Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 January 2024.

Lifesaving UK aid shipment for Gaza including thermal blankets and essential items delivered from Cyprus by Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Lyme Bay.

• 87 tonnes of life-saving UK and Cypriot aid for the people of Gaza delivered by Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ship Lyme Bay to Egypt from Cyprus
• delivery includes over 10,000 thermal blankets, nearly 5,000 shelter packs and medical supplies to be transferred to Gaza through the Rafah crossing
• it follows the Foreign Secretary’s visit to Egypt last month to see first-hand the importance of UK aid for the people of Gaza and the Defence Secretary’s visit to Cyprus and Israel. Both have pressed for an acceleration, with significantly more aid to be allowed into Gaza, through as many routes as possible

The first UK maritime shipment of aid for Gaza has arrived in Egypt, carrying almost 90 tonnes of thermal blankets and other essential items.

The lifesaving shipment was delivered from Cyprus by Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Lyme Bay, carrying thermal blankets, shelter packs and medical supplies provided by the UK and the Republic of Cyprus. From Port Said, the aid will be received by the Egyptian Red Crescent and will make its way to Al Arish and then through Rafah and into Gaza for distribution by UNRWA.

It follows a visit to Egypt from the Foreign Secretary to Al Arish last month (21 December) to meet with representatives from the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, who are coordinating the relief effort at the Rafah crossing, and the Defence Secretary’s visit to Cyprus and Israel on 7 December to push for accelerated aid deliveries into Gaza.

The Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary have made clear that Israel must increase the flow of aid into Gaza and facilitate the delivery of relief on the ground, including through negotiated humanitarian pauses. The UK will continue to explore other routes for aid deliveries, including the Cypriot initiative for a maritime corridor between Cyprus and Israel/OPTs and supporting United Nations World Food Programme through the humanitarian land corridor from Jordan through Kerem Shalom.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said:

The UK is committed to supporting the people of Gaza. We have already trebled our aid commitment to Palestinians this year and today’s aid delivery – the first UK maritime shipment of aid for Gaza – via Port Said in Egypt contains almost 90 tonnes of vital supplies.

Significantly more aid needs to reach Gaza to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. The UK will continue to work with our partners in the region to open more aid routes into Gaza, including through the proposed maritime corridor between Cyprus and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said:

I recently visited the region to find the best way to get aid into Gaza and support those in desperate need. Today’s maritime aid delivery, the first of its kind, is a significant milestone.

RFA Lyme Bay has docked in Egypt with almost 90 tonnes of aid bound for civilians in Gaza. This includes shelters for winter, medical supplies and thermal blankets – all pre-screened in Cyprus. By testing new maritime routes, the UK is paving the way for other international donors to increase and accelerate aid deliveries.

The UK has so far announced it will spend almost £60 million in additional humanitarian funding in Gaza this financial year, trebling our existing annual budget to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The most recent package of £30 million funding, announced by the Foreign Secretary on his last visit to the region, has been allocated to trusted partners on the ground including UNRWA, UNICEF, WFP, the OCHA Pooled Fund and the British Red Cross to support the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 30 December 2023.

Statement by Deputy Political Coordinator Tom Phipps at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 29 December 2023.

Award-winning singer-songwriter Leona Lewis among those recognised on the Overseas and International Honours list.

One hundred and twenty five people have received awards for their exceptional service to the UK overseas or internationally in His Majesty The King’s New Year Honours List, including for contributions to British foreign policy, international development, voluntary and charitable work.

Richard ‘Dicky’ Evans, Chairman of Hemingways Hospitality Ltd in Kenya is appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in recognition of his significant and sustained contribution as a British businessman overseas, building 2 hugely successful businesses in Kenya, and his sustained philanthropic contribution to the UK, especially to sport in Cornwall.

Also recognised in the list are a number of British women working in senior positions in the fields of international development and international relations, all of whom are appointed Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for their exceptional and sustained career contributions. These include: Dr Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow at the Brookings institute in Washington DC; Susanna Moorehead, lately Chair of the Development Assistance Committee at the OECD; Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard University; and Dr Sara Pantuliano, Chief Executive at the Overseas Development Institute.

The Singer and Songwriter Leona Lewis is recognised by being made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her significant contribution to music and her philanthropic work. Throughout her outstanding career, she has broken down barriers for female musicians in the UK, and worldwide. She used her platform to raise awareness and funds to support important local, national and global charities.

Sir Philip Barton, Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service, said:

At a time when the world faces many challenges, I am always impressed by the incredible work being done globally. The UK’s impact internationally depends on exceptional people like those honoured in His Majesty’s New Year Honours list. I congratulate everyone receiving an honour and thank them for their dedication and service.

