Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much of the £1 million Magna Carta fund for freedom of religion and belief projects remains unallocated.
Over the past two financial years (2018 - 19 and 2019 - 20), we allocated £1m to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) projects via the Magna Carta Fund. FoRB policy programming is now done through the John Bunyan Fund. This financial year, we have allocated less than before across human rights programmes because of delays as a result of COVID-19. This reduced amount also reflects the shorter delivery period for the remainder of this financial year. £100,000 has been allocated this financial year through the John Bunyan Fund for Freedom of Religion or Belief. None of this funding remains unallocated. Last financial year, the 15 research projects received around £140,000 in total.