactly that: pivoting to programmes relevant to Covid-19. Of course, other programmes will also continue, and we will work closely with partners to make sure that they can continue their vital work.
The Lord Speaker
Baroness Blackstone. Baroness Blackstone? Baroness Uddin. No? In any event, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed, so we will move on.
Covid-19: Overseas Development Assistance
Debate between Baroness Sugg and Lord Fowler(4 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Sugg
I thank my noble friend for that question. She is of course right that during times of crisis, the rights of women and girls are often overlooked. In this time of crisis, when people are at their most vulnerable, women and girls need our support more than ever. We must learn the lessons of past epidemics and explicitly include the needs of women and girls as part of our humanitarian response, and in order to stop more lives being needlessly lost. We are therefore working with our international partners to act now, putting gender at the heart of our response. The impacts of coronavirus are not gender-blind, so nor should our response be.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
Baroness Boycott. No? Lord Collins of Highbury.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
A key element of nutrition-sensitive spending is universal health coverage, which is vital to building resilience to such pandemics. It is likely that the Nutrition for Growth summit will be delayed. Can the Minister assure the House that, if this year’s summit is delayed, she will ensure either that the Government pledge early, or will ensure a continuation of nutrition finance at current levels for another year to avoid a cliff edge in such financing at the start of 2022?
Baroness Sugg
My Lords, we absolutely need an effective Covid-19 vaccine to be developed, trialled and approved for use as quickly as possible. We are doing that in three ways. First, we are the largest funder of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Secondly, we have launched a vaccine task force to expedite and co-ordinate efforts to research and produce a coronavirus vaccine. Finally, in June we are hosting a replenishment for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. That will be really key to the operational delivery of a vaccine at an affordable price to those who need it across the world.
Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)
DfID has given priority to strengthening health systems across Africa. Can we be assured that this will be maintained, if not increased, especially in the light of falling GDP at home? What does the Minister think about the WHO’s advice that there should be no restrictions on travel to Africa, given that the disease is escalating there and that this has proved to be a factor in spreading it worldwide?
Baroness Sugg
My Lords, I agree that we need to strengthen the fragile health systems in the world’s poorest countries, where the chance of disease spreading rapidly is the highest. That will of course reduce the risk of having future waves of infection globally. I am not going to comment on the WHO’s advice on travel to Africa. I would say, though, that it is important that we maintain connectivity so that we can support our delivery of aid in the countries which are sometimes hardest to reach.
The Lord Speaker
Baroness Massey of Darwen. No? There are no more supplementaries, my Lords. The time has also elapsed for this Question. We now come to the second Oral Question.