Written questions by Mitchell.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason the conference on illicit finance has been postponed.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to conclude the $100 million joint development deal between the UK and Qatar.

The UK is proud of its humanitarian and development partnership with the State of Qatar. Our ambition to deliver $100 million in joint humanitarian and development projects, announced in December 2024, is currently being implemented through programmes in Bangladesh, Somalia and Syria.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to urge the newly formed Government of Myanmar to release (a) Aung San Suu Kyi and (b) all other political prisoners.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 April in response to Question 126571.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the (a) human rights and (b) humanitarian situation in Myanmar following the inauguration of General Min Aung Hlaing.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 April in response to Question 126571.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of sanctions on Myanmar.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 April in response to Question 126571.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the level of Official Development Assistance funding on the Global Health Partnerships scheme.

The UK should be proud of the progress made in international development this century. But the world has changed, and so must we. With less money, we must make choices and focus on greater impactThe Global Health Workforce Programme, led by the Department of Health and Social Care and delivered by organisations including Global Health Partnerships, is closing at the end of March 2026.Efforts are being made with delivery partners to ensure the sustainability of projects beyond the programme’s lifetime.We remain committed to international development and will continue to support countries to build resilient, sustainable health systems.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department will provide £50 million per year, for the next two years, to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

The UK is a longstanding supporter of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), having contributed £1.4 billion since 1995. This has enabled GPEI to reduce wild poliovirus cases by over 99 per cent. The UK is also the largest sovereign donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, investing £1.25 billion for 2026 - 2030 that will support eligible countries with polio vaccines as part of an essential package of childhood immunisation.2026 Official Development Assistance budget allocations will be set out in the coming months, and we will confirm details of that planned announcement in the normal way in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to question 57617 on Zimbabwe: Commonwealth, what recent steps she has taken to support a further Commonwealth assessment mission.

The timing of any Commonwealth assessment mission is for the Secretary General and the Government of Zimbabwe to agree. Given the time passed since their last reports, we would welcome a Commonwealth assessment mission returning to Zimbabwe to follow up on its recommendations from its last visit and the subsequent election observation report.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with her counterparts in the Commonwealth to help support Zimbabwe rejoin the Commonwealth.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer he received on 23 June 2025 in response to Question 57617. We will update the House if there are any new developments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the prevalence of airstrikes against civilian populations by the military regime in Myanmar.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided in the House of Lords on 12 November in response to Question HL11464, which has been reproduced below for ease of reference:The UK acknowledges the report and shares its concerns regarding human rights violations in Myanmar. We condemn the Myanmar military's airstrikes on civilian infrastructure. The UK is clear that no country should provide arms, funds, or fuel to the Myanmar military. We have implemented 19 sanctions packages since 2021, including 10 targeting aviation fuel imports.We are clear that there must be accountability for the atrocities committed in Myanmar. The UK has provided £900,000 to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar since 2021 and established the Myanmar Witness program to collect evidence of human rights violations. As penholder on Myanmar at the UN Security Council, we have convened four meetings this year to maintain international focus and press for accountability. We co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution in April and coordinated a joint statement in May calling for an end to violence.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure international justice for (a) past and (b) continuing atrocity crimes in Myanmar.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided in the House of Lords on 12 November in response to Question HL11464, which has been reproduced below for ease of reference:The UK acknowledges the report and shares its concerns regarding human rights violations in Myanmar. We condemn the Myanmar military's airstrikes on civilian infrastructure. The UK is clear that no country should provide arms, funds, or fuel to the Myanmar military. We have implemented 19 sanctions packages since 2021, including 10 targeting aviation fuel imports.We are clear that there must be accountability for the atrocities committed in Myanmar. The UK has provided £900,000 to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar since 2021 and established the Myanmar Witness program to collect evidence of human rights violations. As penholder on Myanmar at the UN Security Council, we have convened four meetings this year to maintain international focus and press for accountability. We co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution in April and coordinated a joint statement in May calling for an end to violence.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to press the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided in the House of Lords on 12 November in response to Question HL11464, which has been reproduced below for ease of reference:The UK acknowledges the report and shares its concerns regarding human rights violations in Myanmar. We condemn the Myanmar military's airstrikes on civilian infrastructure. The UK is clear that no country should provide arms, funds, or fuel to the Myanmar military. We have implemented 19 sanctions packages since 2021, including 10 targeting aviation fuel imports.We are clear that there must be accountability for the atrocities committed in Myanmar. The UK has provided £900,000 to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar since 2021 and established the Myanmar Witness program to collect evidence of human rights violations. As penholder on Myanmar at the UN Security Council, we have convened four meetings this year to maintain international focus and press for accountability. We co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution in April and coordinated a joint statement in May calling for an end to violence.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether a date has been set for her planned international summit on future of aid; and when she plans to announce her objectives for that summit.

