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The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 18 April 2023.

The Foreign Secretary travels to the Pacific to strengthen partnerships with Pacific Island Countries and New Zealand.

• James Cleverly begins a visit to the Commonwealth nations of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Samoa tomorrow (Wednesday 19 April)
• The Foreign Secretary will announce a renewal of partnerships with Pacific nations, including millions in new funding to boost the region’s prosperity
• New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta to join the Foreign Secretary for a joint programme in Samoa, before they travel on to Wellington on Friday (21 April)

The UK’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly begins a tour of the Pacific tomorrow (19 April), to strengthen partnerships with Pacific Island Countries, with a focus on climate change, scientific research and media freedom.

Cleverly will visit Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, before joining the New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta for a joint programme in Samoa. They will then travel on to Wellington together for engagements on Saturday.

During his trip, the Foreign Secretary will announce new commitments to show the UK’s support for a free and open Pacific. £4.5m of new funding will connect communities in Papua New Guinea and across the Pacific to clean energy sources, such as by providing an alternative to common but expensive and polluting generators. More UK experts will also work with Pacific communities to tackle marine pollution and maintain clean, healthy oceans, as part of the UK’s £500m Blue Planet Fund.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

The UK supports a free and open Pacific. At the very centre of this effort is partnering for the long haul with our friends in the Pacific Islands, listening to their priorities, and working alongside them as they forge their own futures.

The UK is redoubling its engagement in the Pacific, offering our expertise in tackling climate change, protecting the region’s oceans, promoting public health, and supporting open societies and a free media.

In Papua New Guinea, the Foreign Secretary will meet Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko and Prime Minister Marape. He will also see a Fleming Fund-backed hospital in Port Moresby, visit the Grass Skirts project which promotes women and girls’ rights, and lay a wreath at the Bomana Commonwealth War Cemetery.

In Solomon Islands, he will hear from journalists who have taken part in a UK government-backed, BBC-led training programme, and meet Prime Minister Sogavare and Foreign Minister Manele.

In Samoa, the Foreign Secretary will join Samoan Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, hold trilateral talks, see the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, and visit the Villa Vailima – Robert Louis Stevenson’s former home in Samoa.

The Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister Mahuta will then fly to Wellington together. Cleverly will be greeted at the New Zealand parliament by a traditional Māori Pōwhiri ceremony, before holding talks with Foreign Minister Mahuta and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. Later in the day he will participate in a rugby training session with players in the Black Ferns, New Zealand’s women’s rugby union team.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 17 April 2023.

Statement by Ambassador Woodward at the Security Council meeting on Yemen.

The UK welcomes ongoing efforts to advance peace in Yemen.

The Saudi and Omani delegations to Sana’a represent progress in efforts to find a settlement to the eight-year conflict.

The return of hundreds of former detainees to their homes is also welcome progress; for the individuals, families, and prospects for wider peace. We congratulate all those involved in their safe return.

Inclusive Yemeni-Yemeni political talks, under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy, are the vital next step.

At this time of hope, we are grateful for the unity of this Council. Sustainably improving the lives of the Yemeni people must remain our collective priority.

With this in mind, we call on the parties to refrain from provocation. The recent clashes in Marib and Shabwa had significant humanitarian consequences, displacing 10,000 people, as well as threatening progress towards peace.

Mr President,

Clearly the need for an impactful humanitarian response remains critical, especially while a sizeable funding gap remains.

While the UK commends the progress made, we call for greater ambition in addressing the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation.

In order for vital humanitarian work to go ahead, we urge authorities across Yemen to allow unfettered humanitarian access.

In particular we join calls for ends to the impediments to independent assessment and monitoring, for fair selection of service providers, and free movement, especially of national female aid workers in the north.

The UN, donors, and local authorities need to step up and work together to effectively address the needs of people in Yemen.

Finally,

We are at a critical moment to address the threat posed by the FSO Safer.

The replacement vessel has begun its journey to Yemen but there is not enough funding for the salvage operation to take place.

The costs of inaction are severe. This would devastate marine life and coastal livelihoods, disrupt life-saving humanitarian assistance for 17 million people, and cost the global economy billions in lost trade every day.

On 4th May, the UK is co-hosting a Pledging Conference with the Netherlands and in partnership with the UN.

This event aims to fill the shortfall and provide a long-term solution for Yemen.

It is on all of us, states, private sector and individuals, to step up and help. The time to act is now. We all have a stake in averting this catastrophe.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 17 April 2023.

Statement by Ambassador Woodward, at the Security Council meeting on DPRK.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 17 April 2023.

The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has made a joint statement with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the situation in Sudan.

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said:

Good afternoon everyone. It’s very good to be with my friend and colleague, Foreign Secretary Cleverly. We have been consulting very closely on the situation in Sudan.  We’ve also been in close touch with partners in the Arab world, in Africa, in international organizations. There is a shared deep concern about the fighting, the violence, that’s going on in Sudan, the threat that that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region.

There’s also a very strongly shared view about the need for General’s Burhan and Hemeti to ensure the protection of civilians and non-combatants, as well as people from third countries, including our personnel who are located in Sudan. And also a strongly held view, again, across all of our partners on the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks. Talks that were very promising in putting Sudan on the path to a full transition to civilian led government.

People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks. They want democracy. They want a civilian led government. Sudan needs to return to that path. For our part, we’ve also been closely in touch, of course, with our own embassy, to make sure that our personnel is safe and accounted for, which is the case. And we’re also closely in touch with any American citizens, in Sudan, to make sure that those who are registered with the embassy and that we’re actually in, in contact with, get all the information they can about how to remain safe and secure.

The UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

Secretary Blinken thank you. Obviously, earlier on today, we have had discussions about the situation in Sudan. We have, the UK has been in contact with our friends in the Arab region, and will continue to do so. But I echo the points that have been made already by Secretary Blinken that we call upon an immediate cessation of violence, a return to the talks, talks which seem to be heading in the direction of a civilian government.

And of course, that is the ultimate desired, outcome. And we will continue working both with our close friends in the United States of America and our friends, in Africa, and the wider Arab world to bring about that move towards a peace and a civilian democracy.

Obviously, from the UK’s government point of view, our first priority is the protection of British nationals. We had previously changed travel advice and advised against travel to Sudan. I ensured that the British officials at the embassy in Khartoum are safe and accounted for, and we will continue to provide what support we can to British nationals in Sudan.

But ultimately, the immediate, future lies in the hands of the generals who are engaged in this fight. And we call upon them to put peace first, to bring an end to the fighting, to get back to negotiations. That’s what the people of Sudan want. That’s what the people of Sudan deserve, and we will continue to seek ways to support that road back to peace.