Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 the Government of Iran on its need to (a) respect the right to peaceful assembly and (b) release unfairly detained prisoners.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to raise human rights with the Iranian Government at every appropriate opportunity, both directly and in multilateral fora. This has included making clear to Iran that the violence levelled at protestors is totally unacceptable and must stop, through summoning Iran's most senior diplomat here in London, and through our ambassador in Tehran. We also supported successful votes to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Support of Women and to establish an investigative mechanism into human rights abuses by the Iranian regime. The UK will work with partners to ensure this delivers for the people of Iran.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is she taking to help support the development of a democratic Sudan.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Since the military coup in October 2021 we have consistently pressed for a return to Sudan's transition to democracy. This includes through statements, discussion at the UN Security Council, and directly with different Sudanese political actors. We also provide support to civil society and the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan, which is mandated to assist Sudan's transition to democracy. Further, we have conveyed to Sudan's military leadership that the restoration of a credible civilian-led government is vital for the resumption of economic support and international debt relief.
We welcome the efforts of the UN and African Union to facilitate talks to end the crisis and urge all sides to engage fully in this process. We also call for the military to end arbitrary detentions, lift the State of Emergency and allow people to protest without fear of violence. These messages were delivered directly to Sudan's military leadership and other political actors during a recent visit to Khartoum by the UK Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, and other envoys, on 27-29 April.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made about the current impact of UK humanitarian aid to Sudan.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are concerned at the levels of humanitarian need in Sudan, with almost half the population expected to face hunger this year and the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates up to 20 million people will face "emergency" or "crisis" levels of acute food insecurity in 2022. This situation is driven by the ongoing political and economic crisis. As a leading donor, the UK continues to deliver lifesaving support to those who need it most. In 2021 we contributed £27 million to humanitarian response via partners, including the World Food Programme, the UN-led Sudan Humanitarian Fund, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. This provided approximately 1.2 million people with urgent assistance such as food, cash and voucher support, safe drinking water, shelter, and sanitation, with over 500,000 vulnerable children receiving free school meals.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made about the current impact of UK humanitarian aid on (a) malnourished Yemeni children and (b) Yemen.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK will spend at least £88 million on aid in Yemen over the course of the current financial year. This will help feed at least 200,000 people every month, provide lifesaving health care for 800,000 women and children, and treat 85,000 severely malnourished children. The UK plays a leading role in the Yemen humanitarian response and has spent over £1 billion on aid since the conflict began.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made about the current political situation in Yemen.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK welcomes the UN-brokered two-month truce in Yemen, which began on 2 April, and the creation of a Presidential Leadership Council on 6 April. After over seven long years of conflict, a negotiated political settlement is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and end the humanitarian suffering. The UK will continue to use its diplomatic relations and role as penholder on Yemen in the UN Security Council to support efforts towards political dialogue and peace. The UK continues to encourage the conflict parties to engage constructively with UN-led peace efforts.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress she has made with her international partners on ensuring a successful international covid-19 vaccination rollout in line with the capacity of national health systems.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK is committed to help bring the acute phase of the pandemic to an end and strongly supports the COVAX Facility as a key multilateral mechanism to deliver this. The UK is one of the largest donors to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million to support global vaccination, and will donate 100 million vaccine doses by mid-2022. During the UK's G7 Presidency, Leaders committed to share and finance one billion doses, primarily through COVAX. We will build on these priorities with Germany and Indonesia as they take on the Presidencies of the G7 and G20 in 2022.
COVAX and its Alliance partners work closely with governments to ensure robust and transparent distribution and reporting plans are in place to ensure priority groups are reached. The UK is an active member of the Gavi Board, which has agreed a new global co-ordinator and steering committee to support the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. The UK and COVAX partners are also working with countries to help health systems deliver vaccines. This includes engaging with communities and leaders to build trust, provide correct information, and encourage uptake.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress the Government has made on sharing 100 million doses of covid-19 vaccinations by June 2022 as part of a G7 commitment to provide an additional one billion doses.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Our G7 Presidency in 2021 secured agreement from leaders to commit to sharing at least 870 million doses by June 2022. The G7 has gone further since June, and donated 770 million doses by the end of 2021 and committed to donate an additional 1.2 billion doses.
We have met the UK goal of donating 30 million doses by the end of 2021, as part of our G7 pledge to donate 100 million doses by June 2022. To date, the UK has delivered 23.3 million doses to countries in need of which 17.8 million have been delivered via COVAX and 5.5 million doses donated directly. A further 7.5 million doses have been received by COVAX and will shortly be allocated and shipped in line with COVAX's fair allocation model. The Prime Minister said at the G20 in October 2021 that we will donate 20m further Astra Zeneca doses and 20 million Janssen doses to COVAX and we remain committed to meeting our 100 million pledge in full by June 2022.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting educational opportunities for women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We continue to press the Taliban to ensure the full and equal access to education for all. Secondary schools are now open to girls in at least 10 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces and the Taliban have publicly said they are working towards a plan to get all girls back to school. The Foreign Secretary has discussed women's rights, including girls' education, with international counterparts including at the G7 and at the 12 October extraordinary meeting of G20 Leaders on Afghanistan, where the Foreign Secretary represented the Prime Minister. We will continue to work with the international community to use our influence to secure women's and girls' rights to access to education and jobs and to participate in public life. The Minister of State for South Asia, UN and the Commonwealth, attended the annual Women, Peace and Security Open Debate at the UN Security Council in October and met prominent Afghan women to discuss how the UK can best support Afghan women and girls.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress the UK has made as President of the G7 to remove barriers to education across the world.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Meeting under the UK Presidency, G7 Foreign and Development Ministers endorsed two new global targets on girls' education in low-income and lower-middle income countries, which we are calling on the world to help deliver by 2026. Ministers also endorsed a girls' education declaration which specifically states that the G7 will work in collaboration with developing country partners, multilateral institutions, civil society, girl-led groups and youth leaders to remove the obstacles to education that stand in the way of girls. This includes addressing the social, environmental and institutional barriers to education such as reducing violence in and out of schools, reducing harmful cultural practices such as child marriage and FGM, and amending restrictive policies or legislation that prevent girls from thriving in school.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what objectives he plans to pursue as co-chairman of the Global Partnership for Education's Replenishment Summit in July 2021.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The primary objective of the Global Education Summit (GES) is to raise as much as possible of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)'s $5 billion over five years. At the G7 Summit, the Prime Minister announced the UK pledge of £430 million to GPE, which is our largest ever pledge, and an uplift of 15 per cent from our current position as top bilateral donor. This significant pledge meant we were able to secure commitment from G7 partners of at least $2.7 billion to GPE ahead of the GES.
The UK intends to support the GPE in diversifying its funding base with new sovereign and private donors, and is working closely with our co-hosts, Kenya, to galvanise domestic financing to education from developing nations. At the Summit, we hope to secure up to $4 billion, which is 80 per cent of GPE's $5 billion 5-year target, providing the single biggest ever boost to children's education opportunities around the world.