Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ring-fence enhanced amounts of aid for survivors of sexual violence in conflict.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK Government's determination to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) around the world is resolute. Through the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) the UK is committed to driving international action to support survivors, bring the perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice, and end impunity.
The PSVI Programme has a £3.85 million budget for financial year 25/26 and allocations for future years will be announced in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to increase the amount of aid for survivors of sexual violence in conflict.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK Government's determination to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) around the world is resolute. Through the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) the UK is committed to driving international action to support survivors, bring the perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice, and end impunity.
The PSVI Programme has a £3.85 million budget for financial year 25/26 and allocations for future years will be announced in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have conducted an assessment of whether the cuts to the budget of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have impacted its effectiveness.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to becoming a leaner, more agile organisation, better able to deliver tangible benefits for the British people. Staff reductions are being made strategically, with decisions guided by an organisational prioritisation exercise.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what quantity of the humanitarian aid they provided for Gaza was delivered in November and December 2025.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 24 November in response to Question HL11823.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much humanitarian aid they delivered to Gaza in November and December 2025.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 24 November in response to Question HL11823.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what quantity of humanitarian aid entered Gaza in each of the past six months.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Quantifying how much aid has entered into Gaza is difficult, due to the complex operating environment and limited real-time data, as well as Israel's restrictions on humanitarian workers and monitors. All allocations from the UK's Humanitarian Programme are available publicly on the Development Tracker website.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid are open.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Border crossing access remains limited and only the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings are currently operational. The UK continues to put pressure on Israel at official and ministerial levels to open all border crossings, and allow the unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they have provided to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Haiti.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK strongly condemns the violence that continues to undermine efforts to restore democratic rule in Haiti, and the infliction of human rights abuses by gangs on the Haitian people, including rape and sexual violence against women and children. The UK contributes approximately £28 million per annum to development in Haiti via multilateral bodies including through the UN and its agencies. We have supported expansion of the Human Rights Team within the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), with a focus on addressing sexual and gender-based violence. We also funded the creation and implementation of the human rights compliance framework to the Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti and the designation of gang leaders under the UN Sanctions Regime for enabling human rights abuses.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they plan to provide to the government of Syria to clear landmines, improvised explosive devices, and other explosive weapons.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Explosive ordnance continues to pose a significant threat to civilians and humanitarian workers across Syria, as well as preventing the rehabilitation of buildings such as schools and clinics, as well as agricultural land.
We provide funding to the mine action sector via the UK-led Aid Fund for Syria, the UK Global Mine Action Programme and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. We are working with partners to clear mines and unexploded ordnance in North East Syria, to allow restoration of services and landmines.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their sanctions policy in relation to Israel, following that country’s attack on Qatar on 9 September.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
On 11 September, the UK's Permanent Representative to the UN, Dame Barbara Woodward, condemned Israel's strikes on Doha as a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar," warning of the risk of further escalation. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have both expressed grave concern over the incident, reaffirming UK solidarity with Qatar and calling for de-escalation. Since taking office, this Government has announced three packages of sanctions in relation to Israel/Palestine. In June we imposed sanctions on Israeli Cabinet Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, in their personal capacity for inciting violence towards Palestinians, while the previous rounds targeted individuals, illegal settler outposts and organisations perpetrating and supporting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.