The Government continues to work with our partners overseas and international organisations to support sustainable development across the world. We have set out intentions to host a Conference on the Future of Development in collaboration with partners and will set out details in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 20 October 2025 to Questions (a) 81257 on Chagos Islands: Sovereignty and (b) 81258 on St Helena: British Nationals Abroad, what steps she is taking to implement (i) the commitment that entitled pensioners residing in St Helena receive unfrozen benefits from April and (ii) other provisions in the British Indian Ocean Territory Partnership Agreement, signed in October 2024.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is working together with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to address the complex considerations concerning the unfreezing of pensions for St Helena. I have recently met ministerial colleagues to discuss this issue again, and look forward to meeting the new Chief Minister soon to update them. We will update on progress in the usual way in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress she has made in helping to tackle (a) TB (b) HIV/Aids and (c) Malaria.

The Government remains committed to work to meet Sustainable Development target 3.3, including to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, and supports several of the organisations at the forefront of the response including the Global Fund, Gavi, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, the Stop TB Partnership, UNAIDS and WHO.For example, in 2024, through our support to the Global Fund - whose Eighth Replenishment we are proud to be co-hosting with South Africa - 25.6 million people are on antiretroviral therapy for HIV, 7.4 million people were treated for TB, and 162 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed.We are also encouraged by the recent steps towards expanding access to lenacapavir as a key HIV prevention tool, thanks to effective coordination across UK-supported partners including the Global Fund, Unitaid and CHAI.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to sanction (a) General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and (b) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo; and whether she plans to request that the International Criminal Court issue an international arrest warrant for them.

Since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, the UK has frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the parties involved in the conflict: five entities linked with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and four entities linked with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). These sanctions were designed to press the parties to engage in a sustained and meaningful peace process, allow humanitarian access and to commit to a permanent cessation of hostilities. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the UK also supported the imposition of UN sanctions on two RSF generals for their crimes against civilians in Darfur in November 2024.We do not speculate on future designations as it would undermine their effectiveness. The UK strongly supports the International Criminal Court's (ICC) active investigation into the situation in Darfur, including allegations of crimes committed since April 2023. The Prosecutor of the ICC is independent, but we welcome the conviction on 6 October of former Janjaweed commander Ali Kushayb for war crimes and crimes against humanity, carried out in Darfur between 2003-2004. This is a victory for accountability and shows that justice can be served no matter how many years ago the crimes took place.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the full implementation of the British Indian Ocean Territory Partnership Agreement, signed in October 2024.

Further to the October 2024 Political Agreement, the UK/Mauritius Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia was signed on 22 May. The UK is working closely with the US and Mauritius on the arrangements to implement this treaty.An implementation Bill - 'The Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill', has been introduced and is progressing through Parliament in the usual way.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Chief Minister of Saint Helena on the unfreezing of pension benefits for entitled residents.

Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office officials are engaging closely with the new Government of St Helena on the issue of pensions, alongside other issues. I look forward to welcoming the new Chief Minister to the UK-Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council in London in November 2025, and discussing our priorities for the partnership between the United Kingdom and St Helena.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when her Department will release funds that the UK committed this year to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization's project entitled The Financing For Shock-Driven Food Crisis Facility; and how much funding will be provided to the project.

The UK is committed to tackling extreme hunger and preventing famine globally. Whilst the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not made a financial commitment to the Food and Agriculture Organization's new Facility, we have been supportive of its development, since its inception under the Italian 2024 G7 Presidency.We are supportive of the aims of the Facility to make more finance available for tackling hunger crises and to ensure it reaches the most vulnerable and hardest hit ahead of, or quickly after, a disaster strikes. We finance anticipatory action through the UN, NGOs and others, and are spearheading international efforts to scale up Pre Arranged Finance.Last year, we provided grants through the African Development Bank which supported 10 African countries to address drought and tropical cyclone insurance costs, protecting 7.5 million people against drought.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support (a) free and (b) fair presidential elections in the Ivory Coast in October 2025.

The UK is committed to promoting good governance and democracy in Côte d'Ivoire, including transparent and inclusive elections.On 25-28 May, the Minister for Africa visited Côte d'Ivoire, and discussed with the President and his government the importance of open civic space, democratic debate, and strong electoral institutions.Our Embassy in Abidjan is engaging with relevant state institutions and all political parties, emphasising the importance of peaceful and fair elections, whilst coordinating their efforts with international partners.