Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 25 January 2023.

Statement by Chanaka Wickremasinghe, UK Legal Adviser, at the Security Council briefing by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Darfur.

President, I thank the Prosecutor for the thirty-sixth report on the Situation in Darfur, pursuant to Resolution 1593 and for his presentation today.

We welcome the swift progress made in the trial of Mr Abd-Al-Rahman as a historic step towards seeking accountability for survivors and affected communities in Darfur after many years. In this light, the UK would like to commend the ICC’s tireless commitment for more than 17 years to help deliver justice for the people of Darfur.

The trial of Mr Abd-Al-Rahman has enabled victims and witnesses to courageously tell their stories and to demonstrate to other victims that justice can be delivered. Such progress is an example of how strong cooperation with the ICC can translate into meaningful action.

It is therefore deeply disappointing that sufficient cooperation has been lacking from the Sudanese authorities, despite their reassurances to the Chief Prosecutor during his visits to Sudan.

Stronger engagement would demonstrate that the Sudanese authorities are serious about delivering their commitments on transitional justice, as outlined in the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement and the initial Framework Agreement signed 5th December 2022.

The UK urges the Sudanese authorities to immediately enhance their cooperation with the Court, in three areas in particular:
Firstly, we call on the Sudanese authorities to provide prompt access to Sudan, including unimpeded access to documentary archives and witnesses relevant to the Court’s investigations.

Secondly, a permanent presence is vital for the Office of the Prosecutor to  deepen its engagement with affected communities. We therefore urge the Sudanese authorities to help facilitate the establishment of a field office in Khartoum, and to remove the unnecessary bureaucratic impediments preventing Court staff from being granted multiple-entry visas to Sudan and to give access to ICC staff to Darfur.

Thirdly, the UK calls on the Sudanese authorities to respond swiftly to the Court’s outstanding requests for assistance, noting that 34 requests currently remain outstanding, with no responses received in the current reporting period.
Finally, Mr President, we welcome and encourage the continuation of cooperation between the Court and third States, which has proved vital, particularly in the absence of sufficient cooperation from the Sudanese authorities.

The UK would like to reiterate our support to the Court in delivering justice for the people of Darfur. In this respect, we call for action to deliver on the four ICC warrants which remain outstanding in the Darfur situation, and we continue to call for the surrender of Mr Banda, who remains a fugitive from justice.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 25 January 2023.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the Security Council briefing on Syria.

Let me start by again thanking Special Envoy Pedersen and OCHA Deputy Director Mudawi for their powerful briefings today.

I will highlight three points:

First, the United Kingdom welcomes the recent adoption of resolution 2672 to continue the delivery of life-saving aid to millions of Syrians in need. But let’s be clear – 6 months is not a sufficient timeline within which humanitarians can effectively operate and we heard that again today. The humanitarian community have consistently warned us that shorter mandate renewals force UN agencies and NGOs to direct much of their effort to contingency planning. That uncertainty limits their capacity to help those in need. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate with 15.3 million Syrians now in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

Second, with humanitarian needs growing each year, the Assad regime continues to profit from the production and trafficking of narcotics, most prominently captagon – which provides billions of dollars annually to the regime. Turning the country into a ‘narco-state’ harms the people of Syria and adds to regional instability. We urge partners in the international community to condemn this clearly and to continue supporting those affected by the captagon trade.

Third, we applaud Special Envoy Pedersen’s efforts to continue engagement with Damascus, as well as countries in the region and beyond.The UK stands ready to support a political process in line with resolution 2254. We must guard against any process that does not deliver on the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and which will not contribute to a lasting and sustainable peace.

We have heard from Russia that they were taking steps to renew the Constitutional Committee. But we have seen no progress. We urge Russia to stop stalling what ought to be a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process. It is time to move away from discussions of process for the Constitutional Committee and begin to tackle substance.

President, it has been seven years since this Council unanimously adopted resolution 2254. The principles set out in that resolution remain the only means for achieving a sustainable solution to the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Syria.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 25 January 2023.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 25 January 2023.

Ian Stubbs (UK delegation) says Putin’s horrific war of choice has created a legacy for which millions will be forced to bear the cost of for years to come.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 25 January 2023.

Representatives of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States met in Geneva with UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen on January 24.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 January 2023.

Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education Helen Grant delivered at statement at the UN on International Day of Education.

I am delighted to be here with you all on this fifth International Day of Education. I am extremely honoured to be the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education. I must also agree with you, I am absolutely humbled to hear the testimony of those Afghan women. Brave, brave, women. I shall be taking their messages home with me, back to the UK.

My role as the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Global Education is to globally champion his message that providing every girl on the planet with 12 years of quality education is one of the best ways of tackling many of the problems facing the world today, such as poverty, climate change and inequality.

Investing in girls’ education is a game changer. If we want to change the world for the better, girls’ education is a great, great place to start. The child of a mother who can read is 50% more likely to live beyond the age of five years, twice as likely to attend school themselves, and 50% more likely to be immunised.

