Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of Official Development Assistance is spent on (a) fragile and (b) conflict-affected states.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2023, 64 per cent (£1.4 billion) of the of the UK's country-specific bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) was of scored to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) 2022 States of Fragility which provides a list fragile and conflict-affected states. This figure understates the true level as it does not include core contributions to multilateral organisations where funds cannot be directly tracked to benefitting countries. Additionally, this total does not include bilateral non-country specific ODA in the form of regional or centrally managed programmes, for which the beneficiary country cannot be individually identified.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
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 support peacebuilding efforts by Israeli and Palestinian civil society.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This government has been clear; we are committed to pursuing a lasting solution to the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, including through achieving a two-state solution. We continue to support efforts to this end through our aid programmes, which assist civil society in Israel and Palestine on a range of issues, including peacebuilding and conflict resolution. We further support grassroots local peacebuilding efforts between Israeli and Palestinian civil society, for example on more inclusive and conflict-sensitive journalism.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Canadian counterpart on reports of anti-Hindu hatred in that country.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister Joly engage regularly on a wide range of topics. They last spoke on 15 October. The UK will continue to work with its partners to tackle all forms of extremism to ensure the safety of our communities. We are clear that incitement of violence or hatred against individuals based on their religion or belief is unacceptable.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with (a) the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and (b) other multilateral organisations to help eradicate polio.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is proud to be a longstanding supporter of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), having contributed £1.4 billion since 1995. The UK continues to be a supportive partner to the GPEI and will take every opportunity to ensure every child everywhere is safe from Polio, including in conflict-affected areas. The UK is engaging internationally to reinforce the importance of delivering the second polio vaccination campaign in Gaza this month. The UK is also one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Investing £1.65 billion from 2021 - 2025 to support eligible countries with polio vaccines as part of essential childhood immunisations.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure access to (a) safe and (b) effective polio vaccines in conflict-affected areas.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is proud to be a longstanding supporter of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), having contributed £1.4 billion since 1995. The UK continues to be a supportive partner to the GPEI and will take every opportunity to ensure every child everywhere is safe from Polio, including in conflict-affected areas. The UK is engaging internationally to reinforce the importance of delivering the second polio vaccination campaign in Gaza this month. The UK is also one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Investing £1.65 billion from 2021 - 2025 to support eligible countries with polio vaccines as part of essential childhood immunisations.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Israeli counterpart on the death of Muhammed Bhar.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Whilst we have not raised this case specifically, the government does raise International Humanitarian Law compliance regularly with Israel. The Foreign Secretary last spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Katz on 02 October. This Government is clear that International Humanitarian Law must be upheld, and civilians protected. The Foreign Secretary has raised issues of International Humanitarian Law compliance on several occasions with the Israeli government. We want to see an immediate ceasefire and we need the hostages returned immediately and unconditionally. We must see greater protection of civilians, a rapid increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, and Israel to enable the UN and humanitarian agencies to be able to operate safely in Gaza.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the right to freedom of religion in that country.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to Freedom of Religion or Belief for all, as guaranteed under international human rights law and promoting respect and tolerance between different religious and non-religious communities. In July, the Foreign Secretary and I expressed concern about the situation in Bangladesh and called for all sides to work together to end the violence. We support the independent fact-finding mission by the United Nations to identify human rights violations in Bangladesh.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
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 ensure that all children in (a) Palestine and (b) Gaza have access to polio vaccination.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK convened the August 2024 emergency session of the UN Security Council to drive urgent action to address the risk of a polio outbreak in Gaza. We are supporting delivery through our funding to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), alongside our wider support to United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary noted the importance of the full and effective delivery of the polio vaccination campaign in his statement to the House on 2 September. The UK continues to work with international partners to reinforce the importance of pauses in military operation to allow the delivery of the second vaccination campaign this month. The UK also funds Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is helping wider immunisation of children living in Gaza, the West Bank and within the Palestinian populations in Lebanon.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will raise the case of Alice Kisiya with his Israeli counterpart; and what diplomatic steps he is taking to help protect land rights of Palestinians.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's position is clear. Settlements are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution. We recognise settlements have reached record levels in the past year and have been accompanied by an increase in settler violence. We urge Israel to take greater action to hold violent settlers to account. During his visit in July, the Foreign Secretary met Palestinians displaced in the West Bank. He was horrified to hear of acts of violence carried out by settlers. The UK has sanctioned eight people and two entities responsible for perpetrating, inciting, and promoting human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. While we do not comment on specific cases, we keep all these issues under review, and we discuss them with our closest allies. The Foreign Secretary was clear with PM Netanyahu on his visit to Israel and the OPTs (July 2024) that the Israeli government must clamp down on settler violence and end settlement expansion.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the reported (a) use of violence and (b) detention of Palestinian land owners in the West Bank by Israeli (i) settlers and (ii) soldiers.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's position is clear. Settlements are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution. We recognise settlements have reached record levels in the past year and there has been an increase in settler violence. We urge Israel to take greater action to hold violent settlers to account. The UK strongly condemns settler violence and provocative remarks such as those made by Israel's National Security Minister Ben-Gvir which threaten the status quo of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem. The UK has sanctioned eight people and two entities responsible for perpetrating, inciting, and promoting human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. We keep all these issues under review and we discuss them with our closest allies.