Tag: Foreign Office

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

The UK Government will match fund up to £6million of public donations to Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day appeal.

The UK Government today (Friday 17) announced that it will match fund up to £6million of public donations to Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day appeal, to empower people living across Africa to take control of their own development.

The funding will go towards Comic Relief and FCDO’s joint-funded Shifting the Power programme, as part of a total £30m package of support.

Locally led, civil society organisations in Ghana, Zambia and Malawi will be supported through the programme to become more effective, sustainable and better able to represent local people’s priorities.

By acting on the issues that are most important to them and their communities, including supporting women and girls, early childhood development, mental health and tackling homelessness, they will help drive lasting change.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South and Central Asia, North Africa, UN and the Commonwealth, said:

The UK Government will match fund up to £6m of public donations, pound for pound, to Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day appeal. Thanks to your generosity locally-led organisations across Ghana, Zambia and Malawi will be able to bring lasting change to their communities by supporting women and girls to fulfil their potential, allowing young children to survive and thrive, and giving people access to mental health services and a safe place to call home.

Shifting the Power is due to run until 2030, as part of the UK Government’s long-standing partnership with Comic Relief.

Samir Patel, CEO, Comic Relief said:

We are delighted to receive strong support for our international work from the UK Government. The generous £6 million funding will be invested in locally led organisations across Africa that focus on empowering women and girls, supporting the development of young children, increasing mental health support and addressing gender inequality. This money will support some of the most vulnerable people in society and make a real difference to their lives.

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

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly gave a statement on Turkey’s decision to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

We welcome Turkey’s decision to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO. We are clear that Turkey should provide a clear path for Sweden’s swift accession.

We remain fully committed to supporting both Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession, in line with NATO’s open door policy.

Their membership will make all Allies safer, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure.  We will continue to press for both countries’ swift accession into the alliance.

Our mutual security declarations signed with Sweden and Finland on 11 May 2022 demonstrate our steadfast and unequivocal commitment to the security of both countries during this process and beyond.

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

UK statement during the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council on 16-17 March 2023.

Thank you, Chair.

The UK welcomes a return to substantive discussions on this issue in the TRIPS Council, which is the right venue for Members to consider the evidence relating to the potential extension of the MC12 TRIPS decision to COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics. We recognise this as an important issue, and Members should have the opportunity to seek clarification on the issues that have been raised and to work towards a decision which is underpinned by evidence-based policy-making. We would like to stress the importance of open, inclusive, and transparent processes going forward, as many members have called for previously.

The UK has long maintained that the TRIPS Agreement strikes the correct balance between incentivising innovation and ensuring access through its flexibilities, including those enshrined in the Doha Declaration. We recognise the essential role of generic manufacturing and believe that, during the life of the patent, this should be enabled by voluntary licensing agreements which include technology and know-how transfer. This collaboration ensures that generic manufacturing adheres to regulatory practices that are internationally recognised so products meet the necessary quality and safety standards.

We have noted before that there are approximately 130 voluntary licensing arrangements in place for COVID-19 treatments, which cover most low- and middle-income countries, including bilateral agreements with countries such as Brazil and India, which are important regional manufacturers of generic medicines. We would welcome being made aware of any evidence on how these arrangements fail to meet current international demand.

We recognise extension proponents’ mutatis mutandis proposal from December 2022. The UK has considered this proposal carefully. Our view is we must first form consensus on whether extension is required, based on the evidence available. We have also noted that a number of questions have been raised by Members in relation to this proposal, including, but not limited to, the scope of products covered by the proposal and the risks of dual and multiple use. As has been discussed, COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics rely on pre-existing treatments and testing technology, used in different contexts to test and treat other diseases.

In this regard, we consider the papers circulated last year, by Mexico and Switzerland and Chinese Taipei, as important contributions to address these unresolved issues. We understand that the questions raised by them are yet to be addressed. These relate, among other things, to concerns over the scope of the potential extension being excessively broad or unilaterally defined by individual Members, as well as to the current supply and demand dynamics for these products.

