Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UN Secretary-General's decision to remove the Saudi-led Coalition from his annual list of perpetrators of grave violations against children in conflict zones despite verified evidence of ongoing grave violations against children committed by the coalition in Yemen in 2019.

At the UN Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict on 23 June, the UK reaffirmed our commitment to tackling violations against children in armed conflict and highlighted the need for a transparent and credible framework for accountability based on a standardised and evidence-backed approach to de-listing and listing of state and non-state actors for violations. The UK takes extremely seriously allegations of abuses against children in armed conflict. We strongly support the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and continue to fund her office and work. The UK regularly raises the importance of human rights with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, including at senior levels. The Coalition must protect children's rights and continue to take positive steps to protect children in armed conflict, such as by implementing the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the UN and Saudi Arabia in March 2019.