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Below is a press release issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 04/11/2019.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Julian Braithwaite, delivers UK statement on Italy at the 34th UPR, commending their efforts to tackle all forms of modern slavery.

Thank you, Mr President,

The United Kingdom welcomes Italy’s commitment to protect human rights.

We commend Italy’s efforts to tackle all forms of modern slavery and welcome Italy’s signature of the Call to Action to End Human Trafficking, Modern Slavery and Forced Labour.

We note the increase in racial and discriminatory attitudes, particularly against migrants and LGBT individuals. However, we welcome the new Government’s open commitment to ensure racial and discriminatory behaviours are not tolerated.

We recommend that Italy:

1) Support businesses in addressing modern slavery in supply chains by implementing its 2016 labour exploitation legislation and encouraging agricultural businesses to sign up to the “quality agricultural labour network”.

2) Develop a multi-agency approach, including the involvement of community groups, to tackle underlying causes of racist and intolerant behaviours.

3) Adopt an open, merit-based process when selecting national candidates for UN Treaty Body elections.

Thank you.

Below is a press release issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 04/11/2019.

Statement by Ambassador Karen Pierce, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council briefing on Peace and Security in Africa.

I wanted to say that we very much share the very strong support, Deputy Secretary-General and Ambassador Mohammed, for your visit. I think this has been fantastic venture in highlighting the centrality of the the Women, Peace and Security agenda to African peace and security.

And the United Kingdom very much supports all of those colleagues today who’ve called for more women in both political processes in general, but also specifically in peace processes. I think that means in turn, an even greater focus needs to be placed on the issue of girls education so that we can start to help young girls and women take their rightful place in community top tables and in the top tables of their nations.

If I can mention a few country specific examples, the United Kingdom has a strong partnership with Somalia on serving and protecting women and girls. We work to include women in reconciliation efforts, security reforms and political dialogue, address sexual and gender-based violence, and we support access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. And I very much endorse what others have said today about the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in Somalia’s upcoming elections. We encourage Somalia to maintain her commitment to the 30 percent quota for women in parliament and we hope to see the Sexual Offences Bill and the Female Genital Mutilation Bill making swift progress through the Somali legislature.

Turning to Sudan, I think the Council very much wishes Sudan well and wants to do everything we can to support her. The United Kingdom shares that. We were delighted to hear the Prime Minister reiterate his commitment to the full participation of women in government at the General Assembly in September. We’ve all reheard referred to Alaa Salah’s very important contribution to the debate last week and I think we look forward to even more engagement and participation in public life.

We were very pleased that you were able to visit, DSG, the country of Eritrea. There’s a clear opportunity for step-change in UN and AU engagement with Eritrea, following the historic peace agreement with Ethiopia, the lifting of sanctions, and we believe it’s essential that increased international engagement delivers further improvements in regional security and concrete progress on human rights there.

Finally, on Ethiopia, I join other colleagues in paying tribute to Prime Minister Abyei and his award of the Nobel Peace Prize – a very important testimony to his role in promoting peace in the region and political reform at home. What everyone has said about the Ethiopian president is extremely important. It’s very good that 50 percent of cabinet positions are reserved for women; this is a lesson to us all, perhaps. We hope to see Ethiopia build on this progress and promote women’s participation as voters and candidates in upcoming elections and reform, security and justice institutions to make them more responsive to the needs of women and girls. Continued outbreaks of violence do concern us and highlight the need for all actors to work towards reformed institution and the importance of peaceful dialogue.

We wanted to make this session interactive, so I’d like to ask a few questions, if I may, in addition to those colleagues have already raised. One about girls education: how can we make sure that increased investment in girls education translates into women’s economic empowerment? I think the Indonesian ambassador already asked about what practical steps would improve women’s participation in peacekeeping; you’ve given us some, but if there’s more that can be said on that, we look forward to it. And what more support do you think women mediators and civil society actors need so that they can strengthen their participation in political dialogue?

Below is a press release issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 05/11/2019.

Mr David Ward has been appointed High Commissioner to the Independent State of Samoa, as we open a new High Commission in Apia.

Mr David Ward has been appointed High Commissioner to the Independent State of Samoa, as we open a new High Commission in Apia. He will succeed the current, non-resident High Commissioner, Ms Laura Clarke, who will remain British High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor of the Pitcairn Islands. Mr Ward will take up his appointment during December 2019.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Full name: David Ward

2016 to present Solomon Islands, British High Commissioner
2014 to 2016 Asmara, Her Majesty’s Ambassador
2013 to 2014 Lashkar Gah, Deputy Head of Mission, Provincial Reconstruction Team
2012 FCO, Silver level Manager, Olympic Coordination Centre
2011 to 2012 Tripoli, Deputy Head of Mission
2010 to 2011 FCO, Senior Strategy Adviser, Policy Unit
2006 to 2009 Beijing, Deputy Counsellor – Political
2002 to 2005 Kathmandu, Deputy Head of Mission
1998 to 2001 FCO, Head of Institutions Section, Common Foreign and Security Policy Department
1995 to 1998 Tokyo, Second Secretary – Political
1994 to 1995 Full-time Language Training (Japanese)
1992 to 1993 FCO, Assistant Desk Officer, EU External Department
1992 Joined FCO

Below is a press release issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 05/11/2019.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab responds to Iran’s announcement on the JCPoA.

Iran announced today that it intends to further reduce its compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) nuclear deal.

In response to Iran’s announcement the Foreign Secretary said:

“Iran’s latest actions clearly contravene the deal and pose a risk to our national security. We want to find a way forward through constructive international dialogue but Iran needs to stand by the commitments it made and urgently return to full compliance.”

Below is a press release issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 03/01/2020.

The UK has responded to the airstrike carried out by the US on Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

“We have always recognised the aggressive threat posed by the Iranian Quds force led by Qasem Soleimani. Following his death, we urge all parties to de-escalate. Further conflict is in none of our interests.”