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 UNRWA on ensuring that educational materials used in UNRWA-run schools in the West Bank and Gaza do not incite violence and hatred.

Education is an essential component of the humanitarian response in Gaza, and critical to building the foundations for a sustainable and lasting peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people, grounded in a two-state solution. It is therefore essential that partners delivering education services across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), not least the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), uphold the highest standards of neutrality. £1 million of the UK's funding support for UNRWA has been earmarked to implement the recommendations of Catherine Colonna's Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality. On 28 January, the Minister for Development informed the House that she had discussed the issue of neutrality with UNRWA's leadership, including directly with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. She also spoke to UNRWA staff members on their work to implement the recommendations of the Colonna report during her visit to the region on 3-5 December. We welcome the initiatives launched by UNRWA to ensure neutrality of its educational material and teaching, in addition to its longstanding work with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Palestinian Authority to reform curricula and educational materials.