Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations the Government has made to the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on the closure of humanitarian international NGOs in that country.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are very concerned that the Nigerian Military has closed the offices of Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria. We have not raised the issue directly with the Nigerian High Commissioner in London instead focusing our engagement directly with the Federal government in Nigeria. We have urged the Government of Nigeria in Abuja to follow due process with the relevant judicial authorities to allow an impartial hearing in accordance with Nigerian Law and to enable the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations the Government has made to the United Nations on the expulsion of humanitarian international NGOs operating in in North-East Nigeria.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are concerned that the Nigerian Military has closed the offices of Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria. We have raised our concerns with the Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria and with our partners and are directly discussing this with senior leaders in the UN at a global level. We welcome the efforts of the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Nigeria to push for a resolution to the dispute and for closer collaboration between the UN and Government of Nigeria.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the humanitarian situation in North-East Nigeria of the closure of international NGO operations in that country.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are very concerned that the Nigerian Army has closed the offices of Action against Hunger and Mercy Corps in North East Nigeria.
NGOs in the North East of Nigeria, including Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps, provide millions of people with crucial, life-saving assistance. When these organisations are forced to withdraw it has a huge impact on the lives of the most vulnerable. We have urged the Government of Nigeria to complete their investigations swiftly to resolve the dispute and to enable the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance. We must ensure unimpeded access for people in need in line with International Humanitarian Law.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen mechanisms to enable perpetrators to be accountable for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Support for international criminal justice and international humanitarian law is a fundamental element of the UK's foreign policy. The UK believes that justice and accountability for the most serious international crimes are crucial to building lasting peace and security. In line with these principles, the British Government has supported the strengthening of a number of mechanisms to enable justice and accountability for the most serious international crimes.
The UK, as a State Party to the Rome Statute, provides financial, political and practical support to the International Criminal Court. We are one of the largest contributors to the Court, contributing £9.7m in 2018. The UK, together with a number of other States Parties, is proposing a number of actions to strengthen the Court to help it to fulfil its mandate under the Rome Statute. These will be discussed at the Assembly of States Parties in December. Our goal is to improve the Court's ability to deliver justice for victims of atrocity crimes that fall under its jurisdiction.
Since 2016, we have committed almost £1 million to the UN International Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) to support the preparation of legal cases for serious crimes under international law committed in the Syrian conflict. Following UK-led lobbying, on 1 August the UN Secretary General announced a new Board of Inquiry to investigate attacks on civilian infrastructure during the recent violence in Northwest Syria. We are also committed to supporting the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The UK played a leading role in the joint European Union and Orginisation of Islamic Cooperation resolution that set up the IIMM, which will collect and preserve evidence of human rights violations for future prosecutions.
Furthermore, we intend to establish a UK human rights sanctions regime under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 after we leave the EU. The regime designed to target individuals who have committed serious human rights violations, but who would otherwise not be addressed by the current geographical and thematic sanctions regimes.
We work through the multilateral system not only to support the implementation of agreed standards on human rights, democracy and the rule of law; but also to hold countries to account when they violate those standards. For example, in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the UK was instrumental in invoking the Moscow Mechanism in response to the serious human rights violations in Chechnya. The UK has been vocal in both the Permanent Council and the Human Dimension Committee in its criticism of those participating states that fail to uphold universally agreed principles. Similarly, in the Council of Europe the UK has been consistent in challenging those member states that fail to meet their obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights, including the execution of judgements by the Court.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Secretary of State’s letter of 16 September 2019 to the Chair of the Committees on Arms Export Controls, what steps the Government is taking to review the way in which information is exchanged with the Joint Export Control Unit.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As the Secretary of State said in her statement to Parliament on 26th September, as soon as the issue was brought to her attention on the 12th September, she took immediate action:
This investigation will: (i) establish the precise circumstances in which these licences were granted; (ii) establish whether any other licences have been granted in breach of the Undertaking to the Court or the commitment to Parliament; and (iii) confirm that procedures are in place to ensure that no further such breaches can occur. The Director General Policy Group at the Department for Work and Pensions has been appointed to lead this investigation.
During the course of this investigation, licence applications for Saudi Arabia and its Coalition partners will be referred to a new weekly meeting of senior officials from DIT, FCO and MOD. (Some will have been refused by this point, for example where they fail to meet one or more of the Consolidated Criteria.) This meeting will reach a recommendation for Ministers as to whether applications are within the scope of the Undertaking and the Parliamentary Statement, applying a further checklist of questions which are designed to ensure that: (i) current and full information is available to enable an assessment of whether the items in question are for possible use in the conflict in Yemen; and (ii) if there has been any change in circumstances in the conflict in Yemen, this is properly included in the assessment. All recommendations to grant licences for the export of items to Saudi Arabia and its Coalition partners will now be referred to Ministers for decision.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Secretary of State for International Trade’s letter of 16 September 2019 to the Chair of the Committees on Arms Export Control, when the British Embassy in Riyadh became aware that Royal Saudi Land Forces were operational in Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In line with its formal role in providing advice to DIT on the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provided its advice on the three applications in question for export to Saudi Arabia on 2 April and 6 June 2019. On 18 June 2019, the FCO team in the Export Control Joint Unit received information from the British Embassy in Riyadh that RSLF troops were deployed in Yemen. At this stage, the FCO was unaware that the licences had not already been issued by DIT and this was before the undertaking to the court on 20 June.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has make of the accuracy of the Saudi Press Agency release of 14 September 2018 that stated that an RSLF helicopter crashed on operations in in Al-Mahra province in Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We closely monitor the situation in Yemen, however we have not made an assessment on the incident in question.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Secretary of State for Trade’s letter of 16 September 2019 to the Chair of the Committees on Arms Export Control, for what reasons the Department for International Trade and Ministry of Defence were not immediately informed that the Royal Saudi Land Forces were operational in Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In line with its formal role in providing advice to DIT on the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provided its advice on the three applications in question for export to Saudi Arabia on 2 April and 6 June 2019. On 18 June 2019, the FCO team in the Export Control Joint Unit received information from the British Embassy in Riyadh that RSLF troops were deployed in Yemen. At this stage, the FCO was unaware that the licences had not already been issued by DIT and this was before the undertaking to the court on 20 June.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children in Kenya have access to high quality education.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As one of the largest donors to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), DFID is helping to ensure that children in Kenya have access to high quality education. GPE supports the Government of Kenya to develop national education sector plans, improve early grade mathematics and strengthen school management systems. Through UK support to the Girls’ Education Challenge, we are also improving learning opportunities and outcomes for Kenya’s most marginalised girls.
In partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Education in 2015, DFID provided funding to rigorously test a new structured approach to early grade teaching. The approach helped teachers better meet the needs of all students, provided continual coaching and monitoring, and improved teaching materials. The Kenyan Government scaled the approach nationwide. Independent research shows this reform led to the percentage of grade two children meeting learning benchmarks in English rising from 34% to 65%.
Asked by: Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure that girls in Kenya who become pregnant are able to re-enter education.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DFID is helping to improve life opportunities and learning outcomes for the most vulnerable girls in Kenya including those who are pregnant, through our £154 million Girls Education Challenge (GEC) programme. Through investments in catch up classes, financial assistance, and support for life skills and confidence building, GEC is supporting girls who are pregnant and young mothers, to re-enter education.