We know too, girls who are educated are more able to choose if, when, and how many children they have. Girls’ education is therefore vital to women and girls, but also in levelling-up society, boosting incomes and developing economies and nations.

Refocusing international education finance to countries where the disparities are largest is more important than ever before. This is because the pandemic has become one of the biggest educational disruptors in our history, affecting 1.6 billion learners at the peak of the pandemic in 2020. It has also created a global education funding gap of $200 billion dollars each year. In poorer countries now over 70% of children can’t read a simple text by the age of ten.

So we must work hard, together, better and differently, if we want to get girls’ global education back on track. I think a large part of the answer with financing is to continue with the work that we started in 2021.

At the G7 summit that we hosted in Cornwall, our then Prime Minister Boris Johnson put girls’ education at the very heart of the summit. This ensured that education received the priority and profile it needs and deserves as well as the financial and political commitments.

At the Global Education Summit in London just a few months later in 2021 we raised, with our international partners, $4 billion dollars for global education. This will help another 175 million more children to learn. And of course, further momentum was created by the excellent Transforming Education Summit that took place here, in America, in September last year. Bit I think we also need to be more innovative in terms of finance.

This is why the UK is supporting the International Finance Facility for Education – and this is an amazing facility for leveraging additional funding for children in Lower Middle-Income

Countries – up to seven times what can be derived from a simple donor grant. We also support the Education Outcomes Fund – which emphasises payment by results and we are pioneering this approach in Sierra Leone and Ghana.

Regarding adjusting our programs to reach the most marginalised girls, this is absolutely critical and there are many examples I can give but in the interest of time I would say that a good example of our work is what we’re doing around climate change.

There are 200 million of the most marginalised women and girls living on the front line of climate change and we are never going to tackle SDG4 unless we tackle climate change.

At COP26 in Glasgow, we made the important connection between girls’ education and climate change. Showing how girls’ education can be very much a part of the solution.

Because girls who are educated are more able to participate in decisions, actions and leadership, on climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation. Our work in this area has led to the recently published climate paper that was launched by Minister Andrew Mitchell. And of course now we are full steam ahead with our preparations for COP28.

Again, in the interest of time I am going to close their but just to say I know the weight of the challenge of girls’ education is considerable. It is significant. But our ability to make change in the world world, if we work together, should never ever be underestimated.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 January 2023.

Mr Vinay Talwar has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti.

Mr Vinay Talwar has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti in succession to Ms Jo McPhail who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Mr Talwar will take up his appointment during April 2023.

Curriculum vitae

Full name: Vinay Talwar

Year	Role
2022 to 2023	Dublin, Head of Economic Team
2021 to 2022	Strasbourg, École Nationale d’Administration, FCDO and French Government Scholarship: MA in International Relations & Public Administration
2020 to 2021	Paris, Head of Communications
2020	Lima, Crisis Manager and Acting Deputy Head of Mission
2019 to 2020	Khartoum, Political Counsellor
2018 to 2019	Auckland, South Pacific Islands Project Lead
2018	UK Mission to the WTO, UN and Other International Organisations (UKMIS Geneva), First Secretary, Migration
2015 to 2018	Nouakchott, Head, UK Embassy Office
2013 to 2015	House of Commons, Second Clerk, Select Committee for Energy and Climate Change
2013	Yangon, Acting Head, Political Team
2011 to 2013	FCO, Head, NSC Emerging Powers Team, Policy Unit
2010 to 2011	Delhi, Political Officer, Climate Change and Energy Unit
2009 to 2010	Juba, Head of British Embassy Office
2009	Brussels, United Kingdom Permanent Representation to the European Union, Press Officer
2008	UK Permanent Representation to the United Nations New York, UNGA Team Leader, Second Secretary 5th Committee
2006 to 2008	Guatemala City, Second Secretary Political (covering Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador)
2006	Full Time Language Training (Spanish)
2005 to 2006	UK Trade and Industry, Attaché, Overseas Attachment Scheme (OATS), New York
2004 to 2005	FCO, Head, Forced Marriage Unit, Consular Directorate
2003 to 2004	Joined FCO, Desk Officer, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia

 

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 January 2023.

Minister of State Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon set out the UK’s offer of help ahead of the June 2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference.

Let me begin by offering my condolences to Ukraine for the tragic helicopter crash last week. I would also like to thank Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Hayashi for bringing us together today.

The UK condemns Putin’s continued attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The Ukrainian people have demonstrated great bravery and resilience, working tirelessly for months to meet this immense challenge.

Meanwhile, the efforts by this group to support Ukraine since October, under the United States leadership, are commendable.

Now, we must maintain this focus and support.

The UK has stood behind Ukraine as it fights for its freedom, providing more than £4 billion in military, humanitarian, and economic support.

On defence – Ukraine has increasingly shown its ability to shoot down Russian missiles. Therefore, this group must keep our focus on strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, maintaining a pipeline of supplies to strengthen its air defence.

This year, the UK will provide £2.3 billion in military support.

On energy – we have already provided close to £80 million in energy support and £220 million in humanitarian aid. We were early supporters of the Energy Community’s Ukraine Support Fund and expect to release our second tranche of funding, £5 million, later this month.

