Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with organisations that promote press freedom in the last 12 months

The FCO and its network of Embassies and High Commissions overseas has had extensive contact in the last 12 months with organisations that promote press freedom. This information is not recorded centrally and accordingly it would be impractical to attempt to produce a comprehensive list of such meetings and discussions. The Foreign Secretary himself met his Human Rights Advisory Group on 10 October to discuss current challenges to press freedom.

The FCO also supports projects run by organisations that promote press freedom. In the past 12 months, the FCO has granted more than £1.3 million from the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy to projects dedicated to freedom of expression and support for civil society.