MPs to examine UK response to atrocity and conflict prevention
MPs examining the UK’s conflict and atrocity prevention work are to quiz International Development Minister Baroness Chapman and American human rights investigator Nathaniel A. Raymond.
The one-off session comes amid major changes to staffing and structures in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office through its FCDO2030 programme.
The International Development Committee will explore the impact that changes to internal structures could have on the FCDO’s status as a leader in atrocity prevention. MPs will also look into changes taking place around the levels of development funding for the FCDO to access through the Integrated Security Fund.
Baroness Chapman is likely to be asked about her vision and ambition for the future of the UK’s conflict and atrocity prevention work, and how structural changes will affect this. The Minister will also be pressed on her department's approach to funding for ISF, current arrangements for the fund, and what its future looks like.
Meeting details
Raymond, who is director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, is one of three expert witnesses set to appear before the Minister gives evidence. The human rights investigator has claimed that his organisation submitted multiple intelligence assessments to the FCDO, warning of mass atrocities in Darfur, with specific detail, as early as 2023.
MPs are likely to probe Raymond on the warnings he gave and how they were received. More widely, the expert witnesses will discuss the purpose of atrocity prevention, the UK’s record and the future of UK atrocity prevention work.