Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his G7 counterparts on the content of the political declaration for the UN High-level Meeting on the fight against tuberculosis on 22 September 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK's £1 billion pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria's seventh replenishment will help the Global Fund and its partners provide TB treatment and care for 1.1 million people. The Global Fund allocates funding to countries according to need. The decision on how much of that funding each country allocates to TB rests with the countries themselves.
The UK is working closely with others, including G7 partners, to ensure that the political declaration for the UN High Level Meeting on the fight against tuberculosis includes tangible and ambitious commitments, with quantitative targets and mechanisms for accountability.
We strongly support meaningful civil society participation at the UN General Assembly High Level Week. In preparation for the UN High-level meetings, I attended a roundtable with All Party Parliamentary Groups and civil society to share perspectives and inform the UK's position in the negotiations on the political declarations. The UN has official avenues for civil society participation in the High-level meetings.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has held with his Ukrainian counterpart on attracting private investment into Ukraine to provide support for (a) development and (b) the military.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Foreign Secretary is committed to attracting business investment and mobilising private sector potential to help Ukraine to win the peace and build back a modern, open, green, and resilient country. The Foreign Secretary chaired numerous panels at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in London, which included the Prime Minister of Ukraine, First Deputy President of Ukraine, and Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau. These panels focused on the private sector's role in reconstruction and need for continued progress on reforms as essential for attracting private investment. The Foreign Secretary announced up to £240 million of UK bilateral assistance at the URC for 2023/24 demonstrating our ongoing commitment to Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 telecommunications sector in Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The FCDO is providing short and long-term support to help Ukraine defend itself, secure its free and democratic future, and deter future Russian aggression. Sustaining telecommunication connectivity, especially through space capabilities, is critical to delivering a coordinated response and supporting humanitarian efforts. The UK has supported and will continue to support Ukraine to maintain and rebuild their telecommunications network. The Ukraine Recovery Conference mobilised partners across the international community and the private sector in support of Ukraine, and Ukrainian telecommunication companies attended.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the (a) location and (b) status of Matiullah Wesa; and what steps his Department is taking to support Sustainable Development Goal 4 in Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government has repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict women and girls' education. We continue to support the delivery of education and Sustainable Development Goal 4 in Afghanistan through our bilateral and multilateral contributions and we are committed to upholding the rights of women and girls. We support the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan's call for the Taliban to clarify the reasons for Matiullah Wesa's arrest, and to ensure he has access to legal representation and contact with his family.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 (a) scale up the £11.6 billion of climate finance pledged over five years to developing countries and (b) include funding modalities that are accessible to local civil society actors.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is delivering on our commitment to spend £11.6 billion International Climate Finance (ICF) between financial year 2021/2022 and financial year 2025/2026, including £3 billion on development solutions that protect and restore nature. We are fully committed to ensuring that finance flows to the local level and are working on systems to increase local actors' role in development decision making. In addition, we have committed £100 million to delivering the aims and objectives of the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance which includes bringing together bilateral and multilateral providers, climate funds and recipient countries to ensure that climate finance reaches where it's most urgently needed and supports the most vulnerable populations.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 merits of creating a children and youth advisory council within his Department to help ensure that children and young people are consulted within crisis response and long-term development work.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is committed to the promotion, protection and realisation of children's rights in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We see meaningfully engaging with children and young people as a core part of this. For example, in 2022, my predecessor, Rt Hon Vicky Ford MP convened a roundtable with young people from conflict-affected countries to hear directly from their experience of crisis response. In May 2023, senior officials met with seven adolescent girls from around the world to discuss a range of key challenges in their contexts and their perspectives on best practice for consulting children.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 consult children on ways to address barriers to education.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO is committed to addressing barriers to education. A key part of this is engaging with children, particularly girls, on the issues that affect them. In May 2023, officials met with adolescent girls to hear about the barriers to education they are facing, including early and forced marriage, gender-based violence, poverty and conflict. Girls' Clubs, implemented through the UK's Girls' Education Challenge projects, consult students on the barriers they face to education and how best to overcome them. Club members in the Adolescent Girls' Education in Somalia project, were 12.5% more likely to remain in school, compared to their peers.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 that the psychosocial needs of children in (a) fragile, (b) conflict-affected and (c) humanitarian contexts are met appropriately.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As part of our role on the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), we call for access to non-discriminatory and comprehensive specialised services, including psychosocial support for children affected by conflict.
The FCDO has recently funded a project to provide protection services for children in Yemen; over 1300 children accessed high quality and safe psychosocial support.
Our UNICEF funding supports children in humanitarian situations who experience or are at risk of sexual violence including projects like the Blue Dot Shelters, which provide a safe space for families and children on the move in emergencies.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 merits of creating a special envoy on ending violence against children to help champion that issue and sustain high-level attention.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The FCDO is committed to protecting vulnerable children and helping them to grow up free from violence. Ending violence is a core strand of our International Women and Girls Strategy. Alicia Herbert OBE is the UK's Special Envoy for Gender Equality and her role includes championing an end to violence against women and children. Helen Grant OBE MP is the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Girls Education and her advocacy includes tackling violence as a barrier to education. We also continue to make leading contributions to the global evidence base through our What Works to Prevent Violence programme, including interventions to prevent violence against children.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to attend the Council of Europe summit in Iceland in May 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK looks forward to the upcoming Council of Europe Heads of State Summit in May this year. The Summit is an opportunity to re-affirm the importance the UK places in its work with European Partners, fortifying the Council of Europe to play a stronger role in Europe when strengthening and securing democracy. The UK attaches great importance to this Summit and the Prime Minister's Office is closely considering the invitation.