Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that child protection is embedded in all UK peacekeeping and military training.

In line with the MOD's Human Security strategy, we are working to ensure that Human Security training, including training on child protection, is part of all relevant training programmes for personnel. This work is being taken forward as part of the Human Security change programme, led by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.

The training provided to UK personnel deploying on operations is tailored in order to best meet the needs of the deployment, taking into consideration factors such as the expected level of engagement with the local population and the forecast Defence activity.

I can confirm that the pre deployment training and briefing for UK personnel for the UN Peacekeeping missions in Cyprus and Mali include material on child protection.