Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the temporary removal of the Saudi-led coalition from the UN’s list of states and armed groups that violate children’s rights during conflict on the integrity and effectiveness of UN Security Council measures on children and armed conflict.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

[This question was tabled before the sad death of the Honourable Lady but the subject remains important and the Government’s response ought to be placed on the public record.]

The UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict was published on 2 June. The report includes a section outlining the impact of the conflict in Yemen on children.

The conflict in Yemen has had a significant impact on children, in terms of the numbers of child casualties, the recruitment of children as soldiers, and attacks on hospitals and schools.

We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter. A political solution remains the best way to bring this conflict and the suffering of the Yemeni people to an end. The UK Government continues to support the work of the United Nations on Children and Armed Conflict.