Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what is the estimated carbon footprint of his recent visit to Samoa.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
An essential aspect of the Foreign Secretary's role is to represent the UK's interests on the global stage and ministerial travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective arrangements. The information required to calculate the carbon footprint of official overseas ministerial travel will be published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website. It has been the practice that official FCDO flights to attend major events are carbon offset where that is possible. The Foreign Secretary travelled via a commercial flight to Samoa for CHOGM, following travel to South Korea, China and Indonesia.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of Chinese activity in Somalia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
China is a significant partner for many countries. The Somali Government pursues its international trading, development and political relations as it chooses. The UK's focus is on working closely with the Somali Government to support its ambitious programme for a more stable and peaceful Somalia. This includes the provision of humanitarian relief and crucial support for the fight against Al-Shabaab.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help provide resources to Somalia and Somaliland, in the context of drought in 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Somalia urgently needs life-saving aid. In late 2022 I visited Somalia and saw how the drought is impacting millions across the country. I met President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, other government figures and humanitarian delivery partners, to discuss preparation for future crises. I also announced further UK aid, bringing the total humanitarian, health and nutrition support in Somalia to over £61 million this financial year.
In Somaliland, as part of a wider package of humanitarian and development support, the UK is working with partners to provide health and nutrition support, including to over 80 health facilities, providing services in the context of drought with the support of our partner UNICEF.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Somalia and (b) Somaliland on the status of Somaliland.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK, consistent with the entire international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. It is for Somaliland and Somalia to come to an agreement about their future relationship. Any new arrangements would need to be recognised by the African Union and neighbours in the region. The African Union is the pre-eminent regional body mandated to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States, of which Somalia is one. The UK encourages dialogue between Mogadishu and Hargeisa on this issue. During my visit to Somalia in November 2022, I reiterated this position in my engagements with the Federal Government of Somalia.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the ongoing civil rights protests in Iran, what steps his Department is taking to support women's rights in that country.
Answered by David Rutley
Mahsa Amini's death is a shocking reminder of the repression faced by women in Iran. On 10 October, the UK sanctioned the Morality Police, two of its leaders and five others for serious human rights violations. For decades, the Morality Police have used the threat of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and their public behaviour. These sanctions send a clear message that the UK will hold Iran to account for its repression of women and girls. We continue to urge Iran to improve its human rights record at all appropriate opportunities, including on women and girls, and to work with international partners to ensure accountability.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia on that country's invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK condemns Iranian support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Iran's supply of drones is in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Iran is profiting from Russia's attacks on Ukrainian citizens, causing human suffering and the destruction of critical infrastructure. On 20 October, new UK sanctions targeted Iranian individuals and businesses responsible for supplying Russia with drones. On 21 October, jointly with France and Germany, we wrote to the UN Secretary General in support of a UN investigation into the Iranian transfers. We will continue to work with the international community to hold Russia and Iran to account.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) integrate nutrition across its programming and (b) use the OECD policy marker for nutrition, including in its programmes in the Horn of Africa.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK is committed to integrating nutrition objectives and interventions across multiple sectors including health, humanitarian, women and girls, climate and economic development partnerships. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nutrition Policy Marker is now embedded in our systems to ensure that FCDO programmes contributing to nutrition objectives are 'marked' from the point of programme design, including those in the Horn of Africa. This will help to improve tracking and accountability for nutrition programmes.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how his Department's funding for (a) Somaliland and (b) Somalia will be spent in the 2022-23 financial year; and how much and what proportion of the funding will be spend on programmes to help tackle child wasting.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK is a major humanitarian donor to the East Africa region and UK-funded activities are making a difference and saving lives. Since 1 April 2022 the UK has allocated £52.8 million in humanitarian, health and nutrition support to alleviate the impact of drought and address the risk of famine in Somalia and Somaliland.
An estimated 1.8 million children under the age of 5 are affected by acute malnutrition in Somalia. UK support is providing emergency cash transfers, life-saving health and nutrition services and supplies, and supporting immediate access to food for people in rural communities. In early 2022 FCDO Ministers approved 'Better Lives'; a new multi-year health and nutrition programme in Somalia targeted at mothers and children.
Given the current fiscal context, the FCDO is not able to publish forward programme allocations in our Annual Report. The original allocations would not be accurate, and it would be misleading to publish detailed disaggregated budgets at this time.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's commitment at the Nutrition for Growth Summit in December 2021, what progress he has made on (a) spending £1.5 billion by 2030 on tackling global malnutrition and (b) maintaining 20 per cent of overall nutrition spending specifically on nutrition programmes.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Information about spending to tackle global malnutrition in 2021 and 2022 will be made available through Statistics for International Development (SIDS) in Autumn 2022 and Autumn 2023 (respectively). We will continue to publish our spend information by project on DevTracker as always (updated monthly). The FCDO has disbursed over £5 billion of Official Development Assistance for nutrition between 2013 and 2020 and spent £530.2 million on nutrition specific programmes, just missing our 2020 target of £574.8 million. We are now focused on achieving our 2021 Nutrition for Growth commitment to spend £1.5 billion by 2030.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department plans to publish an action plan for supporting child health and survival, including its funding strategy for routine vaccination programmes for children.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK published our approach paper on Ending the Preventable Deaths of Mothers, Babies and children and Health Systems Strengthening Position Paper in December 2021. Together these lay out the UK's approach to improving maternal and child health through the four pillars of strengthening health systems, improving inequality, tackling the wider determinants of health, and research and innovation.
The UK's commitment to improving the reach and equity of routine childhood vaccination cuts across these pillars and is reaffirmed in these papers. The UK's contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is supporting them to vaccinate 300 million children, saving 7-8 million lives through 2021-25.