Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 1 October 2023.

The FCDO will implement new measures to increase the number of staff employed with military backgrounds.

Plans will encourage applications from veterans to the department and improve their chances of successful appointment. Roles are open to veterans in both the diplomatic service and in jobs across the UK. This will include FCDO representation at career fairs for veterans of the armed forces, and promotion to increase take-up of a guaranteed interview scheme for people who have served in the military.

Once recruited, plans are being developed to encourage career progression. This includes a bespoke mentoring scheme to support veterans to reach the Senior Civil Service.

Data on the number of veterans recruited will be published next year to demonstrate progress made against this ambition.

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

Explanation of Vote by Tom Woodroffe, UK Ambassador to the ECOSOC, at the UN General Assembly meeting on SDG Summit Political Declaration.

Presidents and esteemed colleagues, I would like to begin by expressing our gratitude to you and the Co-facilitators, Their Excellencies, the Permanent Representatives of Qatar and Ireland, and indeed their full teams, for their hard work, which has enabled the adoption of the declaration today. We are pleased that, after months of negotiations, we have been able to join consensus here in the GA following endorsement of the declaration at the highest levels during the SDG summit last week.

Now, as our Deputy Prime Minister set out at that summit, the UK remains fully committed to delivering the universal vision for economic, environmental, and social development set out in Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. With seven years to go, our collective promises are in jeopardy. We need robust political will and commitment to greater action to get them back on track.

Indeed and in fact, as His Excellency, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan, set out earlier, the declaration includes a number of ambitious and welcome commitments which should provide the impetus to do so.

The UK recognises how important finance is to achieving the 2030 agenda. That is why we are pushing for a bigger, better, fairer international financial system which increases the voice and representation of the poorest and most vulnerable. We are driving reforms of the Multilateral Development Banks, including stretching their balance sheets to release over $200 billion of additional finance over the next 10 years, scaling MDB lending to unlock $1 billion in education financing and $1.8 billion of climate finance for countries in Africa and the Asia Pacific, and making the MDBs more agile, shock-responsive, and better able to mobilise private investment.

We are also encouraging the MDBs, NDBs, and all other creditors to offer climate-resilient debt clauses to pause debt payments when disaster strikes. And that is also why, at the G20, our Prime Minister announced a further $2 billion for the Green Climate Fund.

But, of course, finance is only one part of the equation. We must also ensure that this is invested in areas which will accelerate progress across all the goals, such as gender equality, science and data, education, health, food security, and renewable energy. We must rapidly cut emissions, decarbonise, and transition to renewable energy to keep 1.5 degrees in reach.

The UK remains committed to our 2013 nationally determined contribution, reaching net-zero by 2050 and supporting developing countries to achieve their climate and biodiversity ambitions. We would have liked to see the declaration reflect the need for continued high policy ambition to tackle climate change and limit global temperature risk as we look towards a critical COP 28.

Given the importance of gender equality to accelerating progress across the goals and to their delivery, we are also disappointed that the declaration does not represent the full range of gender commitments we collectively made in Agenda 2030.

It will be critical for us to build on our 2050 agreements as we go into the second committee this year, CSW and ICPD30 next year, the proposed social summit, and indeed the Summit of the Future, in order to be sure we really do leave no one behind.

Thank you.

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

This page provides statements following the IDUAI global conference at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford.

Oxford statement on importance of access to information and digital connectivity

The Global Conference to celebrate the International Day for Universal Access to Information was organised by UNESCO and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. It took place at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, on 28 September 2023. The conference participants recognised the importance of the online space for access to information, and agreed the following:

