Human Rights

Question

Asked by

Baroness Northover
To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they have made for funding human rights programmes through the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the next financial year. [HL3038]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead)
Both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DfID) integrate human rights work across their objectives. This means that funding for human rights can be given through numerous programmes.

The FCO holds the Strategic Programme Fund for Human Rights and Democracy dedicated specifically to supporting human rights projects. In 2010-11, this fund has allocated £5.6 million to human rights and democracy projects around the world. These include support to civil society and freedom of expression; and abolition of torture and the death penalty.

FCO's 2010-11 programmes that can fund human rights projects where these help to realise their core objectives include:

Strategic Programme Fund for Reuniting Europe—£3.8 million;
 

Strategic Programme Fund for Counter Terrorism and Radicalisation—expected £38 million;
 

bilateral programme budgets—£11.233 million;
 

DfID's 2010-11 programmes that can fund human rights projects include:

bilateral programmes to support governments and civil society (this includes support to democratic elections, defending human rights and strengthening the management of public finances);
 

UKaid which supports the role of civil society. It is also channelled through multilateral organisations such as the UN and the EU to support work on human rights amongst other issues;
 

support to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights;
 

partnership programme arrangements with organisations that work on human rights issues;
 

the Governance and Transparency Fund; and
 

the Disability Rights Fund.
 

In addition, there is the tri-departmental Conflict Pool that funds conflict prevention and stabilisation work that can fund human rights projects/objectives. The 2010-11 budget is £178.5 million which is for discretionary conflict prevention and stabilisation work. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary announced this in his Written Ministerial Statement of 25 March.