Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the Women, Peace and Security commitments under (1) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and (2) the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, in the UK’s foreign policy.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In formulating policy the Government takes full account of the commitments we have made in the context of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, flowing from UNSCR 1325, and of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. In January, together with the International Development Secretary and the Minister for the Armed Forces, I launched the fourth National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security for 2018-2022, which focuses on what we can deliver internationally through diplomacy, development, and defence. The International Development (Gender Equality) Act (2014) binds us to integrate gender into all Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) including the CSSF Multilateral Strategy Fund and in other strategic funds with an ODA content. The UK continues to work to amplify women's voices and to support their educational, economic and political empowerment. We promoted the participation of women in political and mediation processes in Burma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Syria, Somalia, Colombia and Yemen and strengthened the role of women in the security forces in Somalia and Afghanistan. We provided services to survivors of gender based violence in DRC, Syria and Somalia and launched a campaign on tackling the stigma of sexual violence globally bringing together survivors, experts, local governments, civil society, media and faith groups. The Government remains wholly committed to the WPS agenda, including ending sexual violence in conflict, and continues to work on mainstreaming gender throughout foreign policy.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their goals for the planned meeting in 2019 to review commitments made at the 2014 London Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict; and what resources they have devoted to that meeting.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The goals of this meeting are to make progress on ending stigma in at least three priority countries; help secure justice and accountability for survivors in at least three countries; and, develop and agree more measures to prevent sexual violence in conflict, including through military training, engagement with the media and religious/faith leaders. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will work with a range of stakeholders to deliver this, including Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative champion countries, parliamentarians, implementing partners, civil society and international organisations, including the office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General, Pramila Patten.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Foreign Secretary last raised the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative with his international counterparts.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary last raised sexual violence and the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative with the Burmese government during his visit to Burma on 11 February 2018.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Foreign Secretary last met with the Steering Board of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has not met the Steering Board of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative. It is the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (PMSR) who chairs the Steering Board. In my capacity as the PMSR, I chaired a meeting of the Steering Board on 13 September 2017. I look forward to chairing the next meeting of the Steering Board in the spring.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the budget for the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) in (1) 2016, and (2) 2017; what is the current budget; and how PSVI work has been organised within the Foreign and Commonwealth Unit since July 2016.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the financial year 2016-17, £2,969,379 of policy programme funds from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office core budget were spent on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI). In that financial year, a further £8,056,685 was spent from the cross-Government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) on our wider work on Gender, Peace and Security, including work to further the PSVI. In the current financial year, 2017-18, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office policy programme fund allocation for PSVI work is £2,463,466. An additional £7,435,423 has been allocated from the cross-Government CSSF on Gender, Peace and Security.
PSVI work is handled by the PSVI Team, which sits within the Gender Equality Unit (GEU). The GEU was formed on 9 October 2017, bringing together the four officials who since July 2016 had worked on PSVI, with other colleagues dealing with various aspects of gender equality, including Women, Peace and Security, other gender in conflict issues, women’s rights and LGBT rights, but who until then had been working in different FCO Departments. Officials in GEU now work closely together to ensure a coherent approach to gender equality, responding flexibly to emerging requirements, to deliver a foreign policy which consciously and consistently delivers for women and girls around the world.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff worked full time on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, and (3) 2017; and how many such staff are currently working on the Initiative.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2015, there were seven staff working full time on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI). In 2016, there were four members of staff working full time. In 2017, there were three staff working full time. Currently, we have a core team of three staff working full time in London, as well as surge capacity to support specific activities. In addition, PSVI work is mainstreamed and taken forward by staff around our network of posts, who advance the PSVI as part of a broader portfolio, for example, via the UK’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2018-22, which staff in a number of missions have recently helped launch.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Burma regarding current events in Rakhine state.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In recent weeks, the British Government has made a number of representations to the Burmese government. We continue to make clear the need to end all violence in Rakhine, including sexual violence, to ensure the safe return of refugees, to allow humanitarian assistance to all communities in Rakhine, to enable access for the UN Fact-Finding Mission and to implement the recommendations of Kofi Annan's Rakhine Advisory Commission. The Foreign Secretary raised these issues directly with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi when he spoke to her on 7 and 14 September and on 21 October.
The Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific met Burma's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on 20 September in New York and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on 27 September in Burma, and reiterated the same messages. Minister Field also raised our deep concern about the situation in Rakhine with the Burmese Ambassador when they met on 31 October.
Our Ambassador in Rangoon has also made a number of representations, most recently with the Burmese Defence Minister whom he met on 1 November.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken at the UN Security Council regarding the Rohingya people.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British Government played a central role in the Presidential Statement on Rakhine agreed by the UN Security Council (UNSC) on 6 November. The Statement calls, among other things, for the safe return of the Rohingya refugees to Rakhine, a transparent investigation of human rights violations, including those of sexual violence, as well as cooperation of the Government of Burma with UN organisations and access for humanitarian and media organisations to Rakhine. The Statement also calls on the Government of Burma to address the root causes of the conflict, including through the implementation of the Rakhine Advisory Commission recommendations.
This comes as a result of several weeks of British Government activity at the UN Security Council. We have raised Burma four times since 25 August. On 13 September we secured the first agreed UNSC press statement on Burma in eight years. On 28 September we instigated the first open session of the Security Council on Burma in almost a decade. The Security Council then discussed Burma on 13 October. We will continue to work to ensure continuing P5 unity on the gravity of the situation in Burma.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative experts have been deployed to Bangladesh in response to the atrocities committed against the Rohingya people.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)'s PSVI Team recently visited Bangladesh, including Dhaka and Cox's Bazar, with the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG)'s mission will meet survivors, service providers, government officials and security services. The FCO, working with the Stabilisation Unit, is deploying two Deployable Civilian Experts to Bangladesh this month to conduct a needs assessment. These experts in gender issues and criminal law, including sexual violence in conflict, will build on the SRSG and Head of PSVI's assessment to look at the extent of reported incidents of sexual violence, services being provided, identify gaps and make recommendations for the UK Government. Part of the assessment will be a deep dive on investigation and documentation of sexual violence.
Asked by: Lord Hague of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what further support they intend to offer members of the Elephant Protection Initiative to succeed in protecting their wildlife.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has supported the work of the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) since its launch at the 2014 Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) conference in London, including providing approximately £1.2 million funding through Stop Ivory. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific and the Minister for Africa both recently met Helen Clarke, co-chair of the new EPI Consultative Group, to discuss Her Majesty's Government's support for the next phase of the EPIs work and in developing plans for the 2018 London IWT Conference. The UK Government also supports countries, including EPI members, to tackle poaching and the illegal ivory trade through the Global Environment Facility which is providing $131 million (£97 million) over seven years from 2015 to the Global Wildlife Programme. Our overseas network has supported EPI events in a number of member states and we are happy to continue this support.