Anum Qaisar

The Department for International Trade and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office discuss the interlinkages between the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement, and the wider UK-Israel foreign policy relationship on a regular basis. This joined-up approach has informed the published strategic approach to the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement, including the Government's approach to these issues.

The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world and we remain committed to the promotion of universal human rights.

Under the current UK-Israel agreement, goods imported from illegal settlements are not entitled to the benefits from trade preferences. Palestinian goods imported from the Occupied Palestinian Territories benefit from the trade preferences in the bilateral agreement negotiated between the UK and the Palestinian Authority.

The UK does not recognise the Occupied Palestinian Territories as part of Israel, including illegal settlements.

Under the current UK-Israel agreement, goods imported from illegal settlements are not entitled to the benefits from trade preferences. Palestinian goods imported from the Occupied Palestinian Territories benefit from the trade preferences in the bilateral agreement negotiated between the UK and the Palestinian Authority.

The UK does not recognise the Occupied Palestinian Territories as part of Israel, including illegal settlements.

No. Defence matters are outside the scope of all UK Free Trade Agreements (FTA).

The Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and aims to operate one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. An FTA with Israel will not impact on export controls in relation to arms exports.

On 20 July, negotiations between the UK and Israel for an upgraded, innovation-focused Free Trade Agreement (FTA) were launched. As part of this, our strategic approach to the negotiations was published on GOV.UK. This document sets out the UK’s key objectives in these negotiations.

Promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment is central to the Government’s ‘Modernising Trade’ agenda and features explicitly in UK negotiation objectives.

We are using our FTAs to open new opportunities for women. We have already secured dedicated chapters with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand as well as important additional commitments across these agreements.

We replied to the hon. Member on 22 March 2022.

Israel must abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the importance of regularised access to healthcare with the Israeli authorities. We recognise that under international humanitarian law, Israel, as the occupying power, has a duty of ensuring and maintaining public health to the fullest extent of the means available to it. The wounded and ill in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) should be able to access the urgent medical care they need.

While the seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take tough but necessary decisions, the UK remains a longstanding supporter to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) and values its importance as a vital humanitarian and stabilising force in the region. In the financial year 2022/2023, the UK provided UNRWA with £18.7 million and in 2023/4 our funding is approximately £10 million. Our annual contribution to their programme budget helps UNRWA provide education to over 533,000 children a year (half of them girls), and access to health services for 3.5 million Palestinian refugees. We are aware of UNRWA's financial challenges and frequently raise this with MENA regional partners at ministerial level, most recently with the government of the United Arab Emirates. To that end, the UK Government is working with UNRWA and other international donors to help ensure its sustainability.

We have long supported resolutions consistent with our policy, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334. The UK's position on settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution and indeed contribute to the negative trends that imperil the two-state solution. We urge Israel to halt settlement expansion immediately and we continue to monitor the changes to the settlement approval process instituted by the Government of Israel on June 18, which facilitate swifter approval of construction in settlements.

The UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions and evictions are contrary to international humanitarian law. Our opposition to the demolition of Palestinian property is long-standing. The practice causes unnecessary suffering and is harmful to efforts to promote peace. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. Most recently, on 7 May, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon wrote to the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, to express the government's opposition to the demolition of Jubbet Adh Dhib school. Lord Ahmad has also visited a school under threat of demolition in Masafer Yatta during his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in January.

British International Investment's (BII) investments are scrutinised by independent evaluators through the FCDO-BII Evaluation and Learning Programme.

Each sector evaluation includes analysis of the poverty alleviation and gender impact. Recommendations for improving impact and BII responses are published on FCDO's and BII's website. A multi-sector evaluation is currently under way, which includes a review of BII's healthcare portfolio.

In addition, BII commissions and publishes its own case studies, evaluations, and evidence reviews to help better understand the impact of its investments. Relevant case studies and evaluations include the impact of access to finance for healthcare facilities in Kenya [https://www.bii.co.uk/en/news-insight/insight/articles/what-is-the-impact-of-improved-access-to-finance-for-healthcare-facilities-in-kenya/] and investing for impact in India [https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/06212044/Investing-for-impact-in-India_BII.pdf].

Intermediated investments allow Development Finance Institution's to effectively: provide smaller levels of financing, raise standards in the wider market, support the development of local institutions, and mobilise other capital.

British International Investment's (BII) Policy on Responsible Investing [https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/22114326/Policy-on-Responsible-Investing.pdf] sets out BII's business integrity and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) expectations. This includes drawing on the standards set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Legally binding Business Integrity and ESG action plans are developed to improve standards of all investees over a defined period; and investees are risk assessed on a quarterly basis across various dimensions of risk including ESG and business integrity.

High environmental, social and business integrity risks are reported to FCDO and there is an established process for escalation of significant incidents.

Approximately 120 - 150 permanent members of staff at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, based in the UK and at the British Embassy in Yangon, work on policies relating to, or support our embassy in Myanmar.

Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has provided approximately £120 million to support the people of Myanmar. This has included life-saving assistance responding to the conflict and displacement, support for emergency health care and education and supporting civil society. We also recently announced an additional £2 million to support the Cyclone Mocha response.

Breakdown of ODA figures:

From 01 Feb 2021 to 31 Mar 2022: we provided £8 million

In financial year 2021/22: we provided £49.5 million

In financial year 2022/23: we provided £57.3 million

In financial year 2023/24: our allocated budget is £30.1 million (we have spent £5.13 million so far).

