Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance established by the government of the United States.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is a founder and active member of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance ('Alliance'), which was established in February 2020.
The Alliance is a network of countries committed to the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). As the Minister of State response for Human Rights, I represented the UK at the first Ministers' Forum of the Alliance in November 2020. Following her appointment in December 2020, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB, Fiona Bruce MP, represents the UK at meetings of the Alliance. We use our membership to coordinate advocacy with other states to raise awareness of cases of particular concern and advocate for the rights of individuals being discriminated against or persecuted for their faith or belief. Since its launch, the Alliance has increased its membership from 27 to 32 countries. In August 2020, the UK joined a statement (https://www.state.gov/covid-19-and-religious-minorities-pandemic-statement/) by the Alliance which recognised the impact of Covid-19 on minority and religious belief communities and called for the full respect for FoRB during the pandemic.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to convene a Special Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to address the human rights situation in Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK worked quickly after the coup, in conjunction with the EU, to convene a Special Session of the Human Rights Council on 12 February. We secured a resolution, agreed by consensus, which called for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons arbitrarily detained in Myanmar, and the lifting of the state of emergency. During this session, the UK read a statement submitted by elected Myanmar MPs, calling for support and an investigation into human rights violations.
As a champion of the rules based international order, and democratic government, we are driving the international response, including in our role as President of both the G7 and UNSC, urging the military to immediately hand back power to the Government that was democratically elected in November 2020.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to imposing targeted sanctions against those responsible for the military coup in Myanmar.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is looking at a range of measures to ensure the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar are respected. On 25 February, we announced sanctions against six members of the military responsible for their role in serious human rights violations during the coup. This is in addition to the action taken with Canada on 18 February to impose asset freezes and travel bans against three members of the Myanmar military regime. Prior to this, the UK had already imposed targeted sanctions on 16 individuals responsible for human rights violations in Myanmar. This includes the Commander-in-Chief and his Deputy.
The military's influence is pervasive across Myanmar's economy and we have long been clear that Myanmar needs responsible investors. Her Majesty's Government works closely with UK businesses to ensure that they conduct thorough due diligence to try and avoid exposure to military businesses. We will continue to work closely with international partners on next steps, this includes exploring further sanctions.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of when the economic situation in the UK will allow a return to the target for official development assistance of 0.7 per cent of gross national income.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government intends to return to the 0.7% target when the fiscal situation allows. We cannot at this moment predict with certainty when the current fiscal circumstances will have sufficiently improved.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult with (1) civil society, (2) faith groups, and (3) other humanitarian actors, before drafting any legislation to amend the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
In light of economic and fiscal circumstances the Government has taken the difficult but temporary decision to spend 0.5 per cent of our national income next year on official development assistance, rather than the usual 0.7 per cent.
The Government will continue to monitor the fiscal circumstances in order to plan accordingly. We are working closely and consulting with our partners on the on impacts and priorities of our ODA spend, including through roundtables with Civil Society Organisations such as one recently chaired by Lord Ahmad. Further similar meetings are planned in early 2021.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to including a sunset clause in any legislation amending the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The seismic impact of the pandemic has forced us to take tough decisions, including temporarily reducing our aid budget to 0.5 percent of our national income. Our intention is to return to this level as soon as the fiscal situation allows.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to call for the reform of the international aid spending rules set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Foreign Secretary has been clear that we remain committed to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) rules set by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC).
The UK has led the way in working with others to modernise the rules where they are out of step with modern development challenges. We continue to review priorities for further reform and maintain active engagement with the DAC and DAC members.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to produce and publish an impact assessment for the proposed reduction in the UK’s spending on official development assistance.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is introducing a new strategic approach which will allow us to drive greater impact from our ODA spending around a set of strategic objectives - even if the budget is reduced. The Government will continue to robustly monitor the impact of our aid programmes through annual reviews of our programmes, independent evaluations and input from assessments made by Independent Commission on Aid Impact (ICAI) which are all routinely published.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which countries have used COVID-19 as a pretext to introduce restrictive measures against independent media outlets and to arrest and intimidate journalists for providing critical coverage of the relevant government’s COVID-19 response.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing threats to free and independent media around the world, which were already very alarming. Media freedom is vital to functioning democracies and journalists must be able to investigate and report without undue interference. We must oppose all attempts by any state to use the pandemic to adopt restrictions on press freedom, silence debate, abuse journalists or spread misinformation.
We are also deeply concerned to see that across the world, publications are contracting and closing, and journalists being made redundant because of falling revenues. The UK, as part of the Executive Group of the Media Freedom Coalition, issued a statement on 6 April reaffirming the fundamental importance of media freedom and calling on all states to protect access to free media during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in the UK statement at the UN Human Rights Council's virtual conversation with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 April, we stressed the important role of the media, alongside parliaments and civil society, in scrutinising the actions of governments and international agencies during this crisis.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Worcester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial assistance they (1) have made, and (2) intend to make, to the United Nations COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK strongly supports the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP) to tackle COVID-19. Of the £744 million of UK aid pledged to support the global effort to combat COVID-19 so far, £220 million has gone to UN agencies in the GHRP, such as the World Food Programme and UN Refugee Agency, as well as humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross and international NGOs. DFID is also adapting its programmes across its country network to respond to COVID-19 and address the needs of the most vulnerable, as outlined in the GHRP.
Our support will help protect millions of people in the world’s poorest countries and ensure they can treat those who are infected. By taking action to support vulnerable countries’ health systems now, UK aid is reducing the risks of the virus becoming entrenched in certain areas and taking years to eradicate.