Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what support his Department is providing to partners in East Africa to tackle Kremlin-backed online disinformation campaigns.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK has consistently made clear that malign activity by Russia and its proxies, including disinformation campaigns, exploits and exacerbates instability in sub-Saharan Africa. We draw on a range of levers to strengthen security and stability in sub-Saharan Africa. HMG is working with regional and international partners to coordinate activity to counter Russian disinformation and broader foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) targeting African audiences. We also support our African partners through strategic security and defence relationships with countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana, coordinating closely with likeminded states and international organisations.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has sought recent legal advice on the Israeli government's compliance with (a) international law and (b) the International Court of Justice’s decision in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) in the context of trends in the level of food insecurity in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We regularly review advice about Israel's capability and commitment to International Humanitarian Law. We act in accordance with that advice. We are clear that as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has to make sure that humanitarian aid including food, water and shelter is available to people in Gaza.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment has spent on increasing the capacity of solar photovoltaic manufacturing.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) is a G7 initiative. The G7 plan to report in 2025 on amounts invested and mobilised. The UK is on track to meet our up to $40 billion contribution to the $600 billion target through our British Investment Partnerships work, which is supporting numerous renewable energy initiatives. In 2022, we improved access to clean energy for over 6 million people. Our investments include: $69 million by the Private Infrastructure Development Group; support by British International Investment to a $36 million solar PV storage plant in Mozambique; eight solar projects through Manufacturing Africa unlocking £26.7 million, and £6 million through the Transforming Energy Access platform.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 to deliver inclusive and sustainable development in Africa and transform it into "the global powerhouse of the future"; and what engagement they are having with partners to support the delivery of those aims.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 30 October, the UK and the African Union held our inaugural High Level Dialogue, hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Africa. At the Dialogue, Minister Mitchell announced further UK funding in support of the African Union's 2063 Agenda, and for its flagship Silencing the Guns campaign. This includes £10 million in stipends to support troops in Somalia, bringing our total commitment to the AU Transition Mission in Somalia since 2022 to more than £57 million.
We are also providing £3 million through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Tackling Deadly Diseases in African Programme, helping the Africa Centres for Disease Control and World Health Organisation address emergency preparedness and response in the continent.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what criteria his Department uses to determine whether to allocate funding to organisations to help tackle FGM in Kenya.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is investing £35 million in the second phase of the Africa-Led Movement (ALM) to end female genital mutilation (FGM) that is targeting support to grassroots African organisations leading change from within their communities, including in Kenya. The UK recognises the importance of working with specialist organisations, which is why the ALM Programme has established a grassroots grants mechanism through which smaller community-based organisations can receive funding and capacity development to lead sustainable change within communities. All FCDO programmes have agreed criteria for results and effectiveness against which they are measured annually.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what criteria his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of programs working on eradicating FGM that his Department (a) has awarded and (b) plans to award funds to.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We work with a range of organisations in our efforts to tackle Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This includes specialist FGM charities, academic institutions, private sector organisations, and grassroots organisations.
The UK has a proud record of supporting the Africa-Led Movement to End FGM. We are investing £35 million between 2019-2027 to support grassroots African organisations and activists leading change from within their communities through small grant funding. The UK also supports grassroots organisations tackling FGM through the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and the Equality Fund. We do not hold data on what proportion of FCDO spend has gone to grassroots organisations for activities that specifically address FGM.
In 2022, £75.1 million of UK bilateral Official Development Assistance was spent on tackling violence against women and girls. Results show that between April 2021 and March 2023 our work on gender-based violence, including FGM, reached 4.2 million people.
All FCDO programmes have agreed criteria for results and effectiveness against which they are measured annually. We have also developed new tools to track rates of FGM and changes in attitudes and are using these to measure the effectiveness of our FGM programmes.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to which (a) charities and (b) other organisations his Department has allocated funding to help tackle FGM in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We work with a range of organisations in our efforts to tackle Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This includes specialist FGM charities, academic institutions, private sector organisations, and grassroots organisations.
The UK has a proud record of supporting the Africa-Led Movement to End FGM. We are investing £35 million between 2019-2027 to support grassroots African organisations and activists leading change from within their communities through small grant funding. The UK also supports grassroots organisations tackling FGM through the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and the Equality Fund. We do not hold data on what proportion of FCDO spend has gone to grassroots organisations for activities that specifically address FGM.
In 2022, £75.1 million of UK bilateral Official Development Assistance was spent on tackling violence against women and girls. Results show that between April 2021 and March 2023 our work on gender-based violence, including FGM, reached 4.2 million people.
All FCDO programmes have agreed criteria for results and effectiveness against which they are measured annually. We have also developed new tools to track rates of FGM and changes in attitudes and are using these to measure the effectiveness of our FGM programmes.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what funding from the public purse was provided to grassroots organisations working to eradicate FGM in their communities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We work with a range of organisations in our efforts to tackle Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This includes specialist FGM charities, academic institutions, private sector organisations, and grassroots organisations.
The UK has a proud record of supporting the Africa-Led Movement to End FGM. We are investing £35 million between 2019-2027 to support grassroots African organisations and activists leading change from within their communities through small grant funding. The UK also supports grassroots organisations tackling FGM through the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and the Equality Fund. We do not hold data on what proportion of FCDO spend has gone to grassroots organisations for activities that specifically address FGM.
In 2022, £75.1 million of UK bilateral Official Development Assistance was spent on tackling violence against women and girls. Results show that between April 2021 and March 2023 our work on gender-based violence, including FGM, reached 4.2 million people.
All FCDO programmes have agreed criteria for results and effectiveness against which they are measured annually. We have also developed new tools to track rates of FGM and changes in attitudes and are using these to measure the effectiveness of our FGM programmes.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to increase climate funding available to drought-affected and flood-prone communities in the Horn of Africa.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building climate resilience is central to the UK's work in the Horn of Africa where flooding and drought have impacted tens of millions of people. UK funded organisations are working to address the immediate effects of climate change providing life-saving aid to millions. We are doing all we can to promote long-term climate resilience and as part of this to scale-up the provision of climate finances to the Horn of Africa. Last year's White Paper set out a bold vision for the UK's work on this agenda including a commitment to spend at least £1.5 billion globally in 2025 on climate adaptation.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 received recent representations from his counterpart in South Africa on the potential impact of his Department's legislative proposals on trophy hunting on that country.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has not received any representations from his international counterparts on the potential impact of the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Private Members’ Bill introduced by the Rt. Hon. Member for Warley.