As demonstrated by Chinese Taipei’s discussion paper, a key factor to increase production and to enhance access to therapeutics is closer industrial cooperation between originators and generic producers. The UK is ready to engage in conversations on ways to foster industrial cooperation with low- and middle-income countries to achieve this at the TRIPS Council and other relevant fora. The UK recognises that COVID-19 remains a serious challenge and that we need to promote equitable and effective distribution of COVID-19 products globally. A holistic response is needed to address the barriers to access, including better health infrastructure and health system readiness, harmonised regulatory mechanisms, as well as effective procurement and distribution strategies.

We maintain that changes to the international IP framework, which are not substantiated by evidence, could weaken its ability to incentivise investment and innovation, thus risking our ability to tackle health and other emergencies both now and in the future. As ever, the UK stands ready to engage constructively in evidence-based conversation.

Thank you, Chair.

 

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

During the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, the UK delivered a statement on the report on access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 16 March 2023.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council briefing on Security Sector Reform.

Thank you, President.

As Mozambique’s helpful Concept Note for this meeting sets out, security sector reform and governance has an important role to play in state building and peace-building.

The United Kingdom has invested in security sector reform and governance at home and overseas. We have done so because we believe a democratically accountable and well-functioning security sector is an integral element in a broader system of government that provides protections for its citizens, based on the fundamental principles of universal human rights and respect for the rule of law.

This is what makes security sector reform relevant, not just in post-conflict reconstruction, but also in conflict prevention. Because trust between citizens and the state is premised on the existence of institutions that serve and protect the needs of those citizens.

For example, President, today the Council has just issued a PRST on Libya’s electoral process. We welcome the 5+5 Joint Military’s engagement with UNSMIL and their commitment to come together to create a safe environment for free and fair elections. As co-chair of the Security Working Group for Libya, the UK will continue to support efforts for the joint working and eventual unification of Libya’s militaries into one state military that is accountable to an elected government and able to tackle, comprehensively, Libya’s security challenges.

President, let me make three additional points. First, the United Kingdom welcomes the Secretary-General’s efforts to strengthen the United Nations’ comprehensive approach to security sector reform – including in particular his focus on security sector governance. Here, the UN has a strong comparative advantage, underpinned by experience and an approach that prioritises integrity, transparency and accountability.

I am grateful to Mr. Zouev for his update on the implementation of the UN’s Programme of Action on security sector reform. The United Kingdom continues to support a more integrated and coherent UN approach to security sector reform and governance.

Second, this Council has an important role in driving the application of best practices on security sector reform by the UN and its partners. This includes Council cooperation to shape fit-for-purpose mandates to guide the engagement of UN peace operations and improve the coordination of international support.

Third, we all need to do more to advance women’s inclusion in security sector reform processes. The United Kingdom’s new National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security underscores precisely this point, which will guide our domestic and international policy-making in this area.

The United Kingdom will continue to be an advocate for security sector reform and governance, working with the UN and other partners, including the African Union, to maximise the impact of our support.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 16 March 2023.

The UK, US, France, and Germany have issued a joint statement on the occasion of the 12-year anniversary of the Syrian uprising.

The following statement was released by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America on the occasion of the 12-year anniversary of the Syrian uprising:

Today marks the beginning of the 13th year since the Syrian people peacefully rose up to demand their freedom and dignity, calling on the Assad regime to respect their inalienable rights and to stop human rights violations.  Almost a quarter of a million Syrian civilians have been killed since then, the vast majority of them by the Assad regime, which met its people’s demands with atrocities that continue today.  The ongoing conflict has created a permissive environment for terrorists and drug traffickers to exploit, further threatening regional stability.