The International and Overseas New Year Honours list also recognises a number of other contributions:

Taban Shoresh

Taban Shoresh, a Kurdish genocide survivor, and the founder of the Lotus Flower, is recognised for an exceptional and sustained contribution to supporting refugees and displaced conflict survivors in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

With a political activist father during the reign of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the 1980s, Taban and her family were imprisoned when she was just 4 before they narrowly escaped being buried alive and were flown out of the country by Amnesty International to build a new life in the UK. She later worked in an investment asset management company in London, but in April 2014, everything changed when she saw ISIS waging another genocide in the land of her birth. Giving up her successful career, she returned to Iraq as an aid worker, and upon arrival was delivering provisions to displaced Yezidis trapped on Mount Sinjar.

Back in London in 2016, she launched the Lotus Flower. What started with just her, then her Regional Manager and a burnt-out cabin in a refugee camp has since grown to be an organisation with several safe centres for women and girls, as well as more than 200 local staff. To date the organisation has helped more than 60,000 women, girls and community members through the delivery of projects which support business, education, peacebuilding, well-being and human rights.

On learning of her award, Taban Shoresh said:

I’m very happy and honoured with this recognition. I came here as a refugee at the age of six seeking safety. Fast forward many years and I’m delighted that I get the opportunity to give back and help those in need. I believe with more compassion, empathy and action we can all be change makers in this world.

Paul and Zoe Walker

Paul and Zoe Walker are widely recognised in Belize for working tirelessly towards the conservation of Belize’s endangered species, tropical forests and reefs. They founded their organisation, Wildtracks, in 1990, and continue to lead its activities more than 30 years later. As part of the Wildtracks conservation work, Paul and Zoe established the National Manatee Rehabilitation Centre in 1999 to provide rehabilitation care for orphaned and injured Antillean manatees rescued from Belize’s coastal waters. In 2010 they established the National Primate Rehabilitation Centre for Belize’s Yucatan black howler monkeys and Central American spider monkeys confiscated from the Illegal Wildlife Trade to ensure that these endangered primates can be returned to the wild.

Since its inception in 1990, Wildtracks has responded to numerous wildlife emergencies, rehabilitated 174 primates and returned over 100 back to the wild, reestablishing these species in critical forest areas. Wildtracks also collaborates with the Forest and Fisheries Departments of the Government of Belize and other national and international conservation organisations towards effective and sustainable management of Belize’s natural resources. Their work has brought great credit on the UK and its reputation in Belize and beyond.

On learning of their awards, Paul and Zoe Walker said:

We feel incredibly honoured to have been recognized for the work we do. This reflects the commitment of the Belize Government and the many conservation organisations and individuals we have collaborated with over the years, and of the volunteers and supporters who have made Wildtracks what it is today.

Deborah Edgington

Debbie Edgington is recognised for her outstanding contribution over the last 25 years, playing a crucial role as an elected local official in representing the views, needs and the integration of the British community in Fuerteventura, Spain. She has worked tirelessly to ensure UK nationals understand their rights under Spanish and EU law, and has taken an active role in supporting the large local British population during various crises, as well as during the UK’s departure from the European Union and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Debbie has also worked with the local community to raise over 60,000 Euros to support local charities and, as a Councillor, worked to help build a community centre and arranged regular activities, including free Spanish lessons, to support British nationals and other non-Spanish nationals in the area. During the COVID-19 pandemic for example, her contribution was vital in ensuring that vulnerable British nationals had access to food packages, clothes and emergency accommodation.

On learning of her award, Debbie Edgington said:

It is a great honour and a complete surprise to have been awarded an MBE, I feel immensely proud and humbled. I am always happy to assist others, especially when sometimes these can be the most difficult moments for people, this for me was always easier with the help and assistance I received from the fantastic team of Consulate staff, Las Palmas Gran Canaria.

Helen Banton

​​Helen Banton is recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her long-term voluntary contribution in support of veterans and to UK relations with local communities in France. For over 20 years, Mrs Banton has been a volunteer and France representative of the Yorks and Lancaster regimental association working on commemoration work. To mark the centenary of the Battle of Bapaume during World War One, she played a significant role in assisting the association organise a wide range of local events and help facilitate local arrangements to allow veterans and family members to travel to northern France to commemorate the occasion. Notably, and of more lasting effect, has been Mrs Banton’s dedicated and committed work to organise, largely single handed, the provision of a new disabled and access road to a series of World War One memorials including the Sheffield Memorial Park, Accrington Pals Memorial the Serre Road Cemeteries, near Puisieux in the Somme.

On learning of her award, Helen Banton said:

I am thrilled and humbled to accept this Honour on behalf of all those who work behind the scenes to keep alive the memory of our brave boys who gave their lives for our peace and freedom and those who continue to preserve it.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 29 December 2023.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 29 December 2023.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on Gaza.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 29 December 2023.

Explanation of vote by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan.