We welcome the significant contributions from other partners to the Fund.

Our work continues with the UK energy sector, including the National Grid and private businesses, to see what further support can be made available.

We are also committed to supporting Ukraine’s longer-term recovery and its ambition to rebuild a more modern, efficient, and greener energy system.

Now the donor coordination platform for Ukraine has been established, it is important that this group aligns its work with the platform. In this way, our work to restore Ukraine’s energy infrastructure will integrate with wider reconstruction efforts.

We look forward to working on this with our international partners in the run-up to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London in June.

Let me end by saying that the UK is unflinching in our determination to help Ukraine repel Putin’s illegal invasion, and lay the foundations for a stronger, more prosperous Ukraine.

We will continue to work with this group to those ends, for as long as it takes.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 January 2023.

Statement by Alice Jacobs, UK Deputy Political Coordinator at the UN, at the Security Council briefing on Haiti.

The United Kingdom would like to join others today in extending our sincere condolences to the people of Gabon for the passing of Foreign Minister Moussa Adamo.

I’d like to thank SRSG La Lime for her briefing today and the continued work of BINUH in Haiti.

And we welcome the participation of the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic and the Permanent Representatives of Haiti and Canada.

President, the UK remains deeply concerned by the dire humanitarian and security situation in Haiti. The figures speak for themselves: 58% of the population under the poverty line; 4.7 million acutely food insecure and an increase of kidnappings in 2022 of over 100% compared to the previous year. We’ve also heard chilling accounts of the widespread use of sexual violence by armed gangs as a weapon to instil fear into communities.

It is in this context that we recognise the need for an urgent response to Haiti’s request for international assistance and we look forward to further Council discussion on the authorisation of an international security assistance mission, as proposed by the Secretary General. Such a mission would have to be led by Haitian needs and should aim to contribute towards the restoration of effective governance through combatting endemic gang violence.

We also recognise the role of targetted sanctions in this regard. Following the establishment of the Sanctions Committee, we stand ready to consider further designations against those involved in criminal gang activity and the human rights violations that continue to threaten the peace, stability and security of Haiti.

However, sanctions alone do not offer a solution. Now is the time for Haitians to come together to find a solution to the political impasse: one that tackles the deep rooted economic, humanitarian and security challenges blighting the daily lives of the Haitian people. The UK welcomes recent moves towards a broader dialogue and efforts to reach a consensus. We renew our call for all actors to partake in political dialogue and to work together to identify and implement a consensus route towards democratic elections.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 January 2023.

The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the Israeli Embassy host Holocaust Memorial Day event at Foreign Office.

• James Cleverly and Israeli Embassy host Holocaust Memorial Day event at Foreign Office
• The Foreign Secretary speaks of the importance of learning from the Holocaust and grieving for all those who died
• Concentration camp survivor Manfred Goldberg and Israel’s Ambassador to the UK also attend the first in-person memorial event at the FCDO in three years.

The Foreign Secretary said we all share “a solemn duty” to remember the six million victims of the Holocaust – as the UK and Israel jointly commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) with a ceremony at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office.

The event, co-hosted by the FCDO and the Israeli Embassy in the UK, was part of a long-standing collaboration between the UK and Israel to mark HMD and returns in-person for the first time in three years.

The Foreign Secretary gave a speech to attendees reflecting on his own visit, last year, to Radegast station in Lodz in Poland where 200,000 Jewish men, women and children were transported to Nazi death camps.

In his speech, the Foreign Secretary spoke of the “solemn duty to remember” that “every one of us shares.”

Stutthof Concentration Camp survivor, Manfred Goldberg BEM, also shared his testimony with guests at the ceremony, including representatives from the Jewish community, diplomatic community, civil society, Parliamentarians, and other communal leaders.

UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said:

Every one of us shares a solemn duty to remember that six million men, women and children were killed during the Holocaust.

When we say the words “never again”, we must mean it, heart and soul.

We owe it to all who were not saved to reflect, to learn, to grieve, and above all, to remember.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, said:

Today, we remember the six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust, as well as the millions of other lives who perished at the hands of Nazism. We reflect on the systematic murder of ordinary people and the immense pain and suffering needlessly inflicted on so many. “We also consider the terrible consequences of when other ordinary people stand idly by and allow the initial roots of hatred to take hold. We, therefore, renew our promise to forever challenge prejudice in all its forms wherever it occurs, so that the horrors of the Holocaust are never repeated.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Pickles, the UK’s Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues and Co-Chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, said:

Sadly, the number of direct witnesses to the Holocaust are dwindling and that is why we must ensure that what they endured, what they witnessed is never forgotten. We should make it our mission to ensure that no one questions the basic facts of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators.

We owe it to the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered during the Holocaust, survivors, and refugees to reclaim their rights, their history, their cultural heritage and traditions, and their dignity.

Both the Embassy of Israel and the FCDO will mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday 27th January 2023, by lighting up their respective buildings in purple, in honour of all victims of genocide.