This year’s anniversary comes on the heels of a series of devastating earthquakes that claimed the lives of nearly 10,000 Syrians inside the country and across the border in Türkiye many of whom sought refuge there after fleeing the Assad regime.  In light of this catastrophe, we renew our call on all parties in Syria to observe their commitments under ceasefire agreements, work towards a sustained calm, permit unhindered humanitarian access and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid through all modalities, including the continued authorization of the cross-border mechanism by the UN Security Council, and address the increasing need for assistance after over a decade of war and abuse. To respond to this humanitarian crisis, we have issued emergency exemptions to our sanctions policies which facilitate the delivery of humanitarian and disaster relief to earthquake affected areas, while preventing the Assad regime from benefiting from this assistance at the expense of the Syrian people.

As we focus on addressing the immediate humanitarian needs following the tragic earthquakes, we recall our joint goals to advance a UN-facilitated, Syrian-led political process in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and to improve the situation on the ground for millions of Syrians in other ways, including the situation of internally displaced persons and refugees.  We remain committed to supporting Syrian civil society and ending the human rights violations and abuses the Syrian people have suffered – from the Assad regime and others – long before the earthquakes struck.  The international community must work together to hold the Assad regime and all perpetrators of abuses, violations, and atrocities accountable.  We welcome ongoing efforts by national courts to investigate and prosecute crimes committed in Syria.  Furthermore, we call on all parties to release and/or clarify the fate and whereabouts of over 155,000 persons who, to this day, remain unjustly detained or missing in Syria.

We are not normalising relations with the Assad regime, nor are we funding reconstruction of the damage inflicted by the regime during the conflict or lifting sanctions.  For the benefit of the Syrian people, we will not normalise until there is authentic and enduring progress towards a political solution.  As we observe the 12th anniversary of the Assad regime’s initiation of this horrendous conflict, and as we confront conflict elsewhere around the world, the plight of the Syrian people must remain front and center.  We continue to stand with the Syrian people and strongly support efforts to advance an enduring political solution, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254, that is grounded in justice and accountability and remains the only way to achieve the stable peace that Syrians need and deserve.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 16 March 2023.

Statement by Political Coordinator Fergus Eckersley at the UN General Assembly debate on Myanmar.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 16 March 2023.

Ambassador Bush shares testimonies from three of the brave Ukrainians who spoke at a recent event held by the British Embassy in Kyiv.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 16 March 2023.

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

Thank you, President.

Restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls – across political, economic and social spheres – are becoming increasingly acute. Women continue to be erased from Afghan society. Girls are still barred from secondary school.

Today’s unanimous decision to renew UNAMA’s robust mandate sends a clear message: the international community will not abandon women and girls. The work of the mission in protecting, promoting and monitoring the rights of all Afghans, including advocating for inclusive and representative governance is more important than ever. And through it, we will work to hold the Taliban to account on its commitments.

The Taliban’s recent decree barring Afghan women from working for NGOs has also impacted humanitarian operations. This at a time when more than 28 million people, two thirds of the population, are in humanitarian need. We commend UNAMA’s ongoing work in leading and coordinating efforts to get aid to those who need it most, in challenging circumstances.

In closing, I want to pay tribute to the tireless work of UNAMA, UN agencies and NGO implementing partners on the ground, and to reaffirm the UK’s solidarity with the Afghan people.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 16 March 2023.

During the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, the UK delivered a statement on violence against children.

Thank you, Mr Vice-President,

The United Kingdom would like to thank the Special Representative for this valuable report and for her tireless work on this agenda, in particular her efforts to shine a light on the protection of children in the digital environment.

We note with concern the ongoing high rates of child sexual exploitation and abuse online, with girls being particularly at risk.
In response, we are driving forward the Online Safety Bill which will mandate tech companies to proactively tackle the child sexual exploitation threat on their platforms. We have also pledged a further £16.5m up to 2025 for the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, to deliver a world in which every child can access and benefit from the digital world, safe from harm.

Madam Special Representative,

We are encouraged to see your advocacy work to enhance child protection online, and welcome views on how we can ensure that this is effectively joined up with broader work to prevent technology-facilitated gender-based violence.