• we reaffirmed the importance of digital connectivity and the free flow of, and access to, information as a vital means to support an open international community that upholds stability, security, rule of law, prosperity, and promotes sustainable development
• we reaffirmed that human rights, as protected by the international human rights framework, are applicable online just as they are offline. Access to information, including through the Internet, is widely recognised as an enabler of a broad range of human rights, and that access to information includes accessibility for persons with disabilities
• we reaffirmed the importance of an open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, safe, secure and sustainable Internet. We recognised the vital role of a multi-stakeholder approach to counter the growing, global challenge of Internet shutdowns and restrictions
• we reaffirmed the importance of free and fair elections to the integrity of a democracy. The free flow of information through the Internet is a crucial means to enable full and inclusive participation in elections. We welcomed the potential of technology, including a responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, to empower engagement in the electoral process
• we recognised the vital importance of access to information in supporting the democratic process, including enabling institutions to discharge their commitments to individuals and communities, which can deepen inclusion and strengthen accountability
• we affirmed the vital role the online space offers everyone, irrespective of gender, to exercise their right to participate fully and effectively in public life – economically, socially, and politically. We rejected the increased use of divisive narratives and gendered disinformation to undermine women’s political participation, polarise and weaken democratic institutions
• we recognised the vital role the independent media plays in facilitating access to information, often through the Internet. Too often shutdowns go hand in hand with attempts to restrict press freedom, silence debate and spread mis and disinformation.  We welcome UNESCO’s efforts to support the capacity building of judges, prosecutors and other judicial operators aiming to guarantee that their decisions, including regarding internet freedom and access to information, are aligned with International Human Rights Law
• lastly, we welcomed efforts by the international community, including UNESCO; the Freedom Online Coalition; the Taskforce on Preventing Internet Shutdowns; the Media Freedom Coalition; the Open Government Partnership and the International Conference of Information Commissioners. These partners and others, play an important role in supporting free-flowing information and digital connectivity, including by preventing internet shutdowns, defending a free and independent media, tackling disinformation, and supporting access to information

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon said:

We want all citizens to exercise their rights armed with transparent and trustworthy information.  The internet and independent media have a powerful role in supporting democracy to thrive. This is why the UK is at the forefront of efforts to support media freedom, counter politically motivated internet shutdowns and tackle disinformation – all of which are serious threats to democracy.

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information Jelassi said:

Internet accessibility is crucial for bridging the digital divide, ensuring equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of their location or socioeconomic status. Limited internet accessibility, such as slow or unreliable internet connections, can create inequities, particularly for marginalized communities or remote areas with limited internet infrastructure.

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

Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, will visit Timor-Leste 29 Sept-2 Oct to launch a UK-UNICEF programme combating child malnutrition.

• UK to boost health collaboration with Timor-Leste with launch of new UK-UNICEF Health Programme
• Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan to reiterate UK support for Timor-Leste’s upcoming accession to The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
• she will also attend a UN Women event, enabled by ASEAN-wide UK funding, to promote women’s participation in security, conflict resolution and development policy

To enhance UK-Timor-Leste collaboration on health and development, UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan will arrive in Timor-Leste today (Friday 29 September) for a 3-day visit. The visit will be the first by a UK minister since Timor-Leste gained independence in 2002.

Minister Trevelyan will hold high-level talks with Timorese counterparts including President Ramos-Horta, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, and Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas. Discussions will focus on opportunities to deepen cooperation between the 2 countries on health and development, including through a UK-UNICEF Health Programme to help combat child malnutrition which the Minister will launch during her visit.

Supported by £1 million of UK government funding, the programme will train community volunteers and establish support groups to encourage and advise parents on healthy food practices.

Minister Trevelyan will also attend a Women in Leadership event co-organised by the Government of Timor-Leste and UN Women. This event is supported by UK funding to UN Women, part of a wider £3.2 million UK-ASEAN programme announced earlier this year. The programme will promote women’s roles in peace and security initiatives throughout Southeast Asia.

The visit comes in an important year for Timor-Leste, as it accedes to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the foremost political and economic bloc in the region. Minister Trevelyan will reiterate the UK’s sustained support for Timor-Leste’s accession, with the UK having become an ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 2021. Southeast Asia is a global centre of economic growth and prosperity, and the UK’s engagement as an ASEAN Dialogue Partner supports the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy.

