Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13631), whether a representative from the British High Commission was invited to attend the diplomatic visit to Indian-administered Kashmir organised by the government of India in the week commencing 15 February.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British High Commissioner was invited to attend the diplomatic visit to India-administered Kashmir organised by the Government of India in the week commencing 15 February. We regularly discuss the prospect of British High Commission officials visiting India-administered Kashmir and are working closely with the Government of India to identify a suitable opportunity to visit.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13631), what assessment the British High Commission made of the diplomatic visit to Indian-administered Kashmir organised by the government of India in the week commencing 15 February.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
According to a statement on the Government of India's Ministry of External Affairs website, the itinerary for the two-day trip covered Srinagar, Budgam and Jammu. Participants met some local representatives, civil society groups and residents of India-administered Kashmir, and received a briefing on the local security situation. The UK did not participate in this visit. We continue to work closely with the Indian authorities to identify the best opportunity for British High Commission representatives to visit Kashmir.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13631), which countries participated in the diplomatic visit to Indian-administered Kashmir organised by the government of India in the week commencing 15 February.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This is a matter for the Government of India. According to information on the Government of India's Ministry of External Affairs website (https://mea.gov.in/response-to-queries.htm?dtl/33544/Official_Spokespersons_response_to_media_queries_on_the_Visit_of_Foreign_Heads_of_Missions_to_Jammu_amp_Kashmir), Heads of Mission attended from Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cote d'Ivore, Cuba, Estonia, Finland, European Union, Eritrea, France, Ghana, Italy, Ireland, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Malawi, Netherlands, Portugal, Senegal, Spain, Sweden and Tajikistan.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many requests have been (1) received, and (2) accepted, by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs for a meeting with a foreign affairs minister from another government in each of the past 12 months; from which governments they have received such a request; and when any such meetings (a) occurred, and (b) are due to take place.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Meetings between Ministerial departments and their international counterparts are a regular part of Government business.
For security and diplomatic reasons we do not routinely publish details of these meetings.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a member of the British High Commission accompanied the reported "guided tours" of Kashmir given to envoys by the government of India; and if so, what conclusions were drawn.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the diplomatic visit to India-administered Kashmir that was organised by the Government of India in the week commencing 15 February 2021. The UK did not participate in this visit. We continue to work closely with the Indian authorities to identify the best opportunity for British High Commission representatives to visit Kashmir.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist less economically developed countries, in particular those countries where British civil servants and consular staff are based, in (1) accessing, and (2) administering, COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. The UK has been instrumental in supporting the establishment of the COVAX Facility, which is the international initiative managed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance that provides equitable access to safe and effective vaccines for 190 economies. High and upper-middle-income countries can access the self-financing window of the COVAX Facility. Low- and middle-income countries are eligible for support from the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), to which we have committed £548 million as one of its largest bilateral donors. Our network of health advisers in relevant AMC countries are working to support host governments to apply to the COVAX AMC, and prepare for vaccine delivery.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to protect British civil servants and consular staff working abroad from COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK based and international staff and their families undergo robust health clearance before they are posted to our embassies and missions overseas, or before travelling on official business. This ensures that any individual health risk can be mitigated by taking into account medical history, intended country of posting and occupation. Staff health overseas is overseen by our One HMG Healthline and advice from NHS trained doctors and nurses is available 24/7. The majority of government departments who deploy staff to the FCDO's overseas missions share this approach, although a small number opt for alternative medical cover. Staff and families are also supported by the FCDO Overseas Health and Welfare Team or HR teams in their own departments. The FCDO Chief Medical Officer and her team of health advisers advise our missions and their staff on the public health and hygiene measures they need to take individually and collectively to stay COVID safe. We keep healthcare overseas and medical evacuation under regular review. Our Estates professionals provide advice to ensure our offices and residential accommodation are maintained as COVID-secure environments for all staff and their families.
We are mindful of the need to protect our consular staff who provide help and support to British Nationals around the world 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Staff are able to provide support remotely and where face to face contact is necessary this is by appointment only. We have made adaptations to public counters and waiting rooms to make them COVID-secure and staff and visitors must adhere to stringent preventive measures including social distancing, face covering and hand hygiene. Where local COVID restrictions allow visits to British nationals in hospital or detention, we consider these on a case by case basis following a risk assessment. Consular staff handle challenging and distressing cases and are encouraged to attend regular wellbeing supervision sessions which are continuing remotely.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use the United Nations Sustainability Goals as a framework for their COVID-19 recovery strategy.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have a key role to play in framing and shaping recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and provide a valuable framework for ensuring a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery. We are proud to have led the UN Financing for Development workstream on recovering better for sustainability. As the Foreign Secretary said in his 29 September speech during the UN General Assembly, our recovery from COVID-19 must accelerate, not slow down our delivery of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prioritise (1) digitisation and (2) climate resilience capability building programmes, in their spending on international development.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is investing in multiple programmes that aim to increase digital inclusion and digital transformation in developing countries and emerging markets with a focus on underserved and marginalised communities. The programmes aim to address the fundamental constraints to digital inclusion, build cybersecurity capacity, support local digital economies and advise partner countries about digital transformation of the government and the economy through tools such as digital identification.
Countries need to take action to anticipate the impact of climate change to avoid more people falling into poverty and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a major focus of the UK's international climate finance, which helps both to avoid carbon emissions and build climate resilience. These include the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Least Developed Countries' Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience. We will use the UK's Presidency of the COP26 climate conference, in Glasgow in November 2021, to secure greater international support for adaptation and resilience measures.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the potential of digital trade to aid economic recovery from COVID-19, and (2) the digital divide between the UK and developing countries; and what plans they have to increase their spending on communication and digitisation capacity building to more than 0.2 per cent of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's total budget.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Digital trade can support economic recovery by enabling more trade to continue during global lockdowns and by opening new trading opportunities which the UK also stands to benefit from. During the COVID-19 pandemic we have been supporting businesses to adapt to the challenges of operating online. For example, our 'SheTrades Commonwealth' programme is helping women-owned businesses in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Bangladesh to use digital platforms to market their products and maintain relationships with clients remotely.
There is a deep global digital divide. For example, only 19% of individuals in the least developed countries are estimated to have internet access, while 91% of all UK adults have recently used the internet. The UK Government is investing in programmes that increase digital inclusion in developing countries and emerging markets. This includes the Digital Access Programme which is working in five countries to address the fundamental constraints to digital inclusion, build cybersecurity capacity and support local digital economies, with a focus on underserved communities. Future spending plans on communication and digitisation capacity building, and in all other areas, will depend on the outcome of the ongoing Spending Review.