Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 adequacy of steps his Department is taking to help reduce global (a) spread of lethal disease and (b) infant mortality among individuals who lack access to adequate toilet facilities.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is committed to improving global health and ending the preventable deaths of children, newborns and mothers. The lack of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is still a major driver of children's illness and mortality. The Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition provided 14,800 health facilities with critical WASH supplies and services over the last three years. We support sanitation in schools in Mozambique and Ethiopia, and our new £18.5 million WASH Systems for Health programme will support governments to develop stronger systems critical to delivering sustainable and climate resilient WASH services - an important part of reducing the spread of disease and reducing infant mortality.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 counterparts in Turkey on attacks in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As a close NATO ally, we regularly engage the Turkish Government on regional stability, including in Syria. The Foreign Secretary most recently discussed this issue with the Turkish Foreign Minister in Ankara on 20 October. The UK recognises Turkey's legitimate security interests in the region but encourages restraint from activity that could lead to further destabilisation or civilian loss of life. Security and stability in the region are necessary to prevent worsening of the already serious humanitarian situation in northern Syria and enable the Global Coalition and its partners to continue the fight against Daesh. HMG encourages all international actors to do everything possible to ensure that sufficient aid reaches those in need.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 implications for his Department's policies of the humanitarian situation in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria following recent attacks.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As a close NATO ally, we regularly engage the Turkish Government on regional stability, including in Syria. The Foreign Secretary most recently discussed this issue with the Turkish Foreign Minister in Ankara on 20 October. The UK recognises Turkey's legitimate security interests in the region but encourages restraint from activity that could lead to further destabilisation or civilian loss of life. Security and stability in the region are necessary to prevent worsening of the already serious humanitarian situation in northern Syria and enable the Global Coalition and its partners to continue the fight against Daesh. HMG encourages all international actors to do everything possible to ensure that sufficient aid reaches those in need.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 assist Afghan nationals who formerly worked for the animal charity Mayhew and are now resident in Pakistan safely reach the UK.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Where Afghan nationals have been approved for relocation, we are continuing to support them to come to the UK.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has plans to review the amount of overseas aid spending allocated to Pakistan.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Overseas Development Aid (ODA) funding to Pakistan has changed over the years to reflect Pakistan's lower middle-income status. The FCDO publishes details of ODA spending at the end of each reporting period. Work continues to finalise aid allocations for all countries for this year.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will ensure that the EU-UK TCA Domestic Advisory Group will have balanced representation with a third of seats allocated to trade unions, a third to employers, and third to other civil society groups.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are working closely with other government departments and the devolved administrations to try to ensure a balanced, sectoral and geographical representation of civil society organisations including business organisations, Trade Unions, NGOs and charities, to represent all four nations of the UK.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will confirm when the first meeting of the EU-UK TCA Domestic Advisory Group meeting will be held.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is responsible for the Civil Society obligations in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Ministers are finalising the membership list for the UK Domestic Advisory Group and details of the first meeting will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 communities in Madagascar suffering from food insecurity and at risk of famine as a result of climate breakdown.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK is deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis in southern Madagascar, which is driven by multiple factors including climate shocks and the impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods. The UK is working closely with the UN, Government of Madagascar and other donors to ensure aid reaches those in need. In 2021, the UK has allocated £5 million to UN humanitarian agencies to provide life-saving food assistance, nutrition and health interventions, access to safe water and to reinforce humanitarian system coordination in southern Madagascar. This UK funding will reach 250,000 people, including the provision of food assistance to 132,000 people. In addition, the UK is a core contributor to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund which has allocated approximately £5.78 million to the international response this year.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 the activities of human rights defenders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
FCDO Ministers, our Ambassador and Embassy officials in Riyadh frequently raise concerns over the continued detention of human rights defenders, at senior levels with the Saudi authorities. In September 2020, the UK signed a UN Human Rights Council statement calling for the release of all political detainees. On 29 November 2020, the UK Ambassador for Human Rights and six European counterparts released a joint statement reiterating our call for the release of all political detainees, including women's rights defenders. On 25 February, the Foreign Secretary raised the continued detention of at least three women's rights defenders with his Saudi counterpart. We will continue to maintain a regular dialogue with the Saudi authorities on a range of human rights issues, including human rights defenders.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 merits of emulating the US administration’s change in policy on relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
US-Saudi relations are a matter for the US administration. The UK and Saudi Arabia have a longstanding bilateral relationship. We have vital national security and prosperity interests in maintaining and developing our relationship with Saudi Arabia, including in how we work together to tackle regional threats. We regularly raise concerns with the Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels, including Ministers, our Ambassador, and the British Embassy in Riyadh. No aspect of our relationship with Saudi Arabia prevents us from speaking frankly about human rights.