We have led international efforts to put pressure on the military regime and reduce its access to revenue, arms and equipment. On 27 March, the UK announced its fifteenth round of sanctions, designating those who profit from the supply of aviation fuel and military equipment to the Myanmar Armed Forces. We will continue to impose a cost on the military regime's actions, working closely with our partners in the US, Canada and the EU to ensure a strong, coordinated and targeted response.

It has long been the government's view that Israel's presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is as an occupying power and therefore is governed by the provisions of the Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a state party. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and we have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. We stress the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population. It is vital that Israeli security operations all actions are proportionate, in line with international humanitarian law and calibrated to avoid civilian casualties. The Foreign Secretary along with the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon frequently engages with Israelis and Palestinians on issues relating to the occupation. The Foreign Secretary most recently spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen on 26 June.

The compounding pressures of conflict and cyclical climate disasters are driving unprecedented humanitarian needs, across the Horn of Africa. It is clear that humanitarian funding must complement and work alongside longer-term climate finances to help break the cycle of crisis and to build resilience. To support these efforts, in July the UK will host a conference at Wilton Park to agree concrete actions on how vulnerable countries can secure a proportionate share of climate finance which can be used to promote adaptation and resilient development.

The £143 million is part of a wider bilateral Official Development Assistance allocation for East and Central Africa of £389.8 million as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement on 30th March 2023.

Local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) play an important role in delivering UK funded humanitarian support in East Africa and beyond. We work and consult closely with local NGOs to aid their planning, delivery and ability to access funding.

In Ethiopia in 2022 the UK provided £7.6 million to the UN's Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF) which supported a range of international and national NGOs. Similarly, the UK-funded 'Building Resilient Communities in Somalia' programme has supported a number of local NGOs alongside international civil society organisations. More broadly, the UK funds a number of Country based Pooled Funds (CBPF) and in 2022, nearly 22 percent of funding allocated by CBPFs went directly to national NGOs.

In the course of its illegal invasion, Russia has shown a total disregard for its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, and is responsible for numerous violations and abuses of human rights. Russia continues to deny full, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to territory under its temporary control, where millions of people are in acute need of humanitarian assistance. Reporting from the UN and OSCE concludes that Russia's treatment of civilians, including killings, torture and forced transfers, may amount to war crimes. The UK is committed to holding Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine, including by supporting the International Criminal Court and Ukrainian domestic investigations.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by crises. In East Africa there is significant evidence to show the gendered impacts of drought, conflict and other humanitarian pressures.

Across East Africa UK humanitarian programmes support women and girls with access to nutrition services, maternal healthcare, access to education and gender-based violence prevention and support services. This is aligned with our commitments in the International Development Strategy on both women and girls and humanitarian action.

Afghanistan is one of FCDO's largest bilateral aid programmes. Since April 2021, the UK has spent £532 million on aid for Afghanistan. We continually monitor the situation in Afghanistan and support the UN led humanitarian response which prioritises according to need. The UK's development partnership with Pakistan focuses on underlying structural issues including population dynamics, climate vulnerability, protecting the rights of women and minorities and macroeconomic stabilisation. Within this partnership the UK has pledged a total of £36 million for flood relief efforts in Pakistan since 2022, of which over £25 million has been disbursed to date.

The FCDO supports a variety of initiatives to build political, cultural and religious understanding between Pakistan and its neighbours. These initiatives support wider regional stability and prosperity, whilst also reducing the risks of uncontrolled escalation towards violence.

The UK's top humanitarian priority is to secure operational security guarantees and workable humanitarian access. There can be no international aid without safe and reliable access. As part of our engagement as the Quad (KSA, US, UK, UAE) we have pushed both for the extension of the ceasefire and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access.

The UK will support a well-coordinated and prioritised regional response. We will coordinate with the international humanitarian system (including INGOs, UN agencies, Civil Society Organisations) to support the UN to be able to scale-up delivery within Sudan so they can move quickly to respond if and when the access situation improves.

The UK's top humanitarian priority is to secure operational security guarantees and workable humanitarian access. There can be no international aid without safe and reliable access. As part of our engagement as the Quad (KSA, US, UK, UAE) we have pushed both for the extension of the ceasefire and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access.

The UK will support a well-coordinated and prioritised regional response. We will coordinate with the international humanitarian system (including INGOs, UN agencies, Civil Society Organisations) to support the UN to be able to scale-up delivery within Sudan so they can move quickly to respond if and when the access situation improves.

The UK plays a leadership role in international discussions on developing country debt. The Government will continue to work with its international partners to urgently address debt vulnerabilities in low-income countries.

FCDO considers debt as part of its approach to international development. The Government will be responding to the International Development Committee's recent inquiry into debt relief in low-income countries in the usual manner, including their recommendation for a strategy.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub is in the early stages of its work. We continue to engage and support constructive dialogue with all involved stakeholders and assess over time its effectiveness.

The UK Government is not providing direct, earmarked funding to the Hub. However, the UK is the largest provider of flexible funding to the WHO and is the second largest funder of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The UK supports the expansion of vaccine manufacturing and is working with international and regional partners to catalyse strategic investments for vaccine manufacturing in low- and middle- income countries.