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The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 August 2024.

British High Commissioner Neil Wigan pays first visit to Wajir County to discuss partnership and the impact of UK programming in the county.

• British High Commission team visited Wajir County 22 and 23 August.
• British High Commissioner announced INSPIRED programme to ensure quality education for 100,000 children and met beneficiaries of innovative cash assistance programme.
• The British High Commissioner and Development Director held meetings with Wajir County Commissioner and Governor, Mandera County Governor and the Wajir Women Council.
• The team also visited Wajir County Police Station to better understand the impact of UK-funded gender desks in tackling VAWG.

British High Commissioner to Kenya, Neil Wigan, visited Wajir County on 22 and 23 August, accompanied by Development Director Leigh Stubblefield.

During the visit, the High Commissioner met Wajir County Governor Ahmed Abdullahi and County Commissioner Karuku Ngumo to discuss the UK-Wajir partnership and the impact of UK programming in the county, particularly in support of women and girls, regional peace and security and cash assistance to vulnerable communities.

On 23 August, the High Commissioner announced INSPIRED, our new flagship education programme. INSPIRED will provide quality education for 100,000 children in Wajir and Mandera Counties over the next three years, ensuring Kenya’s future generations can reach their full potential. He discussed details of this new and impactful programme with Wajir and Mandera County Governors.

The High Commissioner also spent time at Wajir County Central Police Station, hearing about the impact of UK-funded gender desks at Wajir Central, Giriftu, Habaswein and Bute police stations, which are helping prevent and handle cases of violence against women and girls in the County. Delivered through the UK’s REINVENT programme, gender desks offer a safe space for victims of sexual and gender-based violence to speak to specially trained officers, which has helped increase reporting rates by 57%.

UK funding through REINVENT previously helped establish the Wajir Women Council. At a dinner with the Council, the High Commissioner heard how the forum had ensured women’s voices were heard at the political and leadership level in the county, how it had helped transform how cases of violence against women and girls are handled, and its role in peacebuilding.

With partners in the Boma Consortium, the team met beneficiaries of the UK-Government of Kenya cash transfer programme, provided under the Hunger Safety Net Programme. Residents of Wajir town explained how cash grants had helped them set up businesses and even a community level loan scheme, enabling them to support their families and establish a regular income.

Local partners in the UK-funded Borderlands programme set out to the High Commissioner how projects are helping provide education and skills development to women entrepreneurs, as well as contributing to women’s participation and trust-building initiatives in support of peace.

British High Commissioner Neil Wigan said of his visit:

Travelling outside of the capital, I am always struck by the strength of the UK’s partnership with Kenya’s counties and their residents.

In Wajir, UK support is helping tackle violence against women and girls, increase access to education and improve security and stability. I’m proud of our partnership with the county – we’re going far, together.

The UK-Kenya partnership is delivering real impact for Kenyans across the country, whether improving economic growth, local governance and stability, access to education and healthcare, empowering women and girls, or working together to ensure regional peace and security.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 August 2024.

Ed Miliband worked on strengthening the UK’s bonds with Brazil on climate focused agenda ahead of Brazil’s presidency of G20 this year and COP30 in 2025.

Climate leadership is essential if we are to protect both the UK and global citizens from the climate crisis, the Energy Secretary highlighted during his first international visit to Brazil – a key ally in driving forward the global clean energy transition.

Ahead of taking personal control of the UK’s climate negotiations later this year, Miliband has met key figures from the Brazilian Government to position the UK as a trusted partner to help deliver an ambitious G20 Presidency and COP30.

On his first day in the country (Sunday 18 August), he saw how the Amazon Fund is supporting the Quilombola in Abaetetuba. In 2023, the UK committed to providing £115 million to the Fund, which as part of its work helps develop economic alternatives and sustainable production practices for small farms and indigenous peoples, who are the best stewards of the forests.

On Monday 19 August, he visited Pecem Port – a huge industrial complex which has recently received $35 million to scale up its green hydrogen production via UK-backed Climate Investment Funds.

The Energy Secretary also set out his ambitions to tackle the climate and nature crisis in a series of bilateral meetings and engagements with his Government counterparts and the finance and energy industries in the capital, Brasilia, 20-21 August – with industrial decarbonisation continuing to be a key theme of his visit.

Following their meeting in London last month, he first held talks with National Secretary of Climate Change, Ana Toni. He also met with the Secretary for Climate, Energy and the Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, André Corrêa do Lago and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Rui Costa.

On his final day in Brazil, he met Climate Minister Silva and Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira. During his visit he spoke to major businesses too – holding a renewables-focused roundtable with major energy companies, including Shell Brazil, BP, Rolls Royce, Subsea 7, ERM, and the British Chamber of Commerce to discuss the economic opportunities the clean energy transition presents.

