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  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Sudan counterpart on that government’s attitude towards its Christian communities.

    Mark Simmonds

    We regularly raise our concerns with the Government of Sudan about religious persecutions and the need to respect freedom of religion or belief for all its citizens. My officials have recently made representations to the Foreign Minister, urging the Government to respect the right to freedom of religion or belief including one’s right to follow the religion or belief of choice. This right is enshrined in international human rights law as well as in Sudan’s own 2005 Interim Constitution. We will continue to raise these issues.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the predicted cost of the implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is in each of the next three years.

    Mark Simmonds

    The National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security was launched at the Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit and builds on lessons to date, and address some of the challenges in the previous NAP. The NAP’s Implementation Plan will be launched later this year.
    In line with our UN commitments on women, peace and security we will continue to address violence against women and support women’s role in building peace and promote their participation, with a particular focus on Afghanistan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Somalia and Syria.

    The aims of the NAP and Implementation Plan are to ensure a more coherent and effective approach to the work on Women, Peace and Security. They provide the frameworks for activities which are funded through existing departmental budgets. Those budgets include: the Conflict Pool (the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund from 2015-16), the Human Rights and Democracy Fund, the Arab Partnership Fund and Official Development Assistance – all of which help to fund the work on women, peace and security across the world.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the committee of legislative reform in Egypt on the proposed new parliamentary elections law in that country.

    Hugh Robertson

    The new parliamentary elections law was enacted by decree of the former interim President Adly Mansour on 5 June. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not have direct discussions with the committee of legislative reform in Egypt.

  • Alistair Burt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alistair Burt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Burt on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many fringe events were held during the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Simmonds

    I refer my honourable Friend the member for North East Bedfordshire to the Foreign Secretary’s statement to the House on 16 June 2014 on the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. There were 175 fringe events during the Summit, which included panel discussions and debates, theatre and performance, marketplace with products made by survivors, gallery, silent cinema, exhibitions. We estimate that several thousand members of the public attended the fringe each day. In addition, our Embassies and High Commissions overseas held a global fringe and hosted events for each of the 84 hours of the Summit. These events challenged perceptions and encouraged policy and decision makers and the general public to engage with a subject that for too long has remained hidden.

  • Alistair Burt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alistair Burt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Burt on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of public footfall at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.

    Mark Simmonds

    One of the principal aims of the Global Summit was to invite members of the public to take part in the Summit and to transform awareness of a taboo and often poorly understood subject. We estimate that several thousand members of the public attended the Fringe events each day.

  • Alistair Burt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alistair Burt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Burt on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the outcomes were of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.

    Mark Simmonds

    The Global Summit had two primary objectives: to agree practical action to tackle impunity for the use of rape as a weapon of war, and to begin to change global attitudes to these crimes. The Summit set in motion a series of unprecedented practical steps and commitments. In addition, it significantly raised the profile of this issue and placed it firmly on the international policy agenda.

    During the Summit we launched the first ever International Protocol on how to document and investigate sexual violence in conflict as a means of overcoming one of the key barriers to prosecutions of these crimes and announced an ambitious plan to implement the Protocol. The Foreign Secretary announced £6 million in new UK funding to support survivors of rape, and the United States, Bahrain, Australia, Japan and others including European partners also made new pledges. The African Union announced a pilot project in the Central African Republic to respond to the urgent needs of victims of sexual violence, supported by the UK and Japan. In addition the Somali government launched a new action plan, supported by the UN and the international community, for addressing sexual violence, which has blighted the lives of thousands there.

    Within the Summit we convened a special meeting on security in Nigeria, where violence against women and girls is a particular concern among the wider impact of Boko Haram. We agreed that a Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit should be made operational immediately. The countries of the region also agreed rapidly to implement joint or coordinated patrols along their borders and Cameroon committed to add a battalion to that regional task force. The UK, US and France pledged to support of these regional efforts. We announced a separate package of support for Nigeria including: increased tactical training for the Nigerian army, assistance to regional security and intelligence cooperation, and a joint UK/US educational programme to educate an additional one million children in Nigeria. All the parties present also agreed on the need for UN sanctions against Boko Haram’s leadership and Ansaru, another dangerous terrorist organisation. Both were listed by the UN Security Council’s Al Qaida Sanctions Committee on 26 June.

    Finally, states and delegates at the Summit joined together to sign a Statement of Action, uniting governments, UN Agencies, civil society, experts and survivors with a shared determination to tackle these issues.

  • Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adrian Sanders on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of corruption in the Seychelles and the consequent effect on the UK’s and International Monetary Fund’s financial commitments to that country.

    Mark Simmonds

    Transparency International ranked Seychelles as the 47th least corrupt country globally in their 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index. This was an improvement of four places from 2012. The UK does not provide direct financial assistance to Seychelles but contributes to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) whose support has enabled the country to enact a comprehensive program of economic reforms since 2008. The IMF has robust systems in place to ensure the proper use of assistance given to the Government of Seychelles.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department defines surplus land; and what land held by his Department’s non-departmental public bodies can be so described.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Department defines surplus land as land surplus to its business requirements.

    The attached table sets out land held by the Department’s Non-departmental public bodies that is surplus as at 23 June 2014.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what statistics his Department collects on shark populations in and near UK waters.

    George Eustice

    Defra continues to fund the collection of biological, distribution, and abundance data on sharks through dedicated fisheries surveys. We also work very closely with non-governmental organisations, such as the Shark Trust, which also keep valuable records.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness about steps to protect and preserve rainforests worldwide.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra is the UK competent authority for the European Timber Regulation (EUTR) and the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation, which are designed to counter illegal logging and help protect rainforests. Information on both is published on Defra’s Central Point of Expertise for Timber Procurement (CPET). Information on EUTR is also published on GOV.UK. The National Measurement Office, which enforces EUTR and FLEGT on Defra’s behalf, speaks at numerous events at which it raises awareness of the legislation.

    Defra is responsible for £140 million of the International Climate Fund (ICF) dedicated to international forestry projects. Our ICF spending so far has targeted rainforest deforestation in Brazil and contributed towards the World Bank’s Biocarbon Fund. Case studies of ICF projects are described on GOV.UK, and details of ICF spending are made available through the International Aid Transparency Initiative.