Tag: Press Release

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

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.

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

The Minister for Development and Africa emphasises the importance of the UK working with African countries on a two-day visit to Senegal.

• Minister for Development and Africa will hold discussions with African leaders this week on rising food insecurity.
• Andrew Mitchell will explore opportunities to expand British Investment into African countries to tackle this challenge.
• He will meet Senegalese President and current African Union Chair Macky Sall during his visit, which will celebrate the UK’s growing partnership with a fast-growing, democratic, and stable regional power.

The UK Minister for Development and Africa will emphasise the importance of the UK working with African countries to grow economies and boost food security – on a two-day visit to Senegal, starting today (Tuesday 24 January).

Arriving in Dakar, Andrew Mitchell will hail the important relationship between the UK and Senegal, a country, with huge economic potential.

He will meet key Senegalese government figures on his visit, including current African Union Chair and Senegal President Macky Sall. He will also set out the UK’s vision of a stronger partnership between the UK and Senegal that delivers mutual prosperity and security, and tackles global issues such as health and climate change. He will sign the first ever Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Senegal, a symbol of our growing partnership.

Mr Mitchell will see first-hand the impact of British investment in Senegal, including how UK-funded projects are supporting women and girls, and helping to build Senegal’s vaccine production facilities to tackle the next pandemic.

Representing the UK at the Dakar 2 Feed Africa Summit, an African-led initiative, the Minister will listen to African leaders talk about the causes of rising food insecurity and hear their vision for accelerating agricultural transformation, with the aim of maximising the UK’s impact in alleviating food shortages across the continent. The UK is working with regional organisations like AGRA, Regional Economic Communities and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to help strengthen food trade in Africa.

Minister for Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said:

Many Brits know Senegal for its world-class football team. They may not know that our partnership with Senegal reaps benefits for people in both our countries, delivering economic growth and tackling common security and health threats. We hope to deepen this partnership over the long-term.

As a leading supporter of the African Development Bank I am delighted to participate in the Dakar 2: Feed Africa Summit on an issue that we all need to work together on.

With Russia’s war in Ukraine exacerbating the already drastic impacts of regional conflict in Africa and climate change on food security, I also want to hear directly from Macky Sall and other African leaders about the issues the continent is facing and understand how the UK can further support African countries as we face those challenges, together.

Senegal is a leading stable and democratic country in the region, growing in significance and influence, and the UK hopes to build a closer partnership and greater trade and investment ties over the long-term.

Economic development is crucial to tackling challenges like food insecurity and climate change and on his visit Mr Mitchell will explore opportunities to expand UK investment into the country to make a real and lasting positive impact. The UK-Africa Investment Summit in 2020 announced 27 deals worth over £6.5bn from across Africa. It also announced £9bn worth of investment decisions.

During his visit, he will see the impact of such investment to date, including a $1.7bn partnership between British International Investment and DP World which features a new container port at Ndayane, Senegal’s largest onshore investment. The port will enable the creation of over 20,000 new jobs and help unblock barriers to greater economic growth.

He will see the British Council’s landmark English Connects programme and visit the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health Programme (WISH) clinic where our delivery partner Marie Stopes International is increasing access to voluntary family planning, reaching those most in need.

Andrew Mitchell will also visit Institut Pasteur de Dakar to hear about their plans to develop vaccines for Covid and other deadly diseases.