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Parliamentary Questions are a way for MPs to get information and to hold the Government to account. They oblige Ministers to defend and explain policy decisions and actions of their departments. MPs can either put them forward in oral form in the House or in written form. Early Day Motions are motions by a small group of MPs on subjects they consider to be important and for which they would like to rally support. They are not normally debated in the House but can be an influential indicator of parliamentary opinion.
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APPG Members question UK government over its decision to close bilateral aid programme in Burundi |
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Written by Sophia Pickles
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Tuesday, 19 April 2011 07:36 |
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On Tuesday 5 April APPG member the Rt Rev Stephen Platten, Bishop of Wakefield tabled an oral parliamentary question in the House of Lords relating to the closure of the bilateral aid programme to Burundi. APPG Member Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead and APPG Vice-Chair Lord David Chidgey made contributions to the ensuing debate.
The Bishop of Wakefield opened by asking for the government’s assessment of Burundi’s role in long-term regional stability and regional integration strategies before advocating for the inclusion of Burundi in any stability strategy pertaining to the Great Lakes region. Baroness Kinnock underlined Burundi’s extreme poverty as well as the untenable position of the government in ending bilateral aid to a country which combines acute under-development and a post-conflict state.
The full debate can be found here.
In the wake of this debate, the Bishop of Wakefield has written an article for the website ePolitix, outlining the ongoing political unrest taking place in Burundi and the risks that could stem from overlooking the potential risk that this could propagate across the region. The Bishop has recommended that the government extend its support to Burundi’s development by providing assistance to vital sectors such as health, and coordinating a comprehensive regional peace-building strategy that would acknowledge Burundi’s key role in reaching a regional solution to the region’s conflicts.
The full article can be found here. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 April 2011 07:49 |
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Parliamentary Questions & Debates - Written and Oral February 2011 |
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Written by Sophia Pickles
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Tuesday, 08 March 2011 12:32 |
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Parliamentary questions and debates for February 2011 are now available at the links below.
APPG GL Written PQs 2 Feb 2011
APPG GL Oral Debates 2 Feb 2011
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APPG Member Anas Sarwar MP tables ten minute rule bill on transparency |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 02 March 2011 11:14 |
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APPG Member Anas Sarwar MP yesterday tabled a Ten Minute Rule bill on the issue of resource extraction transparency, which reads as follows:
Resource Extraction (Transparency and Reporting): That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require certain companies engaged in oil or gas extraction, and other mining activities, to disclose the type and total amount of payments made to any national government, or any company wholly or partly owned by a national government; and for connected purposes.
The complete text may be found either here or below.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 April 2011 14:05 |
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Read more...
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APPG Treasurer Lord Bishop of Winchester tables question today on the crisis in the Congo |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 03 February 2011 21:05 |
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APPG treasurer the Lord Bishop of Winchester has authored an article which may be found here, calling on the UK to promote peace and stability in Central Africa. He notes that two years after the rapprochement between Congo's Joseph Kabila and Rwanda's Paul Kagame, fighting continues in the Kivu provinces of Eastern DRC.
As mentioned in the article, the Bishop has tabled a question regarding the recent International Crisis Group (ICG) report today in the House of Lords, the full text of which may be found in Hansard. The report notes that the plan to emphasise a military solution in Eastern DRC is failing despite repeated operations carried out by the Congolese army, to the detriment of civilians living in the vicinity. The report notes the potential recruiting drives by militias supposedly integrated in the FARDC. The Bishop also notes the situation faced by Rwandan refugees in light of the Cessation clause due to be invoked in December 2011 and urges the UK government to make representations to government of Rwanda and UNHCR to ensure refugees can return safely to Rwanda.
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APPG Delegation Visit DRC Report
Oral Parliamentary Questions and Debates July 2011
The OECD Guidelines and the DRC cases
JOHANNESBURG 03 February 2012 (IRIN) - The belief that the end is nigh for Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - a small but ruthless transnational armed group operating in four African states - underestimates its resilience and overestimates the unity and capability of the forces ranged against it, say analysts. 
NAIROBI/KINSHASA 02 February 2012 (IRIN) - The lives of thousands of HIV-positive people in the Democratic Republic of Congo are at risk as the country faces declining donor funding and a severe shortage of HIV treatment, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. 
BUJUMBURA 27 January 2012 (IRIN) - There are fears of a looming food shortage in Burundi after heavy rains damaged two successive harvests, say officials. 
NAIROBI 28 December 2011 (IRIN) - Launched in 2004, IRIN’s film unit has won numerous awards for its productions, several of which have been aired by prominent international broadcasters. Here is a list of the unit’s most-watched films in 2011. 
KAMPALA 02 December 2011 (IRIN) - Brandishing a plea for developed countries to make good their promises to reduce carbon emissions, 300 farmers, youths and activists took the scenic route to the COP17 conference in Durban, travelling more than 7,000km from Burundi in 17 days, through 10 eastern and southern African countries, aboard a convoy of buses draped in various national flags. 
POINTE NOIRE 25 January 2012 (IRIN) - Forced child labour remains rampant in Central Africa, where poverty fuels the trafficking of children from poorer countries to oil-rich states such as Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo, according to experts. 
LONDON 26 January 2012 (IRIN) - Breast cancer continues to be misunderstood, under-diagnosed and fatal, particularly in developing countries, say researchers, despite more than one million official annual diagnoses and almost half a million recorded deaths annually. 
KIGALI 09 January 2012 (IRIN) - This will be a busy year for Rwanda's health centres as the country attempts to reach its goal of medically circumcising 50 percent of men by June 2013 as part of HIV prevention efforts. 
JUBA/KAMPALA 30 January 2012 (IRIN) - Petty traders from Uganda, South Sudan's largest trading partner, crowd into Konyo Konyo market in Juba selling used clothes, vegetables and household wares. Lacking economic prospects at home, they come in the hope of finding better opportunities in Juba's booming post-war economy. 
BUNDIMASOLI 26 January 2012 (IRIN) - The marginalized western Ugandan Basua community is fighting extinction; forcibly removed from their forest home two decades ago, they have struggled to cope with modern life and have been ravaged by health crises, including HIV. 
ISIOLO, 3 February 2012 (IRIN) - Politically motivated violence in the northern Kenyan town of Moyale, which has left dozens dead and tens of thousands displaced in recent weeks, shows little sign of abating and there are fears that the clashes could continue until elections are held for new local government positions. 
LAGOS, 3 February 2012 (IRIN) - A month after an angry public launched protests across Nigeria over skyrocketing fuel prices due to the removal of a government subsidy, a measure of calm has returned and people seem to have settled into accepting a compromise. 
HARARE, 3 February 2012 (IRIN) - With global funding for HIV/AIDS on the decline, Zimbabwe's innovative AIDS levy - a 3 percent tax on income - has become a promising source of funding for the country, with a dramatic increase in revenue collected in the past two years. 
