Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 Tunisian counterpart on the imprisonment of Said Ferjani.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK monitors the situation in Tunisia closely, including the recent sentence and ongoing case against Said Ferjani. During his visit to Tunisia in January, the Foreign Secretary noted the importance of political participation and human rights in discussions with the Tunisian Government. and on On 17 February, our the British Ambassador to Tunisia raised the case of Mr Ferjani with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Officials are observing ongoing trial proceedings against Mr. Ferjani to signal our support for the importance of a free and fair trial, and met members of his family on 27 February to discuss his case.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 international counterparts on the development of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to equality and opportunity for all, with a particular focus on those most likely to be marginalised and discriminated against, including on the grounds of their age. We are open in principle to the idea of a multilateral instrument dedicated to the human rights of older people and will continue to play a constructive role in discussions on this issue at the UN and other relevant fora.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help increase supplies of (a) potable water and (b) electricity in North Kivu.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a leading partner for the humanitarian response in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and is deeply concerned by the humanitarian impacts of the current situation in North Kivu. We are already the second largest donor in country, allocating over £62 million of assistance this year through capable partners. This includes providing £8 million to fund water and sanitation infrastructure to displacement sites, and £10 million to assist with food security, shelter, healthcare and protection. As a result of this humanitarian programming on water supply development, hundreds of thousands of affected people have been supported with clean drinking water through this crisis period. Our partners are now restarting their work to deliver life-saving infrastructure to scale across North Kivu. UK funds have also supported the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to re-establish electricity access there by at least 75 per cent.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of allegations of serious human rights abuses and atrocities committed by the Ethiopian Government in Amhara.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is aware of reports of human rights violations in Amhara, and we are engaging all sides to call for peace and accountability. The Minister for Africa raised the issue when he met Prime Minister Abiy in October 2024. To help alleviate suffering, we co-hosted a humanitarian pledging conference in April that raised $610 million, including a £100 million UK contribution, with funds raised providing lifesaving support to civilians across Ethiopia, including in Amhara. We are working to assist delivery of this support to those most in need, and we are also supporting the implementation of the Government of Ethiopia's Transitional Justice policy, including by improving the investigative capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to declassify documents on Hong Kong dated prior to 1 July 1997.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Documents created about Hong Kong pre 1997 are part of the FCDO's ongoing high priority transfer programme to The National Archives. Currently we have transferred documents up to 1994 (Link to catalogue: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C15105). We aim to have completed the transfer of all documents up to 1997 to The National Archives by approximately 2027.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what bilateral funding to tackle malnutrition levels across northern Nigeria will be in 2025/26.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to tackling the increasing levels of malnutrition across northern Nigeria. The FCDO will make funding decisions for programming in 2025/26 in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to expand (a) inpatient, (b) community-based, (c) outpatient and (d) other nutritional treatment services across northern Nigeria.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports access to essential life-saving health services in northern Nigeria through the Lafiya Programme. Lafiya supports the states of Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Borno and Yobe to strengthen their health systems to improve access for the poorest and most vulnerable people. This includes access to inpatient, outpatient and community-based services to detect and treat severe acute malnutrition. The UK invests in Global Nutrition programmes including the Child Nutrition Fund which provides 1:1 matched funding for Nigerian Federal and State governments to scale up resource allocation for nutrition, and financing for 6 million units of Micronutrient Supplements for pregnant women.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle malnutrition in northern Nigeria.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is providing support to tackle malnutrition in north-east Nigeria through the Humanitarian and Resilience Programme (HARP).
In 2024/25, the UK provided £12 million through HARP to UNICEF's Multisectoral Integrated Nutrition Action for Children, Adolescents and Women in North-East Nigeria (MINA) programme for prevention and treatment of malnutrition which aims to reach 500,000 children with life-saving support. HARP reduces mortality and increases resilience for people with the most severe humanitarian needs by (i) addressing food insecurity and malnutrition and (ii) protecting vulnerable people from harm.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to expand routine immunisation programs across northern Nigeria.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports immunisation programmes in Nigeria through our contributions to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate more than half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases. The UK's contribution to GAVI is £1.65 billion over five years (2021-2025). Nigeria will receive over $1 billion in funding from GAVI between 2018 and 2028, one of the largest of any country.
The UK continues to work with the Government of Nigeria to strengthen health systems in northern Nigeria, which are crucial for ensuring access to life-saving vaccinations for the poorest and most vulnerable people.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that humanitarian funding is allocated based on assessed needs.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO is committed to being a principled humanitarian donor, prioritising humanitarian assistance to people in greatest need by using data and evidence to guide allocation decisions.
We have announced a doubling of support for people hit by the humanitarian emergency in Sudan, as well as providing support for people in Gaza, in Lebanon and in other crisis situations.