Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times UK ambassadors have met Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in the past year.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not collect data on the engagement with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) across the FCDO network of overseas Posts. However, Posts are encouraged to promote all equalities issues globally, including disability inclusion, and engage directly with OPDs regularly. Since the merger of FCO and DFID, a substantial new programme of capability building on how to do this has been established, including a 'how to note' on engaging with OPDs specifically.
Engagement is increasing but the FCDO has further to go. Recent examples include the Ambassador in Jakarta's meetings with OPDs and disability inclusion partners on at least four occasions over the last year; and the High Commissioner in Rwanda's meeting with a group of local OPD representatives to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities earlier this month.
The Minister for Development has also included meetings with OPDs where possible during her travel schedule, including meeting an organisation of women with disabilities in South Sudan, and visiting OPDs in South Sulawesi, Indonesia who are receiving technical assistance from the FCDO's Disability Capacity Building Programme.
We will launch a refreshed version of the FCDO's Inclusion and Rights Strategy at the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in April 2025. The voices and agency of people with disabilities will remain a core focus of the strategy and of our wider work on disability inclusion.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of UK Ambassadors have met with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in the past year.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not collect data on the engagement with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) across the FCDO network of overseas Posts. However, Posts are encouraged to promote all equalities issues globally, including disability inclusion, and engage directly with OPDs regularly. Since the merger of FCO and DFID, a substantial new programme of capability building on how to do this has been established, including a 'how to note' on engaging with OPDs specifically.
Engagement is increasing but the FCDO has further to go. Recent examples include: the Ambassador in Jakarta has met with OPDs and disability inclusion partners on at least four occasions over the last year; and the High Commissioner in Rwanda, who met a group of local OPD representatives to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities earlier this month.
I have also included meetings with OPDs where possible during my travel schedule, including meeting an organisation of women with disabilities in South Sudan, and visiting OPDs in South Sulawesi, Indonesia who are receiving technical assistance from the FCDO's Disability Capacity Building Programme.
We will launch a refreshed version of the FCDO's Inclusion and Rights Strategy at the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in April 2025. The voices and agency of people with disabilities will remain a core focus of the strategy and of our wider work on disability inclusion.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish a list of embassies ranked by the number of times they have met Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in the last year.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not collect data on the engagement with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) across the FCDO network of overseas Posts. However, Posts are encouraged to promote all equalities issues globally, including disability inclusion, and engage directly with OPDs regularly. Since the merger of FCO and DFID, a substantial new programme of capability building on how to do this has been established, including a 'how to note' on engaging with OPDs specifically.
Engagement is increasing but the FCDO has further to go. Recent examples include the Ambassador in Jakarta's meetings with OPDs and disability inclusion partners on at least four occasions over the last year; and the High Commissioner in Rwanda's meeting with a group of local OPD representatives to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities earlier this month.
I have also included meetings with OPDs where possible during my travel schedule, including meeting an organisation of women with disabilities in South Sudan, and visiting OPDs in South Sulawesi, Indonesia who are receiving technical assistance from the FCDO's Disability Capacity Building Programme.
We will launch a refreshed version of the FCDO's Inclusion and Rights Strategy at the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in April 2025. The voices and agency of people with disabilities will remain a core focus of the strategy and of our wider work on disability inclusion.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which UK ambassadors have met Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in the last year.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not collect data on the engagement with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) across the FCDO network of overseas Posts. However, Posts are encouraged to promote all equalities issues globally, including disability inclusion, and engage directly with OPDs regularly. Since the merger of FCO and DFID, a substantial new programme of capability building on how to do this has been established, including a 'how to note' on engaging with OPDs specifically.
Engagement is increasing but the FCDO has further to go. Recent examples include: the Ambassador in Jakarta has met with OPDs and disability inclusion partners on at least four occasions over the last year; and the High Commissioner in Rwanda, who met a group of local OPD representatives to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities earlier this month.
I have also included meetings with OPDs where possible during my travel schedule, including meeting an organisation of women with disabilities in South Sudan, and visiting OPDs in South Sulawesi, Indonesia who are receiving technical assistance from the FCDO's Disability Capacity Building Programme.
We will launch a refreshed version of the FCDO's Inclusion and Rights Strategy at the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in April 2025. The voices and agency of people with disabilities will remain a core focus of the strategy and of our wider work on disability inclusion.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Europe.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government will reset relations with our European friends and strengthen ties to boost economic growth, enhance our security through an ambitious UK-EU security pact and tackle shared challenges.
The European Political Community Summit at Blenheim Palace on 18 July brought together 46 European leaders to advance this reset. To take forward this work, the Foreign Secretary travelled to Germany, Poland and Sweden in his first weekend in the role and I conducted my first visit to Greece.