Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what additional measures her Department is implementing to ensure that UK arms are not licensed or exported to contexts where they could be used to commit violations of international law.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Strategic Export Licensing Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to consider the possible impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We examine every application on a case-by-case basis against strict criteria. Risks around human rights and international humanitarian law violations are a key part of our assessment. The Government will not grant a licence for items where we determine there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate internal repression or a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems; and whether her Department will support a global ban on the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems at the meeting of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons on 2 December 2021.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK - alongside many other states - is unconvinced of the utility of a global ban on the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems. Existing International Humanitarian Law provides a robust, principle-based framework ideally suited to the regulation of new technologies. The UK believes that efforts within the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons are better focused on the establishment of a set of positive obligations to ensure autonomy is used responsibly, ethically and in compliance with international law.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Department's news story, UK announces £274m boost to climate resilience across Indo-Pacific, published on 8 November 2021, from which budgets that funding will be provided; whether that funding has been previously announced; and whether her Department plans to distribute that funding in the form of grants or loans.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The funding for the Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme comes from the UK's Official Development Assistance budget. This is a new programme providing adaptation finance and was announced for the first time at COP26 on the 8th November 2021. It will contribute to the UK's existing commitment to provide £11.6 billion in International Climate Finance, announced in 2019, including £3 billion towards protecting nature and biodiversity.
The Department will provide funding for CARA in the form of grants. Our partners will then deploy a mix of technical assistance and capital investments to achieve the programme objectives.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts on the UN Security Council on the Burmese military troop build-up and increasing military attacks in Myanmar’s Chin State, Sagaing Region and Magwe, North-Western Myanmar.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK is deeply concerned about the situation in Chin, Sagaing and Magwe, particularly the significant troop movements by the Myanmar Armed Forces and reports of multiple civilian casualties. Current clashes have created mass displacement, with thousands of people now fleeing across the Indian border into Manipur and Mizoram state. This not only exacerbates the crisis in Myanmar but causes further regional instability. On 15 October, the British Embassy in Yangon released a statement urging the military to end their campaign of violence and flagging our concern for communities, their livelihoods, property and places of worship. We are monitoring developments closely and are in discussion with our international partners in the UN Security Council.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Stirling of the 23 September 2020 on the the arbitrary detention of journalists, activists and protesters in Kurdistan, Iraq.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The reply to your letter was issued on the 25 October.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his priorities are for nutrition in the context of the Department’s seven priority areas for international development set out in his oral contribution of 26 November 2020, Official report, column 1018.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Addressing malnutrition is important for wider UK objectives to alleviate poverty and to improve health and education in the poorest regions of the world. Our funding in areas such as health and humanitarian response will contribute to this effort. By shifting our focus to empowering partner governments and maximising how multilaterals support nutrition, we will strengthen the health and food systems needed to ensure people are well-nourished now and into the future.
Malnourished people are likely to be more severely affected by COVID-19 and the indirect impacts of COVID-19 are expected to increase malnutrition across Africa and Asia in particular. Prevention and treatment of malnutrition is part of FCDO's response to address the indirect impacts of COVID-19 in countries such as Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what meetings he has held with international nutrition aid organisations on changes to the level of funding for international development in 2021 to date.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Due to the seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy, the government has had to take tough but necessary decisions, including the temporary reduction in the aid budget from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of national income.
The Foreign Secretary and Ministers have met with a range of organisations, including those that work on nutrition, to discuss funding for international development at a strategic level. Officials have been in touch with FCDO partners to let them know the detail of revised budget allocations for this financial year and will continue to work with them to deliver on our shared objectives.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what impact assessment his Department has undertaken on reductions in nutrition aid funding on (a) international malnutrition and (b) the Government’s aims for girls’ education globally.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities as set out in the Strategic Framework for ODA. Officials considered any impact on women and girls, the most marginalised and vulnerable, people with disabilities and people from other protected groups, when developing advice to Ministers on ODA allocations for this financial year.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will provide details of the reduction in funding to nutrition based aid programmes, including the Technical Assistance for Nutrition (TAN) Programme.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Information about our nutrition spend in financial year 2021-22 will be publicly available through Development Tracker in due course.
As agreed by the Foreign Secretary, FCDO will focus its ODA investment and expertise on issues where the UK can make the most difference and achieve maximum strategic coherence, impact, and value for money.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the UK Government’s Protection of Civilians policy.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Ministerial responsibility for the Protection of Civilians (PoC) agenda is shared across Government departments. HMG's approach paper, published in August 2020, was drafted in collaboration between the former Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the former Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence. In line with the breadth and complexity of PoC issues, ranging from humanitarian access to urban warfare, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence continue to work closely on this agenda.