Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the implications for its policies of the Tunisian Government's conduct in respect of civil society organisations.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
During his visit to Tunisia in June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister of State for North Africa, met with civil society representatives. In his official meetings, including with President Saied, Lord Ahmad reiterated the UK's belief in the importance of civil society, strengthening human rights, and including all voices in building resilient and successful democracies.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy not to sign Memorandums of Understanding with the Tunisian Government in the context of President Saied's recent dissolving of Parliament.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK closely monitors the economic and political situation in Tunisia and will continue to do so as the new constitution is published on 30 June and the referendum takes place, scheduled for 25 July. The UK stands ready to play a constructive role as Tunisia addresses significant political and economic challenges. The UK believes that increasing cooperation and unlocking opportunities is beneficial both for the UK and Tunisia. Sustainable energy, education, private sector trade and investment and other areas are important for mutual prosperity and the creation of jobs. We also regularly emphasise the importance of accountability and inclusive political participation in the democratic process, most recently during the visit of Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister of State for North Africa, in June.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of (a) reported shortages of medical and basic need items, including first aid kits on the front-lines, amongst Ukrainian forces and (b) the further steps that the UK Government could take to assist in this matter.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK has not supplied medical equipment to the Ukrainian military during this conflict. We have focused our supply of military support on other areas, including heavier weapons, while other countries have supplied medical support. We have however made the offer that the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and other UK military medical facilities will be made available to injured Ukrainian service personnel.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What steps he has taken to secure international co-operation on the Leaders Pledge for Nature to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 for sustainable development.
Answered by James Duddridge
We are working to build support for the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature, and 88 countries so far have signed up. I am pleased that in the last two weeks, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Guyana, and Suriname have also signed up. Just last weekend, the Prime Minister secured commitments from G7 Leaders to work together to tackle biodiversity loss, including to protect at least 30% of global land and ocean by 2030.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the Ethiopian Government to cease hostilities, especially in Tigray Province to prevent an escalation of the conflict and civil war and; what support his Department has offered to help guarantee unhindered humanitarian access and the restoration of basic services in Tigray.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is concerned by the violence between federal and regional forces in the Tigray region. The Foreign Secretary called Prime Minister Abiy on 10 November to raise our concerns and stress the urgent need for de-escalation and for unfettered humanitarian access. He reiterated these messages when he met Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke on 25 November. I also reiterated this in my tweets of 24 and 19 November and when I spoke with the Ethiopian Ambassador in London on 18 November. We will continue to track the situation and to raise with the Government of Ethiopia and regional leaders these concerns, our concerns about civilian deaths and casualties, and the importance of respect for human rights.
We are contributing to UN-led planning efforts for Tigray. It is important that agreement between the UN and the Ethiopian Government, which permits access to government controlled areas of Tigray, also quickly paves the way for unfettered access to those areas that remain contested. We are in close contact with UK-funded humanitarian agencies there to understand humanitarian needs and what programme adaptations are required, as well as monitoring the regional situation. In Ethiopia, the UK provides funds to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Ethiopian Humanitarian Fund, to provide food assistance, shelter, water and sanitation, health, nutrition and protection support. In Sudan, flexible UK funding to WFP and the UNHCR is already helping new refugees from Ethiopia to receive emergency assistance, including shelter and food. These agencies have proven themselves capable of working in high risk contexts, in Ethiopia and elsewhere, and for managing UK funds adeptly.