Ahead of the visit, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

As an ASEAN Dialogue Partner, the UK continues to work closely with partners across Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific to secure sustainable peace and prosperity in the region and address the challenges of the future

On my first visit to Timor-Leste, I look forward to discussing opportunities to enhance our bilateral relationship and collaboration on shared health and development priorities.

We remain steadfast in our support of Timor-Leste’s accession to ASEAN as a key partner on the global stage.

The UK’s increased engagement with Timor-Leste demonstrates its long-term commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, in line with the Integrated Review Refresh published in March 2023.

In addition to development cooperation, the UK is supporting Timor-Leste to maintain regional stability, with Royal Navy vessel HMS Spey visiting Dili in August 2023.

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

The UK will give £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support the humanitarian response to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The UK has announced vital funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as it provides life-saving medication, healthcare and other essential support to vulnerable people in Nagorno-Karabakh and the wider region.

The £1 million funding will also support ICRC as it works to transport the wounded and help displaced families keep in contact.

Following a military operation by Azerbaijan to take full control of the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a significant portion of the ethnic Armenian population has left Karabakh for the neighbouring Republic of Armenia and face acute humanitarian challenges.

Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty said:

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has placed communities under immense pressure.

The UK’s financial package will help to protect families and provide crucial assistance to the most vulnerable people.

In calls with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan this week, Minister Docherty urged both sides to return to dialogue and ensure unfettered humanitarian access to vulnerable people and communities affected by events in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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

Latest sanctions package holds those who would undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty to account.

• UK sanctions Russian officials involved in recent sham elections in the Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, and in illegally annexed Crimea
• Sanctions also target officials involved in last year’s sham referendums staged to legitimise the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory
• 1,600 individuals and entities have now been sanctioned by the UK in response to Russia’s invasion

More Russian officials involved in the illegal invasion of Ukraine are hit with new sanctions, including movement and financial restrictions, announced by the Foreign Secretary today (29th September). Eleven new designations will be imposed by the UK in response to Russia’s attempts to use sham elections to legitimise its illegal control of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea, which are all part of Ukrainian sovereign territory.

Among those designated are an organisation and senior Russian officials, who have all directly acted to undermine Ukraine and threaten its territorial integrity.

They include:

• The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia, the government agency that has arranged this month’s sham elections and last year’s referendums in illegally temporarily controlled parts of Ukraine.
• Natalya Budarina, CEC Secretary, one of the most senior officials in the Central Election Commission.
• Andrei Aleksyenko, Head of the so-called Kherson regional administration.
• Marina Zakharova, Head of the so-called election commission in Kherson.

Today’s announcement comes one year on from Russia’s illegal attempt to annex the Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk after falsified and illegitimate sham referendums. Conducted on sovereign Ukrainian territory, through intimidation at gunpoint, these referendums were overwhelmingly rejected by the UN General Assembly in October 2022.

The Ukrainian population living in these temporarily controlled territories has endured large-scale atrocities at the hands of Russian forces, including torture, sexual violence, and mass forced deportation. To date, the Ukrainian authorities report that at least 19,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported from their homes.

Russia has sought to destroy Ukrainian culture and identity in a bid to strengthen its illegitimate claim to Ukrainian territory, including by forcible issue of Russian passports, and imposition of Russian law, media, education, and currency.

In the latest futile attempt to normalise Russia’s illegitimate control of sovereign Ukrainian territory, Russia arranged illegal sham “elections” earlier this month. These elections are another violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and of the UN Charter. Earlier this month the UK confirmed, to the UN Security Council, evidence that the results were pre-determined.

Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly said:

Russia’s sham elections are a transparent, futile attempt to legitimise its illegal control of sovereign Ukrainian territory. You can’t hold ‘elections’ in someone else’s country.

The UK will never recognise Russia’s claims to Ukrainian territory – Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson are Ukraine.