Colleagues, I would first like to thank the penholders, the UAE and Japan, not only for their tireless efforts on this important text but also for their creativity and tenacity, which led to the Council mandating the independent assessment on Afghanistan, which was very ably executed by Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioğlu.

As we’ve said multiple times in this chamber, we should seize the momentum of the independent assessment with the hope of changing Afghanistan’s current negative trajectory.

At the same time, the Taliban has a responsibility to meet its international commitments, including via the immediate reversal of policies restricting women’s rights and fundamental freedoms.

So, we encourage all parties, including Afghan and international stakeholders, to take forward the independent assessment’s recommendations, working towards an Afghanistan that is at peace with its people, its neighbours, and the international community.

Thank you, President.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 29 December 2023.

The Media Freedom Coalition gave a statement on media freedom in Hong Kong on the second anniversary of the closure of Stand News and arrest of its staff.

On the second anniversary of the closure of Stand News and arrest of its staff, whose prosecution remains ongoing, the members of the Media Freedom Coalition issued the following statement on media freedom in Hong Kong.

The undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) remain deeply concerned at the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities’ continued attacks on freedom of the press and their suppression of independent local media in Hong Kong.

Local media have intensified self-censorship since the imposition of the National Security Law in June 2020. Prosecutions of media workers in connection with sedition legislation have increased. Use of these laws to suppress journalism undermines Hong Kong’s autonomy and the rights and freedoms of the people in Hong Kong as promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and guaranteed in the Basic Law.

The Hong Kong authorities’ prolonged prosecutions of journalists like the Stand News team and publishers such as Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai creates a chilling effect on others in the press and media. They come against the backdrop of loss of editorial independence, the barring of journalists seeking to cover government press briefings and the removal of material from public broadcasting archives.

Freedom of the press has been central to Hong Kong’s success for many years. Curtailing the space for free expression of alternative views weakens vital checks and balances on executive power. The free flow and exchange of opinions and information is vital to Hong Kong’s people, business and international reputation.

We urge the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to abide by their international human rights commitments and legal obligations and to preserve Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and respect for universal rights and freedoms.

The member countries of the MFC will always defend media freedom and freedom of expression. The member countries of the MFC will continue to stand up for those who are targeted simply for exercising their human rights.

Signed by:

Australia, Austria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 December 2023.

Statement by the spokespersons of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States on the latest Iranian nuclear steps reported by the IAEA.

The 26 December 2023 report by the IAEA highlights that Iran has increased its rate of production of uranium enriched up to 60% at Natanz and Fordow to levels observed between January and June 2023. These findings represent a backwards step by Iran and will result in Iran tripling its monthly production rate of uranium enriched up to 60%.

We condemn this action, which adds to the unabated escalation of Iran’s nuclear programme. The production of high-enriched uranium by Iran has no credible civilian justification and the reported production at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant further carries significant proliferation-related risks. We also take note of Iran’s decision to revert to the same cascade configuration as the one discovered by the IAEA in Fordow earlier this year. Iran’s delay in declaring this change in January 2023 cast serious doubts on Iran’s willingness to cooperate with the IAEA in full transparency.

These decisions demonstrate Iran’s lack of good will towards de-escalation and represent reckless behaviour in a tense regional context.

We urge Iran to immediately reverse these steps and de-escalate its nuclear programme. Iran must fully cooperate with the IAEA to enable it to provide assurances that its nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful, and to re-designate the inspectors suspended in September 2023.

We remain committed to a diplomatic solution and reaffirm our determination that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 27 December 2023.

UK support to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will boost food security, protect the planet, and reduce poverty.

• UK support to IFAD will boost food security, protect the planet, and reduce poverty
• it will help promote agricultural growth that is environmentally friendly
• this funding will be focused on helping poor rural farmers and producers

The UK is boosting support to poor rural farmers around the world to boost food security for the future.

Nearly half of the world’s population lives in the rural areas of developing countries and rely on small farms for their livelihoods.

These small farms are critical to feeding the world, producing up to 70% of food eaten in low- and middle-income countries.

To protect these livelihoods and global food security, the UK is pledging £66.7 million to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN agency dedicated to supporting those living in extreme poverty rural areas.

Since 2021, the number of people facing a serious lack of food has increased by 34%. In Africa, about 20% of the population faces hunger. Progress against the UN Global Goal on ending hunger and malnutrition is in reverse and current projections indicate that 670 million will still be facing hunger in 2030.

This work is more urgent now than ever. While global food systems are struggling in the face of conflict and economic turmoil and climate change, rural people and small-scale farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate shocks, instability and forced migration.

The UK is leading efforts to find solutions. Last month the UK hosted the Global Food Security Summit which brought together partner countries, organisations and world-renowned experts – including IFAD – to explore ways of ending hunger and malnutrition.

