Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department is taking steps to support UK nationals with relatives in Cameroon who are affected by violence and persecution in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO provides consular assistance to British nationals. British nationals in Cameroon can sign up to alerts for our Cameroon Travel Advice at GOV.uk and call us on +44 20 7008 5000 for consular assistance. If someone is in the UK and worried about a British national in Cameroon, they can call us on 020 7008 5000.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports that (a) the Cameroon Armed Forces and (b) separatist groups are committing violence against civilians in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK government has been tracking developments in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in 2016. We are aware that violence is being committed against civilians by both sides of the conflict, and I raised our human rights concerns with senior government officials during my visit to the country in April 2023. I also set out the UK's commitment to supporting a peaceful resolution through inclusive dialogue, as well as advocating for humanitarian access, development outcomes for those impacted by the conflict, and the investigation of reports of human rights abuses. Our High Commission in Cameroon is carrying these policies forward.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department is taking steps to support asylum seekers fleeing violence in south Cameroon.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO is supporting civilians who are fleeing violence in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon by providing funding for humanitarian assistance. From 2022 to 2024, the UK government has provided the International Committee of the Red Cross with £2 million for food supplies, sanitation, healthcare, and social protection. We continue to encourage an inclusive dialogue on the conflict which will lead to a sustainable and enduring peace settlement.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Cameroon in each financial year since 2009-10.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCO, DFID and FCDO have had fewer than ten staff posted in either Botswana, Cameroon or Chad respectively, at the end of each financial year since 2013-14. Data is not held for financial years prior to 2013-14.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2024 to Question 13244 on Nigeria: Christianity, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in (a) Benin and (b) Cameroon on the situation in Nigeria.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Whilst I have not recently discussed rising insecurity in Nigeria with my counterparts in Benin and Cameroon, the UK Government remains committed to supporting Nigeria to address these challenges, including through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership, and continues to engage with a range of stakeholders to address these complex issues.
Jun. 16 2023
Source Page: UK-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement Committee documentsFound: UK-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement Committee documents
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will list conservation projects in the Congo Basin that have received government grants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In the last three year's His Majesty's Government has supported projects which have contributed towards conservation in the Congo Basin region, as follows:
Darwin Initiative. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/project-search/
Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://iwt.challengefund.org.uk/project-search/
Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (IFSLU) programme has supported:
a. Africa Palm Oil Initiative (now renamed Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative), managed through ProForest. Covering Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon and the Republic of Congo (RoC).
b. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Djoum-Mintom landscape, Cameroon. This project is implemented by two partners: APIFED, an NGO promoting women's and indigenous people's rights and Ecotrading, an enterprise specialising in sustainable NTFP sourcing and trade.
Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme has supported projects on forest governance, legality, transparency and rights in the Congo Basin through a number of grants to leading non-governmental organisations
a. Client Earth (CE) - Using the law to address illegal use of forest resources and promote better forest and land governance. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
b. Chatham House (CH) - Strengthening Forest Governance - preparing for the next 10 years. Covered DRC. Ended December 2022.
c. University of Wolverhampton (CIDT) - Strengthening Forest and Wildlife Monitoring & Law Enforcement in the Congo Basin. Covered Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), DRC, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
d. Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) - Strengthening forest governance through civil society monitoring and tracking illicit timber flows. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.
e. Fern - Consolidating good governance, tackling illegalities. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2023.
f. The Proforest Initiative (PF) - Using deforestation-free commodity supply chains to support national initiatives to combat forest loss. Covered Cameroon. Ended December 2022.
g. The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) - Embedding community real time monitoring to sustain livelihoods and forests in Central and West Africa. Covered Cameroon, DRC and RoC. Covered June 2022.
h. Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) - Local to global: Leveraging lessons and opportunities from rightsholders to drive sustainable, equitable and inclusive climate action. Covered DRC and Gabon. Ended December 2022.
i. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
j. World Resource Institute (WRI) - Consolidating Forest Governance through Transparency and Accountability. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
k. WWF - Strengthened multilateral engagement and collaboration with China's timber and palm oil supply chains to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.
l. Zoological Society of London (ZSL) - Driving transparent, legal and sustainable forestry practices through financial, market and governance incentives. Covered Cameroon, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
m. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
Further information can be found in the FGMC's Annual Review at https://iati.fcdo.gov.uk/iati_documents/D0001101.odt
The UK has also made contributions to the Central African Forests Initiative (CAFI), a UN multi-donor trust fund, annually since FY2021/22.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the cost to the public purse of his Department's Envoy for the UK-African Investment Summit 2024 visit to (a) Morocco from 10 to 11, (b) Cameroon from 16 to 17, (c) Ghana from 23 to 24 and (d) Rwanda from 30 to 31 January 2024 was.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK-Africa Investment Summit Envoy's role was to engage with invited governments on Summit preparations and our bilateral trade and investment partnerships. His visits offered important opportunities to explore and test UK plans and ambition with African partners in advance of the Summit. In January, the Envoy undertook four visits to African countries. The cost of these visits was:
a) Morocco 10-11 January: £653.37
(b) Cameroon 16-17 January: £1,677.71
(c) Ghana 23-24 January: £3,198.23
(d) Rwanda 29-31 January: £4,713.89
The role of the UK-AIS Envoy has been crucial to engaging with African countries on our shared goal of intensifying trade and investment partnerships.
May. 12 2023
Source Page: Living in CameroonFound: Living in Cameroon
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in (a) the Ivory Coast, (b) Ghana, (c) Central African Republic, (d) Gabon, (e) Cameroon and (f) other countries in the region on taking further steps to help tackle the poaching of forest (i) elephants and (ii) elephant calves.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is committed to combatting the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). We are increasing our funding and will invest a further £30 million between 2022 and 2025.
Defra Ministers and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials at Posts regularly discuss important conservation matters including poaching of elephants. For example, the UK signed a letter of intent in December 2023 with Cameroon’s Minister of the Environment, Nature Protection, and Sustainable Development to deliver the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund.
Defra provides support for a variety of different projects that support rangers and protect elephants through the IWT Challenge Fund and direct programming, which are detailed below.
Information on total number of rangers is not available as we do not aggregate this data.