Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to (a) strengthen existing and (b) develop new training programmes to help women from religious minority communities understand their rights in countries that do not recognise and uphold those rights.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We remain deeply concerned at the scale of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) violations in many parts of the world. We recognise that people's religion and gender can increase their vulnerabilities, particularly those from minority groups.
The Department for International Development's programme on FoRB is supporting NGOs to work with minority religious communities. The programme will build the capacity of international development actors to mainstream FoRB into their programmes and develop ways to give voice to religiously marginalised groups. In addition to this, the programme will investigate existing evidence gathering tools on FoRB. The lessons will be openly shared through both reports and guidance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the security situation in that country after the rocket attacks on southern Israel from Gaza on 23 February 2020.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
I discussed the recent escalation in Gaza with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 26 February. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians are unacceptable and unjustifiable. The perpetual cycle of violence does not serve anyone's interests, and must end. The UK fully supports Israel's right to self-defence and to defend its citizens from such acts of terror. In doing so, it is vital that all actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law, and are calibrated to avoid civilian casualties. We call upon Hamas and other terrorist groups to permanently end their incitement and rocket fire against Israel and urge all parties to adhere to the ceasefire arrangement.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle rising levels of al-Shabaab violence in North East Kenya.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK and Kenya are close partners in the fight against global terrorism. To tackle the threat posed by Al Shabaab, the British Government provides the Kenyan authorities with a range of support. The British military is working with the Kenyan security forces to develop their counter terrorism capabilities. This includes partnering in the development of a counter-IED capability with a regional Centre of Excellence based in Nairobi. The UK is also engaging with regional partners to address the threat posed by Al Shabaab beyond North-East Kenya, including by providing pre-deployment training to troops deploying to the African Union Mission in Somalia. These efforts are complemented by UK-funded programmes addressing the root causes of radicalisation and violent extremism along Kenya's coast and the counties bordering Somalia.
We recognise Kenya's sacrifices leading the fight against Al Shabaab. Further strengthening our counterterrorism cooperation is a priority under the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership agreed on by the Prime Minister and President Kenyatta in their meeting on 21 January.