The UK is a founding member of IFAD, whose programmes improve food security and nutrition, empower women and girls and help protect the planet. IFAD-supported projects help farmers to increase yields through enhanced soil and pest management, fertilizer use and access to better quality seeds. They also help rural women grow more food, connect to markets, increase their incomes, and become more literate and financially skilled.

It aims to support more than 100 million poor rural people from its latest replenishment round.

Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell said:

Christmas is a good moment to reflect that the world is in the throes of a serious food security crisis. Feeding the world may sound like a cliché at this time of year, but hunger and malnutrition are a scourge, putting lives and livelihoods under grave threat. The tragic irony is that we live in a world of plenty. It is scandalous that anyone should go to bed hungry for reasons that we have the power to fix.

That is why the UK is investing £66.7 million in IFAD’s work for the next 3 years. Simple steps like better land management and smarter farming practices can help produce more crops and reduce waste. Renewable technology will help farmers rise to the climate challenge in a way that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and protects the natural environment.

We must act before the food crisis reached unconscionable proportions. In less than 30 years’ time there will be 2 billion more mouths to feed in the world than there are today. We urgently need to increase food production and make food systems sustainable.

President of IFAD, Alvaro Lario said:

We are grateful to the United Kingdom for their generous contribution to IFAD’s 13th Replenishment, which confirms their unwavering commitment to eradicating rural poverty and hunger.

This contribution will further strengthen our long-standing partnership, a relationship that has played a vital role in transforming the livelihoods of millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable rural people. The UK’s pioneering investments in small-scale agriculture climate adaptation have been instrumental in empowering smallholder farmers and building resilient food systems in the face of climate change.

The UK has been the driving force behind IFAD’s Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP), which channels climate finance to smallholder farmers to build their resilience, increasing yields and enhancing biodiversity.

For each dollar invested in ASAP, IFAD was able to leverage $6.5 from other governments and organisations to help build climate work into all IFAD agricultural projects, supporting an additional 3.2 million people to cope with the impacts of climate change.

Further information

• the UK has been a core contributor to IFAD since it was founded in 1978
• this replenishment covers the 3-year period from 2025 to 2027

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 22 December 2023.

Statement by Deputy Political Coordinator Tom Phipps at the UN Security Council meeting on Syria chemical weapons.

Thank you President, and in this last open briefing on the agenda for this month, let me join others in congratulating you for the manner in which you and your team have conducted your Presidency this month.

I would also like to thank Director Ebo, as always, for his detailed briefing and to express gratitude to the Director-General of the OPCW for his 122nd report and to the OPCW more broadly for its ongoing and vital work to uphold the Chemical Weapons Convention.

President, contrary to the expectations of the Representative of the Russian delegation, the UK welcomes the 25th round of consultations between the OPCW and the Syrian regime that took place last month in Damascus.  We commend the OPCW Declaration and Assessment Team for their hard work to reconcile discrepancies in Syria’s declaration.

However, it is nonetheless important that we are clear: this limited concession does not redress Syria’s long-standing non-compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Syrian regime has consistently blocked the OPCW’s work, refusing visas and insisting on unacceptable conditions.

President, the Declaration Assessment Team is of course entitled to full and unfettered access to inspect any and all sites in Syria, not just the limited in-country activities that they have conducted this year. And as Director Ebo briefed, sampling by the Declaration Assessment Team at two sites in April 2023 indicated further issues with Syria’s declaration of its chemical weapons holdings. Not only does this reduce what little faith we had in Syria’s declaration, but it clearly demonstrates Syria’s continuing disregard for the Chemical Weapons Convention and the principles that nearly all of us around this table uphold.

President, as we have said many times before, the outstanding issues on Syria’s Chemical Weapons Declaration are not academic. They include the whereabouts of hundreds of tonnes of chemical weapons agents and thousands of munitions. Syria’s chemical weapons remain a threat to international peace and security until its chemical weapons programme has been fully and verifiably destroyed.

We therefore welcome the decision in November of the Chemical Weapons Convention Conference of States Parties. This new decision will strengthen cooperation between States Parties to address the global threat from the Syrian Regime’s non-compliance, in particular by taking concrete steps to stop the transfer of toxic chemicals and the materials needed to produce chemical weapons from entering Syria until it fully complies with its Chemical Weapons Convention obligations.

President, the lack of progress on this file is not a reason to reduce our attention on it. On the contrary, it is the lack of progress that requires this Council to remain seized of the matter. Ten years on from its adoption, the provisions of UNSCR 2118 have not been met. The outstanding issues on Syria’s Declaration are unresolved and independent international investigations have found the Syrian Regime responsible for at least nine chemical weapons attacks on its own people.

We owe it to the thousands of victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria and elsewhere to continue our work until Syria’s chemical weapons no longer present a threat to international peace and security.