Last year, the UK took immediate action in response to the illegal sham referendums in Ukraine, sanctioning top Russian officials who enforced the illegal votes in the temporarily controlled territories of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk.

This latest package of designations comes ahead of a new commemoration day in Russia, declared by Putin to celebrate the anniversary of his purported annexations, despite Russia having no legitimate basis for any claim to Ukrainian territory.

The people of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts voted overwhelmingly for Ukraine’s independence in 1991, and their continued resistance against Russian aggression shows their determination to remain part of an independent and sovereign Ukraine.

These latest sanctions serve as a stark reminder of the cost of such a flagrant assault on sovereignty, democracy and equality.

Together with our international partners, we have unleashed the largest and most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy.

The UK alone has sanctioned over 1,800 individuals and entities under its Russia sanctions regime, over 1,600 of which were sanctioned since Putin’s full-scale invasion. This includes 29 banks, accounting for over 90% of the Russian banking sector, and 129 oligarchs who had a combined net worth around £145 billion at the time of the invasion. Over £20 billion of UK-Russia bilateral trade (2021 figures) is now under full or partial sanction and there has been a 98.2% fall in Russian imports into the UK, and a 77.4% fall in UK exports to Russia.

Sanctions have sent Russia into recession, eroded Russia’s financial base and massively degraded the building blocks for Russia’s long-term growth.

Russia’s budget is heavily in deficit. Rather than the surplus the Russian government predicted for 2022, Russia suffered an annual deficit of $47bn—the second highest of the post-Soviet era. Many of the trends contributing to the deficit in 2022 will continue in 2023, especially downward pressure on oil and gas exports.

Now, over 60% of Putin’s ‘war chest’ foreign reserves – worth £275bn – have been immobilised.

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

Statement by Deputy Political Coordinator Thomas Phipps at the UN Security Council meeting on international peace and security.

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

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

The FCDO Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty and the Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission, John Watson gave a joint UK-EU statement on 28 September 2023.

Joint statement by the Alternate Co-chairs of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee following their meeting on 28 September 2023:

The United Kingdom and the European Union today held a meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, co-chaired at alternate level by the FCDO Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty MP and the Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission, John Watson.

The Joint Committee took stock of discussions under the Withdrawal Agreement framework since the last meeting on 3 July 2023. The alternate co-chairs welcomed the progress made and reiterated their mutual commitment to continued work to ensure the full implementation of all the elements of the Windsor Framework in a faithful way.

In the context of the implementation of Joint Committee Decision No 1/2023, the European Union made a Declaration pursuant to Article 23(4)(a) and the United Kingdom made a Declaration pursuant to Article 23(4)(b). The Joint Committee also adopted Decision No 4/2023.

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

Deputy Ambassador Deirdre Brown says Azerbaijan’s decision to commence a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh put at risk efforts to find a lasting peace settlement.

Thank you Chair.

Azerbaijan’s decision last week to commence a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh put at risk efforts to find a lasting peace settlement. Like many others, the UK urged Azerbaijan to cease its use of force, refrain from further escalatory action, and return to dialogue. While the UK fully recognises Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, military might cannot be used to resolve tensions between communities.

We call on all parties to continue to respect the 20 September ceasefire, welcome the direct talks between Azerbaijan and representatives of the ethnic Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh which took place on 21 and 25 September, and call on Azerbaijan to protect the rights and security of that community.

We are concerned about the humanitarian situation, due to the limited access international aid organisations have into Nagorno-Karabakh, and the significant refugee flows from Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia. We are liaising with the UN, ICRC and others to assess humanitarian need in the region and what further UK assistance is required.

The UK has raised its concerns at the UN Security Council, here at the Special Permanent Council last week, and directly with representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments. We will continue to monitor the situation, in close cooperation with our international partners.

It is only through diplomacy in line with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act that we will see a sustainable settlement to this conflict. We urge both Armenia and Azerbaijan to restore substantive negotiations on a settlement to the wider remaining tensions in the region as soon as possible.