Tag: Foreign Office

Last week, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly visited Manila. It was his first visit to the Philippines, and a clear demonstration of the UK’s commitment to the Philippines as a like-minded partner. As he and President Bongbong Marcos agreed, we share a common global outlook and enjoy strong partnerships. Indeed, the UK and the Philippines have a mature, long-lasting relationship, solidly grounded in mutual respect, a shared belief in openness, freedom and the rule of law, and a shared commitment to promoting a stable and peaceful rules-based international order.

The ambitions for our bilateral relationship were recently evidenced when our respective foreign secretaries launched our Enhanced Partnership in November 2021. The Enhanced Partnership covers all aspects of UK-Philippines bilateral relations and is the touchstone of the relations between our two countries. As part of his visit, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Philippine Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo issued a Joint Statement of Intent, setting out our shared ambition to further bolster the UK-Philippines Enhanced Partnership, particularly on maritime security, climate and environment, trade and economic development and science and tech.

Less than two years after the EP was launched, we can already look back at significant, tangible achievements we have delivered together.

Already, our economic relationship is a success story. Trade between the UK and the Philippines is at its highest ever level at £2.6 billion. We are planning a new Joint Trade Economic Committee to accelerate this even further. We have seen major new UK investment in the Philippines, including Diageo’s £223-million acquisition of Don Papa Rum. Through our trade preference scheme, we have made 99 percent of Filipino exports eligible for tariff free access to the UK. We have £4 billion in UK export finance to further support British trade with the Philippines. Together, we will enhance trade and investment with a particular focus on renewable energy, agriculture, infrastructure and technology and promoting inclusive and sustainable growth.

Our trade work has been supported by British Investment Partnerships (BIP), which our UK Minister for Asia, Anne Marie Trevelyan, launched alongside Secretary Benjamin Diokno in March this year. BIP catalyzes and accelerates investments in green infrastructure. We have backed investments of £32 million in hydro and solar projects in the Philippines, seen private investments in biomass of $350 million and a new partnership with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

We have developed strong partnerships with the Philippines on climate, environment and biodiversity. Over the last year, we have worked with the Philippines to support the development of climate tools and strategies that set the country’s direction on climate action. This includes a National Adaptation Plan, which will be launched at COP28. Together, we are implementing a suite of programs to enhance climate resilience and adaptation, halting and reversing nature and biodiversity loss and accelerating the transition towards a green economy.

We have boosted our maritime engagement and taken it to new levels. We have broadened our cooperation on maritime law, promoting maritime domain awareness and advancing marine environmental protection. We have been clear in our support for the Philippines on the importance of upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as the legal framework for all activities in the ocean and seas. The UK Foreign Secretary’s visit of a Philippines Coast Guard vessel this week was evidence of this.

Together with the British Council, we have invested in people, improving educational opportunities and boosting our precious people-to-people ties. This has included support on skills development with TESDA and the setting up of 15 UK-Philippines dual degree postgraduate programs across 11 Filipino and nine British universities. It has also included scholarships, university linkages and other educational and cultural exchanges. Through our Chevening scholarship program in particular, over 500 scholars have now completed fully funded masters degrees of their choice and returned to the Philippines as the next generation of leaders and decision-makers.

We have taken pride in supporting the peace process in the BARMM – sharing our experience from the peace process in Northern Ireland and investing in the new institutions of parliament and government.

There is a lot more we have done – across key areas such as Serious and Organized Crime, health, media freedom and science. And we have begun investing in key new relationships and programs, for example in cyber-security and tech.

There is much we can already celebrate but we will not rest on our laurels. We are drawing on the momentum already generated to scale up our joint ambitions. The Joint Statement of Intent is a vote of confidence in the power of partnerships and the strengthening ties between the UK and the Philippines.

• £15 million from government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget allocated to support healthcare workforces in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana
• Funding will help upskill staff and improve health outcomes through improved administration, data collection, and training and retention opportunities
• Supporting a strong international health workforce better equips UK to tackle global health challenges

The UK will provide a multi-million pound boost to support healthcare staff recruitment and retention in 3 African countries – Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana – supporting resilience against global health challenges.

Fifteen million pounds from the ring-fenced Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for 2022 to 2025 will be committed to optimise, build and strengthen the health workforce in the 3 African countries. Recognising the importance of the health workforce in lower and middle-income countries in improving health outcomes and achieving universal health coverage, the funding will give people in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana access to the full range of health services they need, when they need it.

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for the UK to co-operate closely with international partners to tackle global health threats, which put considerable pressure on the NHS. The pandemic also resulted in workforce retention pressures around the world, while the demand for healthcare staff has increased. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a shortage of 10 million health workers globally by 2030, which threatens achieving global universal health coverage and could worsen worldwide health inequalities.

Addressing critical workforce challenges is key to strengthening health systems and building global resilience against future pandemics so people across the world – including in the UK – can be protected.

Health Minister Will Quince said:

Highly skilled, resilient staff are the backbone of a strong health service, so I’m delighted we can support the training, recruitment and retention of skilled health workforces in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.

This funding aims to make a real difference in strengthening the performance of health systems in each of the participating countries, which will have a knock-on effect on boosting global pandemic preparedness and reducing health inequalities.

