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 diplomatic steps her Department plans to take to support the rebuilding of the Palestinian economy.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 13 October, alongside representatives from the Egyptian Government and the Palestinian Authority, I co-hosted a summit at Wilton Park focused on how we can leverage in private finance to support the reconstruction of Gaza and the recovery of the Palestinian economy, attended by business leaders from the region, international partners, and financial experts from here in the UK.
Both through short-term humanitarian relief, and long-term support, we are determined to help the Palestinian people as they rebuild their homes and livelihoods, and we will continue to drive international support for that effort as a crucial component of Phase Two of the US-led peace plan.
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 funding she plans to provide to support development efforts in (a) Pakistan and (b) Nepal in the (i) 2025-2026 and (ii) 2026-2026 financial years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For Financial Year 25/26, UK Government development funding for Pakistan is £103 million, and for Nepal it is £47 million. We are currently in the process of allocating budgets for 2026 onwards. The Minister for Development will inform Parliament in the usual manner when these budgets are confirmed.
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 assessment she has made of effectiveness of UK funding for (a) the United Nations Development Programme and (b) Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) assesses the effectiveness, value for money, performance and relevance of UK funding to multilateral organisations including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), through annual reviews and continuously encouraging effectiveness in delivery and reform where necessary. The FCDO scrutinises UN budget proposals to ensure activities are effective and in line with UK priorities.
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 funding she plans to provide to support UN peacekeeping operations in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For the 2025/26 peacekeeping fiscal year (July to June), the UK's mandatory contribution to the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Budget will be $245 million (4.7454 per cent) of a budget of $5.16 billion. Further funding will be required for the 2025/26 UK fiscal year following the Security Council's decision in September 2025 to establish a UN Support Office in Haiti, but the cost is yet to be confirmed. In addition, two UN Peacekeeping Operations are funded from the UN Regular Budget; the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) and the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO). Their respective budgets for the 2025 UN Regular Budget fiscal year (January to December) are approximately $9.680 million and approximately $41.4 million. The UK's contribution to the UN Regular Budget is 3.991 per cent. UN peacekeeping budgets are negotiated from May to June so figures for the UK's contribution in 2026/2027 will be available once budgets are confirmed. The UK has forecast for the entirety of the UN Regular Budget for 2026, so it is difficult to provide individual figures for both UNMOGIP and UNTSO budgets until they are agreed.
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 she plans to take to help ensure that there is an effective replenishment conference for the Global Fund to fight HIVAids, TB and Malaria.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is proud to be co-hosting the Global Fund's Eighth Replenishment with South Africa and looks forward to working with an expanded range of partners to help end AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for good.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is working with South Africa and the Global Fund on a range of international engagements and events to help generate international support for the Replenishment. For example, Heads of Mission have recently hosted events in support of the Global Fund at our High Commission in Canberra, our Embassy in Addis Ababa and our High Commission in Pretoria, in addition to bilateral discussions in other key countries.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 6 August 2025 to Question 68668 on Israel: Palestinians, if she will have discussions with her Israeli counterparts on (a) releasing children held in administrative detention, (b) the transparancey of information on the number of Palestinian children detained and (c) allegations in relation to the abuse of those children in detention.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly raises our concerns about Palestinian children in detention with the Israeli authorities. We are clear that children must always be protected, and their rights upheld in accordance with international law. We are horrified by reports of mistreatment or abuse of Palestinian children in detention and call on the Israeli authorities to investigate these urgently and to ensure any perpetrators are held to account. Children must only be detained in line with internationally agreed juvenile justice standards or other applicable international law, and we call for an end to the military detention of Palestinian children where this is incompatible with those principles. We continue to call on Israel to immediately facilitate urgent, unhindered access to all child detainees from the West Bank and Gaza to persons providing legal assistance, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and appropriate experts for the purposes of monitoring and reporting.
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 assessment her Department has made of the situation in Nepal.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and Nepal share a deep historic relationship. We were appalled at the violence that transpired in Kathmandu and across Nepal following protests that were triggered by the Government of Nepal banning a number of social media platforms, as well as public frustrations about levels of corruption and nepotism. The UK supports fundamental freedoms and respect for human rights in Nepal and elsewhere, including the right to protest and peaceful assembly. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) made public statements condemning the violence and calling for accountability and peaceful dialogue.
On 12 September, our Embassy in Nepal welcomed the appointment of Rt Hon Sushila Karki's as interim Prime Minister. As Nepal's oldest friend, we recognise the challenges ahead and affirm our commitment to support Nepali aspirations for accountability and inclusive governance.
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.