Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 human rights situation in Myanmar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The military regime continues to commit human rights violations across the country, including against Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minorities. Since the coup in 2021, the military has cracked down on all opposition, with journalists, medical professionals, civil society actors and faith leaders targeted and imprisoned. On 21 December 2022, the UN Security Council passed the first ever resolution on the situation in Myanmar, led by the UK. The Resolution highlighted the oppression faced by people across Myanmar and demanded an end to violence and the release all those arbitrarily detained. To end the culture of impunity in Myanmar, we have established the Myanmar Witness programme, which collect and preserves evidence of human rights violations for future prosecution.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support the UN General Assembly’s plan to offer increased support for Least Developed Countries ahead of the 5th UN Conference on least developing countries taking place in March 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to supporting Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and delivering for our partners at the fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCV). Our International Development Strategy sets out our approach to channel the majority of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) towards low-income countries where there is a clear commitment to progress. It also states that we will continue to support the global goal of providing at least 0.2% of our Gross National Income to Least Developed Countries. We continue to assess our overall offer to LDCs, which includes the provision of ODA, to develop a better, deeper, offer, from expertise to finance and trade.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 effectiveness of the UK’s current aid provision to least developed countries.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to supporting Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and delivering for our partners at the fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCV). Our International Development Strategy sets out our approach to channel the majority of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) towards low-income countries where there is a clear commitment to progress. It also states that we will continue to support the global goal of providing at least 0.2% of our Gross National Income to Least Developed Countries. We continue to assess our overall offer to LDCs, which includes the provision of ODA, to develop a better, deeper, offer, from expertise to finance and trade.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to increase UK foreign aid for least developed countries ahead of the 5th UN Conference on least developing countries in March 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to supporting Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and delivering for our partners at the fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCV). Our International Development Strategy sets out our approach to channel the majority of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) towards low-income countries where there is a clear commitment to progress. It also states that we will continue to support the global goal of providing at least 0.2% of our Gross National Income to Least Developed Countries. We continue to assess our overall offer to LDCs, which includes the provision of ODA, to develop a better, deeper, offer, from expertise to finance and trade.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will review the impact of UK firms on working conditions in other countries.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO does not have plans to conduct a review of the impact of UK firms on working conditions in other countries.
The UK Government is a strong advocate for promoting and implementing established international principles and frameworks - such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (through the UK's National Action Plan) and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises - which encourage businesses to protect and improve human rights and the environment across their operations and supply relationships. The UK is committed to the eradication of all forms of modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking (Sustainable Development Goal 8.7) by 2030.
The FCDO's Supply Partner Code of Conduct provides a mechanism to ensure that organisations delivering services or goods for the government provide both value for money and behave ethically. This is embedded proportionately within all FCDO contracts, holding suppliers responsible and accountable for ethical behaviour, safeguarding, social responsibility and human rights. Membership of the UN Global Compact on Business and Human Rights is a requirement for suppliers with commercial contracts.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Thailand on the working conditions of people making goods for UK firms.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is clear that it expects all UK businesses to respect human rights throughout their operations, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights. In 2015, we introduced the Modern Slavery Act, which requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to publish an annual modern slavery statement stating the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
The Government expects companies to report transparently about how they are mitigating modern slavery risks and to use their modern slavery statements to demonstrate year on year progress. This enables consumers, shareholders and civil society to scrutinise the efforts being made. The Foreign Secretary has not discussed labour conditions or the rights of garment workers in Thailand with his counterpart in Thailand.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 mitigate the impact of recent attacks on Ukraine’s power grids.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK is providing support to repair and restore Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as well as supporting Ukrainian air defence to protect critical infrastructure against Russian attacks. We have provided £22 million in direct support for Ukraine's energy sector, including £10 million for emergency energy equipment, £7 million for over 850 generators and £5 million for civil nuclear safety and security equipment. We have also provided a financial guarantee of €54.4 million to unlock €97.3 million in European Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan financing to help ensure Ukraine's provision of electricity to its citizens. We are working with UK industry to mobilise the provision of equipment and services and with international partners to scale up assistance.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 impact of humanitarian support to Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK has committed £220 million of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and the region to enable the provision of essential services and protection for the most vulnerable, including women and children, the elderly and those with disabilities. UK funding has supported the UN to reach over 13.4 million people in need. We work closely with the Government of Ukraine, the UN and international partners to assess humanitarian needs. We continue to assess and monitor all programmed assistance spent on Ukraine and the region. We have contracted an independent monitoring supplier to conduct field visits of our projects. A review of humanitarian spend will be published in late 2023.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his counterpart in Columbia on harassment of women and LGBTIQ+ people during protests.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Colombia is a UK Human Rights Priority Country and UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues with the Colombian Government. Most recently, Minister Rutley visited Colombia last month and met with Álvaro Leyva, Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the UK's ongoing support for the Colombian peace process and other security and social challenges. We are clear that we support the right of all Colombians to protest peacefully, and that the right to peaceful assembly and association must be guaranteed.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 support African countries experiencing outbreaks of monkeypox.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO is leading coordination of the cross-government international response to Mpox. Through our support to CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), the UK is supporting early action including Research & Development funding to support the development of potential vaccines. The UK committed £160 million to CEPI in February 2022. To help strengthen testing, the UK is funding partners such as the Wellcome Trust to support a network of UK and international institutions on research into Mpox antiviral testing and treatments in selected countries, including in West and Central Africa. We continue to share UK surveillance data to inform the global response.