Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that small-scale farmers in low-income countries have access to the Just Rural Transition Fund.
Answered by Vicky Ford
At COP26, the UK Government announced a new £65 million Just Rural Transition Support Programme. This programme will build on and scale-up current UK Government support to the Just Rural Transition (£9 million, 2020-23), which is helping countries to take initial steps towards implementing sustainable land use policies and practices, to deliver benefits for people, climate and nature. The new programme will support developing countries to design and implement approaches that help their farmers build resilience and drive investment into more sustainable methods of agriculture through repurposing agricultural policies and support. The programme will also include support to ensure that farmers, including smallholders, are involved in policy-making processes, for example through consultations, trials and pilot programmes for new technologies and approaches.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will assess whether (a) UK-made tear gas or (b) any other UK-made defence equipment has been used against protesters in Oman.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust export control regimes in the world. We consider all export applications thoroughly against a strict risk assessment framework and keep all licences under careful and continual review as standard. Human rights considerations form a key part of these assessments. We will not grant a licence if there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral statement of 12 January 2021, Official Report, column 160 on Xinjiang: forced labour, whether Magnitsky style sanctions are now being considered against the Chinese officials most closely involved with the human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government remains gravely concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang. On 12 January, the Foreign Secretary announced robust, targeted measures to help ensure that British organisations, whether public or private sector, are not complicit in, nor profiting from, the human rights violations in Xinjiang. These measures will target in a forensic way either those profiting from forced labour or those who would financially support it, whether deliberately or otherwise. We also continue to play a leading role in holding China to account for its human rights violations in the region, working closely with international partners. We keep all evidence and potential listings under the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime under close review.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the cost of the surplus covid-19 vaccine doses for low income countries will be met by the UK.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Prime Minister has confirmed that the UK will share the majority of any future excess COVID-19 vaccines from our supply with the COVAX international vaccine procurement pool. However, it is still too soon to say when we will have any surplus doses. Our current priorities are ensuring the safety of the UK population, and making sure that COVAX, the multilateral facility responsible for distributing COVID-19 vaccines, is able to allocate vaccines where they are needed most. We will set out more details on the funding mechanisms and any cost recovery in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of granting UK Export licenses for arms sales to Saudi Arabia on the UK's development goals in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government takes its export control responsibilities extremely seriously. All applications for export licences are assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. This is a rigorous assessment process which incorporates expertise from several Government Departments and takes into account a wide range of information from a variety of sources, including the UN and NGOs.
The UK is one of the largest humanitarian donors to Yemen, providing over £1 billion in UK aid since the conflict began. This has helped to make sure millions of vulnerable Yemenis have access to food and sanitation.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 potential effect of restricting arms sales to Saudi Arabia on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government takes its export control responsibilities extremely seriously. All applications for export licences are assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. This is a rigorous assessment process which incorporates expertise from several Government Departments and takes into account a wide range of information from a variety of sources, including the UN and NGOs.
The UK is one of the largest humanitarian donors to Yemen, providing over £1 billion in UK aid since the conflict began. This has helped to make sure millions of vulnerable Yemenis have access to food and sanitation.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 export of air-to-air refuelling equipment from the UK to Saudi Arabia on the war in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government takes its export control responsibilities extremely seriously. All applications for export licences are assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. This is a rigorous assessment process which incorporates expertise from several Government Departments and takes into account a wide range of information from a variety of sources, including the UN and NGOs.
The UK is one of the largest humanitarian donors to Yemen, providing over £1 billion in UK aid since the conflict began. This has helped to make sure millions of vulnerable Yemenis have access to food and sanitation.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 potential effect on the humanitarian situation for Yemeni people during the covid-19 pandemic of the US Administration's proposed designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is deeply concerned by assessments from the UN and NGOs that the US Administration's decision to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation is likely to disrupt the humanitarian response, an effect exacerbated by COVID-19. We have already engaged with the US to urge them to ensure that the vital humanitarian and COVID-19 response is able to reach Yemenis. We are calling on all parties in Yemen to facilitate the movement of humanitarian supplies and experts into and across the country to ensure an effective COVID-19 response. The UK is ready to support the World Health Organisation roll-out the COVID-19 vaccine once the Government of Yemen's application to the COVAX facility has been accepted. We are clear that agreeing a peace settlement will give Yemen the best chance of managing an outbreak of COVID-19; we call on all parties to engage constructively with the UN-led political process to achieve this.
On 3 December, the Foreign Secretary announced an extra £14million UK aid to help 1.5 million households access food and medicines, taking the UK's commitment to £214m this FY.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 potential effect of the US Administration's designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group on humanitarian (a) operations and (b) access in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are deeply concerned by assessments from the UN and NGOs that the US Administration's decision to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation is likely to disrupt the humanitarian response and stop vital food supplies getting in to Yemen. We have already engaged with the US to urge them to ensure that the vital humanitarian response, including food supplies, is not disrupted. Ministers and officials will continue to engage closely with the UN and other donors, including the US, to ensure life-saving humanitarian aid reaches the millions of Yemenis in need, to prevent famine where we can and to work with all parties involved to bring this extended conflict to a conclusion.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the US designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group on Yemen’s (a) economy, (b) level of food imports and (c) access to humanitarian support.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are deeply concerned by assessments from the UN and NGOs that the US Administration's decision to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation is likely to disrupt the humanitarian response and stop vital food supplies getting in to Yemen. We have already engaged with the US to urge them to ensure that the vital humanitarian response, including food supplies, is not disrupted. Ministers and officials will continue to engage closely with the UN and other donors, including the US, to ensure life-saving humanitarian aid reaches the millions of Yemenis in need, to prevent famine where we can and to work with all parties involved to bring this extended conflict to a conclusion.