Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 March 2024.

The UK delivered a statement on 6 February 2024 during Malta’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.

Thank you,

The United Kingdom welcomes Malta’s strong record on human rights, including on LGBT+ rights. Malta’s commitment to the rights of LGBT+ people was further evidenced last year during their successful hosting of EuroPride.

The United Kingdom also notes the continued efforts of the Maltese government to deliver reforms regarding media freedom and the rule of law. In particular the United Kingdom recognises Malta’s efforts to deliver against the recommendations of the public inquiry into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

We recommend that Malta:

1. Review progress against all the recommendations of the public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia to make clear what the next steps will be.
2. To continue to drive progress on gender issues, in particular women’s rights, as well as use their seat on the UNSC to advocate for Women, Peace and Security.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 March 2024.

UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and any other child sexual abuse material.

Thank you, Mr Vice-President,

We thank the Special Rapporteur for her recent report and continued work on this important issue.

We are committed to preventing the worst forms of child labour, including child sexual exploitation and abuse online and within at-risk communities around the world.

In the UK, we are prioritising making it the safest place for children to be online with our Online Safety Act legislation. The Act puts the strongest protections in place for children and places clear legal duties on platforms to report, remove and limit child sexual abuse material on platforms – including in end-to-end encrypted environments.

We also support an Action-Research-Innovation programme in South and South-Eastern Asia, “CLARISSA”, which has increased knowledge on the worst forms of child labour in the adult entertainment sector. Through innovative participatory research, this programme has shown the value of engaging both children and business owners to better understand the sector’s complexity. This, in turn, supports interventions that address children’s rights violations and successfully reduce child exploitation.

Special Rapporteur, how can states foster better international coordination to reduce child sexual exploitation and abuse across all sectors?

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 March 2024.

Statement by UK Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joanna Roper, at the 105th Executive Council.

Mr Chair, Director General, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, let me begin by thanking Ambassador Fatu for a year of dedicated service to this Council. His leadership has driven important progress, including on issues that we have been struggling to resolve for many years.

I also thank Director General Arias for his report reflecting on the work of the Technical Secretariat. We are encouraged by the level of progress in a number of priority areas, building upon the momentum generated in 2023. The UK is committed fully to supporting the Technical Secretariat’s programme of work in the coming year, including on enhancing geographical and other forms of representation including gender balance and tackling emerging threats.

Mr Chair, this organisation rightly celebrates the Convention’s success, but we are reminded too of the threat that chemical weapons continue to pose. My Prime Minister expressed his shock at the recent death of Alexei Navalny, noting that “He died for a cause for which he dedicated his whole life, freedom”. His shocking poisoning by Russia in 2020 using Novichok is a stark reminder of the modern threat we face.

This week we also mark the sixth anniversary of the Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury. Five people were injured and Dawn Sturgess, poisoned in nearby Amesbury, tragically died. Only the Russian state had the technical means, operational experience and the motive to carry out the attack.

The attack in Salisbury and the 2020 poisoning of Alexei Navalny demonstrate Russia’s utter contempt for the basic principles that sit at the heart of the CWC. This contempt for international law extends to Putin’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine. Two years since the beginning of Putin’s war, we continue to see evidence of Russian use of riot control agents, in clear breach of Article I of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The UK stands with Ukraine and any use of chemical weapons in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would bring severe consequences.

Mr Chair, I would like to acknowledge the IIT’s expert and diligent work to deliver the report published on 22 February, which found reasonable grounds to believe that Daesh were responsible for a sulphur mustard attack in Marea in September 2015. This report further confirms Daesh’s use of chemical weapons in Syria. Independent reports from the JIM and IIT have now attributed a total of 4 chemical weapon attacks to Daesh and a further 9 to the Syrian regime.

We call on all States Parties and the Technical Secretariat to implement in full the Decision adopted at the 28th Conference of States Parties on ‘Addressing the Threat from Chemical Weapons Use and the Threat of Future Use’. This Decision will help us to mitigate the continuing, serious risks presented by both the Syrian Regime and non-state actors to Syrian civilians and regional security.

Mr Chair, as we enter 2024, the work of the OPCW is more important than ever. We welcome the approval of the biennial budget at the 28th Conference of States Parties and decisions taken in November to improve the long-term viability of this crucial organisation. Yet, the threat of future chemical attack by both state and non-state actors demonstrates the need for us all to work even more intensively to ensure chemical weapon use is confined to history. Let me close by thanking the Director General and colleagues for working so hard to pursue this outcome. Thank you Mr Chair.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 April 2024.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at UN General Assembly on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

President, the civilian suffering in Gaza cannot continue.

Hunger has reached devastating levels.

Disease is on the rise.

People are crammed into ever smaller slivers of land, with nowhere left to go.

Last week, the UK and Jordan air-dropped four tonnes of life-saving aid to the Tal Al-Hawa hospital in northern Gaza.

We also announced an additional $5.4 million in aid to ensure UNFPA can continue to provide life-saving support to more than 100,000 vulnerable women and girls in Gaza.

As my Prime Minister has told Prime Minister Netanyahu and regional leaders, we are deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.

Over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area, and the Rafah crossing is vital to ensure aid can reach the people who so desperately need it.

The deaths of people in Gaza waiting for an aid convoy last week were horrific.

There must be an urgent investigation and accountability.

This must not happen again.

And we cannot separate what happened from the inadequate aid supplies.

In February, only half the number of trucks crossed into Gaza that crossed in January.

This is simply unconscionable.

President, Israel has an obligation to ensure that significantly more humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza.

We have identified a series of bottlenecks that need addressing: Israel must urgently open more crossings into Gaza; eliminate bureaucratic obstacles; enable aid operations in Gaza; and ensure there is a robust de-confliction mechanism in place to protect ordinary Palestinians, NGOs, medical staff and others providing aid.

This latest tragedy serves only to underscore the importance of securing an immediate end in fighting, leading to a permanent and sustainable ceasefire.

The negotiations led by Egypt, Qatar and the US are the only way to get lifesaving aid in at the scale needed and to free the hostages currently held by Hamas.

Such a deal would offer the basis from which to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and lasting peace.

The elements essential to achieving this are: first, the release of all hostages.

Second, the formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package.

Third, removing Hamas’s capability to launch attacks against Israel.

Fourth, Hamas no longer being in charge of Gaza.

Fifth, and finally, a political horizon which provides a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution, with a clear commitment to grant Palestine recognition, including at the United Nations.

I thank you.