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Written Question
Sudan: Churches
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the reported incident of arson on the Wad Medani Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Sudan.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK has consistently denounced all human rights violations that have taken place in Sudan since 15 April 2023 and secured a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2023 to establish a fact-finding mission for Sudan. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), they have not observed a significant increase in the specific targeting or discrimination against any religious minorities because of their beliefs. We support OHCHR's continued monitoring of the situation in Sudan.


Written Question
Iran: Christianity
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of trends in the number of Christians arrested in Iran.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The UK condemns the continued persecution of religious minorities in Iran and is aware of the recent upsurge in arbitrary arrests of Christians. At the 78th UNGA, we co-sponsored the Iran Human Rights Resolution, calling for Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination on the basis of thought, conscience, religion or belief. The UK is an active member of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, where we continue to call on Iran to uphold fundamental rights. We are committed to promoting religious freedom and will continue to work with partners to promote the rights of Christians in Iran. We also work with our international partners in multilateral fora.


Written Question
Laos: Christianity
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of anti-Christian sentiment in Laos.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is committed to promoting and defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), as demonstrated by our hosting the 'International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief' in July 2022. We also work through the UN to promote and protect these rights. The UK Embassy in Laos raises concerns about limitations on freedom of expression and other human rights issues, including freedom of religion, on a regular basis, both publicly and in private and last did this on 10 January 2024. I visited Laos in September 2023 and raised our concern over particular human rights cases with Laos Ministers. We also raise country specific human rights issues at the UN Human Rights Council.


Written Question
Nigeria: Christianity
Tuesday 23rd January 2024

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Nigerian counterpart on the attacks on Christians in Plateau State on 24 December 2023.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Rising insecurity in Nigeria has affected all faith and non-faith communities, including Christians. UK Government officials and I regularly raise freedom of religion or belief, including the impact of insecurity on communities and the need to bring perpetrators to justice, with the Nigerian Government. The British High Commissioner has raised the recent attacks in Plateau with the Nigerian National Security Adviser. The High Commissioner and his team continue to work closely with the respective authorities to raise and address these issues through multiple forums.


Written Question
Antimicrobials: Drug Resistance
Monday 16th October 2023

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to increase official development assistance funding for (a) water, (b) sanitation and (c) hygiene infrastructure in healthcare facilities to help tackle antimicrobial resistance.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK remains committed to supporting access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities. The UK-funded Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies and trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements. We also help rally international attention on antimicrobial resistance through the global taskforce on WASH in Healthcare Facilities, working with World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners. The Statistics on International Development publication confirmed that UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on WASH totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilateral spend on WASH was £63 million in 2021. At this stage we are unable to confirm FCDO's future allocations to WASH.


Written Question
Development Aid: Water
Tuesday 19th September 2023

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of the Official Development Assistance budget is spent on improving in water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure in refugee camps (a) in sub-Saharan Africa and (b) globally.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK remains committed to protecting the lives and dignity of those in need of humanitarian assistance, including refugees, through providing safe and sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Our total Official Development Assistance spending on WASH in 2021 was £78 million through bilateral delivery and an estimated £63 million through multilateral delivery. The latest published and finalised data is available on GOV.UK in Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2021 [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2021]. We will continue to provide life-saving food and emergency health services, shelter, water, and hygiene services to refugee camps and vulnerable host communities.


Written Question
Kenya: Cholera
Tuesday 19th September 2023

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his counterpart in the Kenya Government on ways to support the rollout of the oral cholera vaccine programme in informal settlements.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK does not directly support cholera programmes in Kenya. The UK funds the Global Fund, Global Financing Facility (GFF), Gavi and UNITAID to help strengthen health systems. WHO and UNICEF support the Ministry of Health to counter cholera. An oral vaccination campaign commenced in February 2023 and to date has vaccinated 2.3 million Kenyans against cholera.


Written Question
Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine
Friday 8th September 2023

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181199 on Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of monitoring the (a) level of (i) complications and (ii) mortality during (A) abortion and (B) childbirth, (b) quality of aftercare for women following (1) abortion and (2) childbirth and (c) other outcomes associated with services (x) partly and (y) wholly funded from sexual and reproductive health rights funds.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is proud to defend and promote universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including safe abortion and maternal healthcare. The UK uses sexual and reproductive health funds to support services in a range of ways including technical assistance, funding drugs and supplies and delivering services directly, working through NGOs, governments and UN agencies. Examples include the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Supplies Partnership programme and the Global Financing Facility. The risk of complications without these services in place is extremely high. The UK monitors the work of our partners through annual reviews that assess progress against a set of indicators but also assess risk. Information on the monitoring of each of the UK's SRHR programmes can be found on DevTracker.


Written Question
Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine
Tuesday 20th June 2023

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181199 on Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of monitoring the level of funding that is allocated to (a) overseas abortion services and (b) supporting pregnant women and children overseas.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

FCDO tracks funding for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, including safe abortion services. However, as FCDO takes an integrated approach to our programming on sexual and reproductive health and rights, it is not possible to give a specific figure for our funding for the provision of safe abortion services.


Written Question
Safe Abortion Action Fund
Monday 23rd May 2022

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much the Government has provided to the Safe Abortion Action Fund in each of the past five years.

Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has provided the following to the Safe Abortion Action Fund in each of the past five years; £0 in 2017/18, £0 in 2018/19, £1 million 2019/20, £1 million 20/21 and £0.8 million 21/22. Available on the development tracker: https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-1-300875/transactions