Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Israel on whether (a) digital services, (b) cyber security and (c) Artificial Intelligence products included in a potential trade agreement have been (i) developed and (ii) deployed during military activities in Gaza and the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Israel is an important trading and bilateral partner for the UK and remains a part of our trade negotiation programme but our Free Trade Agreement negotiations with them have not yet restarted.
In September 2024, we suspended export licenses to Israel for use in military operations in the Gaza Conflict. The suspension covers all items that we assess could be used in military operations in Gaza. This does not, however, include exports to the global F-35 programme.
We continue to use our range of diplomatic tools and bilateral dialogues with Israel to discuss issues of concern, including in relation to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the suspension of USAID programmes on his Department's international development programmes.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
We are currently working to assess the implications of the US funding pause across development sectors. We welcome the news that emergency food aid and life-saving humanitarian assistance should be exempt from the pause in US foreign aid. The UK's commitment to supporting both humanitarian aid and development across the world remains steadfast. Progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals requires collective action, and the UK will continue to work with international partners toward that vision.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 support the expansion of immunisation programs in northern Nigeria.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The UK supports immunisation programmes in Nigeria through GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation), the public-private global alliance that has helped vaccinate more than half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases. The UK's contribution to GAVI is £1.65 billion over five years (2021-2025). Nigeria will receive over $1 billion in funding from GAVI between 2018 and 2028, one of the largest of any country.
The UK continues to work with the Government of Nigeria to strengthen health systems in Northern Nigeria, which are crucial for ensuring access to life-saving vaccinations for the poorest and most vulnerable.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UK-Nigeria joint communiqué, published on 6 November 2024, what support for humanitarian action is included in the new UK-Nigeria Strategic Partnership.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
In the Financial Year 2024/25, UK humanitarian support to Nigeria totalled £33.5 million in life-saving assistance and has reached approximately 1 million people with our Humanitarian and Resilience Programme (HARP), reducing mortality and increasing resilience for people with the most severe humanitarian needs. This assistance is one part of our development partnership with Nigeria - an important component of the new UK-Nigeria Strategic Partnership.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2024 to Question 12938 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £500m allocated to his Department for spend on research and development in 2024-25 was classified as official development assistance.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
We are still in the financial year 2024-25 so the FCDO will not have final full year numbers until April 2025. However, at the start of the year, £500 million of ODA was allocated to research & development in FCDO.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11881 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £335m allocated to his Department for spend on research and development in 2025-26 will be classified as official development assistance.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
Following the spending review phase one settlement letters from HM Treasury (to which PQ 11881 refers), the FCDO is running an internal process to be agreed with Ministers, to decide on internal allocations for 2025-26. This will include allocations of Official Development Assistance.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2024 to Question 24458 on Gaza: Aid Workers, whether it is his policy that there should be an independent inquiry into the killing of the British aid workers by the Israeli Defence Forces.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
As set out in the answer to Question 24458, we are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel's investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. Their inquiry so far has highlighted failures in deconfliction processes and the unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved. This must never happen again.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many full-time equivalent staff from his Department work on programmes relating to the Horn of Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The FCDO employs 480-499 full-time equivalent staff in UK missions overseas and in Africa Directorate at headquarters covering the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan). Further support on the Horn of Africa is provided by other teams across the rest of the organisation. The UK delivers a wide range of programmes across the region, benefiting millions of people.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2024 to Question 22306 on Gaza: Aid Workers, whether the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs maintains his comment of 5 April 2024 that findings of Israel’s review into the killing of aid workers must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
As the Foreign Secretary has said, we are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel's investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. Their inquiry so far has highlighted failures in deconfliction processes and the unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved. This must never happen again.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 14 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, updated on 9 February 2024, whether his Department plans to recruit additional Tech Envoys.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
It is a priority action of the UK's International Technology Strategy to create the world's most extensive and capable technology diplomacy network, increasing the number of Technology Envoys, increasing our tech expertise across our global network, and uplifting the capability of our diplomats through training, secondments and recruitment. We are in the process of recruiting a North America Technology Envoy.