Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with international partners on greater protections for journalists in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is appalled by the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions of media workers in the State of Palestine. We have called on all parties to fully uphold International Humanitarian Law and ensure protection of civilians including journalists. In a recent joint statement with 28 other members of the Media Freedom Coalition, we called on the Israeli authorities and all other parties to make every effort to ensure that media workers in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem can conduct their work freely and safely. The statement also called for all attacks against media workers to be investigated and for those responsible to be prosecuted in compliance with national and international law. Earlier this year the UK provided funds to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Special Fund for Gaza, supporting locally based journalists and providing vital equipment.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with international partners on greater protections for humanitarian workers in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has repeatedly made both public and private representations to Israel to ensure that humanitarian workers are protected and medical and aid workers can do their jobs safely.
At the UN, the UK has worked to enhance the safety of aid workers by co-sponsoring United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2730 on the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel in 2024. Working with our Australian counterparts, we developed the political Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel which launched at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 21 and secured endorsement from 105 states. We will continue our engagement to drive forward implementation.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Harrow West of 1 December 2023 on the AlShaikh family.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence, particularly on urgent matters. We are investigating the matters raised carefully and a response will be issued shortly.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the criteria of Eligible Persons for evacuation from the Gaza strip to non-British nationals with permission to travel to the UK .
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO are making attempts across multiple channels to keep in touch with the British nationals in Gaza to provide the most accurate advice as to how and when to cross the Rafah Border. The FCDO usually provides consular assistance to British nationals and their non-British national immediate family members, including a spouse, partner, and children under 18, as long as they are travelling with or accompanied by a British national.
We are aware of the difficulties affecting those who would like to exit Gaza. We therefore encourage any British national to register their presence via the FCDO's Travel Advice page. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have both repeatedly reinforced the importance of ensuring that all foreign nationals are able to evacuate Gaza safely, as well as ensuring that humanitarian aid urgently reaches those who need it most in Gaza. We are continuing to raise this at the highest levels.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Harrow West of 20 October 2023 and 31 October 2023 on the the detention of his constituent overseas.
Answered by David Rutley
We are grateful to the honourable Member for bringing this matter to our attention. Whilst we are unable to locate the correspondence of 20 October (it would be appreciated if this could be re-sent to fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk), the Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, will reply to the honourable Member's correspondence of 31 October in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines. We remind the honourable Member that we provide MPs with a dedicated hotline for enquiries of a more urgent nature.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is providing support to the African Continental Free Trade Area; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has a programme of support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and its Member States. The programme is in its first year of implementation, providing trade policy and trade facilitation support for negotiations and implementation through TradeMark Africa, ODI and other regional partners. Our assistance has supported the completion of the investment negotiations; developing plans to improve freight flows along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, with upgrades starting at the Ghana-Togo border and is advising Ghana and Nigeria on manufacturing value chain development and positioning the private sector to grasp AfCFTA's new trading opportunities.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff in his Department have been allocated to deal with issues related to international trade in (a) each of the past five years and (b) the next two years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) works to promote a free and fair global trading system and provides diplomatic and international engagement support to Department of International Trade efforts to secure world-class trade agreements, advising on all aspects of foreign and development policy. FCDO also works with HMG partners to build effective economic partnerships, seize opportunities from investment and free trade, and unlock the mutual advantages of growth.
In September 2022, the Economic Security Directorate headcount (UK Based staff only), which covers staff working on the above objectives, was 100-119; in September 2021 it was 120-139. Prior to September 2021, data for staff working on trade in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was not recorded centrally. Following the Autumn Budget, the FCDO will be launching detailed Business & Country Planning and Workforce Planning processes, that will help determine workforce requirements from 2023-24 onwards.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the Partnership for Vaccine Manufacturing initiative to increase African vaccine manufacturing.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Vaccine availability has improved across Africa since late 2021. Increased and diversified manufacturing will strengthen health services and improve preparedness for future pandemics. We are supporting the Africa Centres for Disease Control's "Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing" by providing market analysis on priority vaccines for the region, to inform manufacturers' and investors' planning. We have provided technical support to develop business cases for production in South Africa, Senegal and Morocco. Our approach contributes to sustainable manufacturing in the medium and longer term across Africa through commercially viable businesses operating within an ecosystem of skilled workers, innovative technology, and effective regulation.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government will take to support the World Health Organisation's mRNA Technology Transfer Hubs in light of commitments within the G20 Leaders’ Declaration.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We are working with industry, Gavi and other international partners on practical efforts to scale up capacity and engage on planning to accelerate vaccination programmes globally. In March 2022, the UK hosted the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit, which raised over US$1.5 billion, including a UK pledge of £160 million to Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to help develop vaccines against new health threats in 100 days and rapidly scale-up manufacturing. We continue our engagement to identify opportunities for the UK to collaborate with initiatives and implementing partners, including with the G20 as it takes forward work in this area.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much financial support her Department has provided to organisations based in (a) India, (b) Sri Lanka, (c) Nepal and (d) Afghanistan to help tackle hunger in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In India, the FCDO provided £8.6 million in food assistance and basic nutrition support over 2016-2020, and is supporting the Samridhi Fund to invest in the farming sector and contribute to reducing hunger.
In Sri Lanka, the UK provides support as one of the largest donors to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). CERF provided food assistance through cash transfers to 21,788 people during the drought in 2017, and this year is supporting 22,034 people.
In Nepal, the UK's broad development programme contributes to reducing hunger through our humanitarian, nutrition, climate resilience and livelihoods work. For example, in 2020-21 the UK provided £5.28 million to support 204,296 women and children, including through a feeding programme.
Afghanistan remains one of the world's most severe food security crises. Over 2016-2020, the FCDO provided at least £50.3 million towards food assistance and basic nutrition, and has dispersed £159 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan since August 2021.