Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking through the UN Security Council negotiations on the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali to refresh the international community’s support for the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali in order for the social and political reforms contained within it to be delivered.

On 29 June the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2531, renewing the mandate of UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) until June 2021. The UK worked with partners to secure a mandate that ensures that the mission helps drive forward the implementation of Mali's 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation as a priority. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State responsible for the UN, participated in the UN Security Council Debate on MINUSMA on 11 June and stressed the importance of fully implementing all requirements of the peace agreement. Our deployment of 250 troops to MINUSMA, planned for later this year, will also increase the Mission's capacity to fulfil its peacekeeping and civilian tasks, helping it to perform its role in support of the peace process.