Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help tackle (i) child labour, (ii) child marriage, (iii) malnutrition and (iv) other barriers to education and (b) improve (A) access to education and (B) learning outcomes in fragile and conflict-affected states.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Addressing barriers to education is an FCDO priority. When learning outcomes are poor, lower value is placed on education and girls are more likely to drop out of school. This can lead to child marriage or child labour. We have invested in research programmes to understand how best to tackle learning poverty, including links to nutrition. The UK is also a leading donor to Education Cannot Wait. ECW supports conflict or crises-affected children - the largest group of out-of-school children facing increased risk of exploitation. Through UK support since 2017 ECW has reached seven million children in over 30 countries.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that the psychosocial needs of children are being met in (i) fragile and conflict-affected states and (ii) other humanitarian contexts.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As part of our role on the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), we call for access to non-discriminatory and comprehensive specialised services, including psychosocial support for children affected by conflict.
The FCDO has recently funded a project to provide protection services for children in Yemen; over 1300 children accessed high quality and safe psychosocial support.
Our UNICEF funding supports children in humanitarian situations who experience or are at risk of sexual violence including projects like the Blue Dot Shelters, which provide a safe space for families and children on the move in emergencies.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of his Department developing a cross-departmental child rights strategy to help support its humanitarian aid response for children.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is committed to the promotion, protection and realisation of children's rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, including when crises hit.
Children are a central part of FCDO's work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, including through access to quality education and health care, or through protecting them from violence. Consideration of children's rights is integrated across recent strategies, including the recently published Preventing Sexual Violence in ConflictInitiativeStrategy which commits the UK to enhancing support available to survivors and children born of sexual violence in conflict, and a new Position Paper on Addressing the Climate Crises through Girls' Education which recognises that girls can be agents of change in their communities.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) steps his Department is taking to support the rights of Uyghur Muslims in extra-judicial detention in Xinjiang and (b) recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on human rights abuses in China.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang including the extra-judicial detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in "political re-education camps", systematic restrictions on Uyghur culture and the practice of Islam, and extensive and invasive surveillance targeting minorities.
On 28 July, the Foreign Secretary raised our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi. On 30 June, the UK read out a formal statement on behalf of 28 countries at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council highlighting arbitrary detention, widespread surveillance and restrictions, particularly those targeting Uyghurs and other minorities, and urging China to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights meaningful access to Xinjiang. We will continue to raise our concerns with China bilaterally, and through the UN working with international partners.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will consult with children and young people on the formation of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Government continues to engage with all relevant stakeholders on issues relating to the merger.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's spending will adhere to the OECD Development Assistance Committee's internationally agreed standards for aid spending; and whether that Office will retain the legal safeguards and scrutiny mechanisms provided by the (i) International Development Committee, (ii) Independent Commission for Aid Impact and t(iii) International Development Acts.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
There are no plans to repeal or replace any of the Acts. Spending 0.7 percent of our national income on aid is enshrined in law. We will continue to be guided by our responsibilities under the International Development Act, including a commitment to poverty reduction. The Government will undertake the necessary parliamentary process to transfer responsibilities under the International Development Act to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be accountable to parliament for how it spends UK aid. The form this takes is a matter for parliament.