The pandemic showed us that patients in the UK are not safe unless the world as a whole is resilient against health threats, and this will help us in delivering on that ambition.

Six million pounds from the ODA funding pledge will support WHO to deliver health workforce planning and capacity-building work – such as improved administration systems, and training and retention opportunities – in collaboration with local governments and health system stakeholders.

As part of this package, the Department of Health and Social Care will also run a £9 million 2-year competitive grant scheme for a not-for-profit organisation to co-ordinate delivery of partnership work in participating countries.

The partnership programmes for the health workforce include linking UK institutions with local health systems, promoting skills exchanges, and improving the curriculum, regulation and guidance in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.

The delivery co-ordinator will be responsible for setting up, funding and overseeing this work to drive improvement in quality and retention of healthcare staff in the 3 countries, and ultimately help to ensure better outcomes for patients.

The funding builds on £5 million previously committed as part of the Building the Future International Workforce ODA programme in Ghana, Uganda and Somaliland, which aims to improve health workforce planning and management, provide training opportunities for refugees and displaced people, and link NHS institutions with country health institutions.

Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana were chosen for the ODA award as they showed a clear need for workforce support, evidenced by high population mortality rates and low staff numbers, as well as unemployment among their trained health workers.

Update 1 September 2023

As part of the £15 million Global Health Workforce Programme announced on 19 May 2023, the Department of Health and Social Care ran a £9 million 2-year competitive grant scheme for a not-for-profit organisation to co-ordinate delivery of partnership work in participating countries.

The partnership programmes for the health workforce include linking UK institutions with local health systems, promoting skills exchanges, and improving the curriculum, regulation and guidance in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.

The grant competition closed on 23 June 2023, and 3 applications were received and assessed. The Department of Health and Social Care is pleased to announce that the grant has been awarded to the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET).

The Tropical Health and Education Trust will be responsible for setting up, funding and overseeing this partnership work to drive improvement in quality and retention of healthcare staff in the 3 countries, and ultimately help to ensure better outcomes for patients.

About the Tropical Health and Education Trust

THET is a global health organisation with a vision of a world where everyone has access to healthcare. For 35 years, it has been working to achieve this by training and educating health workers in Africa and Asia in partnership with organisations and volunteers from across the UK.

Founded in 1988 by Professor Sir Eldryd Parry, it is the only UK charity with this focus. From reducing maternal deaths in Uganda to improving the quality of hospital care for injured children in Myanmar, they work to strengthen local health systems and build a healthier future for all. In the past 10 years alone, THET has reached over 100,000 health workers across 31 countries in Africa and Asia in partnership with over 130 UK institutions.

For more information, visit the THET website.

A twelfth round of negotiations for the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took place from the 8-31 August. As with previous rounds, this was conducted in a hybrid fashion – a number of UK officials travelled to Delhi for negotiations and others attended virtually.

On 24-25 August India hosted the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting in Jaipur.

The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade visited India for the meeting and met with the Honourable Minister for Commerce and Industry, Government of India, Piyush Goyal. They took stock of the FTA and agreed ways to progress the negotiations.

The thirteenth round of negotiations is due to take place in September.

The United Kingdom commends the people of Zimbabwe for demonstrating patience and resilience in exercising their democratic rights, and especially for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere on election day and beyond.

We share the view of the Election Observation Missions’ preliminary statements that the pre-election environment and election day fell short of regional and international standards. Issues included limited transparency from the electoral commission, the lack of level playing field, the passing of repressive legislation, long delays in the opening of some polling stations, and reports of intimidation of voters. The UK takes note of the announcement by the Chair of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of results on 26 August. However, we are concerned by a lack of transparency in the tallying of results, as well as the arrests of domestic observers.

We urge all parties and citizens to continue to follow constitutional processes in the coming weeks, allow space for inclusive dialogue, and act with restraint.

Let me begin by joining others to thank France for their efforts as penholder.

In the spirit of compromise and consensus, The UK has voted in favour today.

The UK is a strong supporter of UNIFIL. It plays a critical role in maintaining peace and stability across the Blue Line, preventing any further escalation that would be catastrophic for the region.

Resolution 1701 has always been clear – UNIFIL is authorised to take all necessary action to ensure the freedom of movement of its personnel and to fulfil its duties.  This resolution clearly upholds that principle.

We are pleased the language clarifying UNIFIL’s long-standing mandate to exercise freedom of movement – which allows UNIFIL to conduct independent patrols and respond quickly to blue-line violations, and was added last year to that end, has been retained. However, it is unacceptable that UNIFIL is still unable to access some locations along the Blue Line border, including Green Without Borders sites. Particularly given Hezbollah’s self-acknowledged stockpiling of weapons in violation of resolution 1701.

The support UNIFIL provides to the Lebanese Armed Forces [LAF] has had a positive impact on the situation across the Blue Line. So, it is disappointing that the logistical support – an important signal of cooperation – was removed from this year’s mandate. The UK has long been a proud supporter of the Lebanese Armed Forces and we will continue our support to the LAF and Internal Security Forces in Lebanon as the pillars of Lebanon’s stability.

With this mandate passing we look to UNIFIL to provide stability that Lebanon needs and we pay tribute to its personnel.