There was a separate roundtable focused on mobilising finance for the clean energy transition – which was attended by the Brazilian Ministry of Finance and the Brazilian Development Bank. This follows the recently-signed MOU between the UK and the Brazilian Development Bank that supports cooperation between the two countries on this important issue.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:

“The UK Government has a duty to protect current and future generations in the UK and around the world from the devastating effects of the climate crisis.

“In my first international visit to Brazil, I have been loud and clear that the UK stands ready to work with our Brazilian partners to keep 1.5C alive in this critical decade.

“From hosting this year’s G20 Presidency to next year’s COP30, Brazil is in a unique position to drive climate action on the world stage. As home to the largest rainforest on Earth, the potential to deliver real change here is huge. From speaking to business and energy leaders and fellow Ministers, we have discussed how we can tackle this shared challenge together and encourage others to match our clean energy ambitions.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

• Since co-founding in 2008 alongside the US, Japan and the World bank, the UK has been one of the largest donors to the Climate Investment Funds having contributed £2.7bn to date.
• The CIFs are a leading part of the international climate finance architecture, working exclusively through Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to leverage wider public and private financing to deliver climate investments at scale in developing countries.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 August 2024.

This statement outlined the UK’s approach to the Strengthening the Review Process work strand, especially regarding transparency.

Thank you, Chair,

Allow me to start by putting on record the United Kingdom’s appreciation for your efforts as Chair of the 2023 Working Group on further strengthening the NPT review process. The UK was prepared to join consensus on the Chair’s recommendations in Vienna last year. We very much regret that a small handful of States blocked that consensus, and that one State blocked the subsequent proposal on interactive consideration of national reports. We stand ready to continue to engage on the basis of the Chair’s recommendations and encourage continued consultations between here and the 3rd Preparatory Committee in New York.

Mr Chair,

The UK urges States Parties to support steps to strengthen the NPT and the review process. This is an important part of ensuring the NPT is successful for the next 50 years. From effectiveness and efficiency, through transparency and accountability, to practical steps around the nominations and role of Chairs and working groups, there are several steps we can collectively take to strengthen our ability to realise the objectives of the NPT.

While Strengthening the Review Process is not limited to transparency – the last few days have illustrated once again the need for a pack of measures aimed at strengthening the review process – I will nonetheless focus my comments on this, and the related question of accountability.

Mr Chair,

In my statement under Cluster One, I noted that the United Kingdom strives for the greatest level of transparency in our nuclear doctrines, policies and capabilities consistent with our national security and non-proliferation responsibilities. Transparency in the context of nuclear disarmament has two aims: first, to increase mutual confidence among the Nuclear Weapon States and enable practical disarmament steps; and second, to provide accountability as to the implementation of Treaty obligations and other commitments and undertakings.

It is crucial for Nuclear Weapon States to be as transparent as possible about their nuclear capabilities, doctrines and policies. Transparency plays an important role in building confidence. Transparency and dialogue are necessary to prevent or reduce risks of miscalculation and misperception, and thus strengthen stability and reduce risk of unintended nuclear use. As we made clear in our national statement in the General Debate, we remain committed to the P5 nuclear process.

The UK regrets that some Nuclear Weapons States do not publish details of their overall warhead stockpiles or on the delivery systems they deploy. In not doing so, these states are undermining trust and confidence in the NPT process, particularly when states are expanding their capabilities rapidly, at scale and across multiple delivery systems.

Mr Chair,

This brings me to the question of accountability. States must be held accountable for the implementation of the obligations under Treaties they have signed up to and other commitments they have entered into.

One of the primary means of accountability for the UK is its National Implementation Reports. In preparing our report for the last NPT RevCon, the UK conducted an extensive consultation exercise involving the other nuclear-weapon States, nonnuclear weapon States and civil society. The report is a comprehensive statement of the UK’s national measures on disarmament, non-proliferation, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Mr Chair,

The UK will continue to prioritise the question of improving transparency and accountability in the current NPT review cycle. While Action 20 of the 2010 Action Plan asks all States Parties to submit national implementation reports, it is right, building on Actions 5 and 21, that the Nuclear Weapon States should take steps to improve the quality and consistency of reporting on our specific nuclear disarmament commitments.

We continue to support the idea of allocating dedicated time in the formal proceedings of the review cycle for the interactive consideration of the reports of States Parties.

As in past review cycles, the UK intends to submit its draft National Implementation Report at the third session of the Preparatory Committee in New York next year, using the common reporting framework agreed upon by the Nuclear Weapon States in 2013. We would once again welcome discussion and feedback from other States Parties and from civil society in order to ensure the final report to the Review Conference in 2026 is as useful as possible to its readers.

Thank you.