Lord Collins of Highbury, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL2537):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to religion in equality impact assessments for allocating Official Development Assistance to Pakistan in each of the past three years; and how many visits or meetings they have undertaken to Christian, Hazara and Ahmadi Muslim groups in the past year. (HL2537)
Tabled on: 14 November 2024
Answer:
Lord Collins of Highbury:
UK Official Development Assistance to Pakistan is targeted to where it is most needed and effective including, where appropriate, to minority religious communities. The British High Commission in Islamabad conducts a yearly Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) Assessment, where they assess performance on integrating equality considerations into their policy and programme work, including impact on religious minorities. UK officials regularly meet with religious minority communities in Pakistan. The British High Commission’s (BHC) Political Counsellor visited Sargodha, Punjab on 23 July to meet with church leaders and Christians affected by blasphemy attacks. UK Officials met with members of the Ahmadi community in October, to discuss recent threats made against the community in Punjab. On 28 March, BHC Islamabad hosted an Interfaith Iftaar, attended by over 80 leaders from 12 faiths.
Date and time of answer: 25 Nov 2024 at 12:27.
