Speech: Adapting the Security Council to Be More Inclusive, Transparent and Effective

Thank you Mr President.

And I would like to thank Ian Martin for his briefing, and the Kuwaiti Presidency for scheduling this open debate. I would also like to congratulate Kuwait on taking up the Chairmanship of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions, and I look forward to a productive two years under your leadership.

Mr President, I am afraid that you have a tough act to follow. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Japan as the outgoing Chair, particularly their stewardship of the negotiations that led to agreement of a new Note 507.

The new Note 507 is a valuable resource for all current and future members of this Council. It brings together almost all of the Council’s myriad procedural documents and contains a number of important changes. In particular, I would highlight the new language on the conduct of informal consultations, the negotiation process, and cooperation with non-Council bodies, including the Peacebuilding Commission and the African Union. And I echo what the distinguished representative of Ethiopia had to say on the value of African Union briefers to this Council, something we called on collectively when we were in Addis Ababa for our annual meeting.

Many parts of the Note reflect best practice which has built up gradually over the years. But it also signals our collective ambition for a more inclusive, transparent and effective Council that is better able to tackle the challenges of the modern world.

One of the ways that we can deliver this ambition is through a stronger relationship with external partners. Last week, the Cruz report reminded us of the risks faced by peacekeepers deployed by this Council. The United Kingdom is pleased to have worked with Pakistan to strengthen triangular cooperation between the Council, Troop Contributing Countries, Police Contributing Countries and the Secretariat and looks forward to further discussions on this crucial issue in the forthcoming session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping. The Security Council needs to work closely with those countries whose troops and police are on the front line when we consider our peacekeeping deployments, and we in the UK will continue to ensure that we do so when considering mandates.

We also need to hear more from civil society and particularly from women. And I would just note that today marks a hundred years since women first gained the right to vote in the UK. All too often, we hear only one perspective, and we do not hear from those that are most affected by our decisions in this Chamber. Last year just 30 representatives of civil society briefed this Council, and under a quarter of our briefers were women. We need to do better.

We also need to continue our efforts to make our meetings more effective and action-oriented. This means making sure that the briefings we receive from the Secretariat are comprehensive, but promoting more interactivity in consultations, and seeking outcomes from our meetings. This will not be accomplished by more changes to the guidance, but requires the commitment of all of us around this table, especially during Council members’ Presidencies.

Finally, this Council needs to work harder to meet the Secretary-General’s ambition—and our own—to do more on preventive diplomacy. This means focusing our time on the conflicts of today and tomorrow, not only those of previous decades. It means being flexible in in how we handle our agenda, and making the best use of the Secretariat’s insights, including through situational awareness briefings.

Mr President,

As the world’s threats evolve, so too must this Council. We must implement Note 507. We must also challenge ourselves to continue to adapt as a Council so that we better meet our mandate of maintaining international peace and security.

And may I just finish by thanking those who work so hard to support us as a Council, including in particular SCAD and our excellent interpreters.

Thank you.




News story: UK leading transparency revolution for empowerment and growth

The UK is behind a transparency revolution to make aid work better to end poverty, eradicate disease and help refugees survive brutal conflicts, with the Department for International Development (DFID) publishing a new Transparency Agenda, ‘Open Aid, Open Societies’ today (Tuesday 6 February 2018).

We are leading the way to drive transparency standards across the world to make governments, company ownership and the oil and mining sectors more accountable, more responsive and more open.

By opening up all areas of spending in the countries we work in, including national budgets and income from trading natural resources, we empower citizens, close down global opportunities for corruption, let people everywhere see how decisions are made and hold their leaders accountable – leading to better economic growth and helping countries stand on their own two feet.

The results of this work range from building trust in governments and increasing the number of people willing to pay tax, or making changes to mining laws which increase revenues going directly to public services.

This also sets out how DFID’s work is being made as transparent as possible, so that British taxpayers know exactly how and where their contributions are being made to save millions of lives around the world. We are ensuring the public, both in the UK and elsewhere, have data and information that they can easily understand and challenge, enabling them to scrutinise how money is spent and build trust in aid.

Minister of State for International Development Harriett Baldwin said:

“Transparency transforms people’s lives for the better by enabling countries to collect taxes, improve public services, and ensure a level-playing field in which businesses can flourish.

“We are encouraging developing countries to open up their governments to scrutiny by their own citizens – and in doing so we are making sure UK taxpayers know exactly how their aid is spent.

“Fairness and justice are core British values. This is why we will continue leading the global transparency revolution – starting with closing loopholes that hide illicit money. We all prosper in a fairer and more transparent world.”

The Transparency Agenda sets out the various ways that DFID is a leader in transparency:

• DFID’s Development Tracker was the first of its kind and has been widely replicated by aid agencies around the world – showing exactly how the aid budget is being spent.

• The UK was the first G7 country to adopt the Open Contracting Data Standard ensuring transparency across the full procurement process and publishing who is winning public contracts. This helps eliminate the risk of corruption or collusion. We will support 16 countries to implement more open contracting in public procurement by 2020

• In 2011, we helped establish the Open Government Partnership which strengthens good governance by securing concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens and fight corruption. This work included a project supporting citizens in the Democratic Republic of Congo to vote on budget allocations using mobile phones, which led to a 16 fold increase in tax collection and increased trust in government.

• The UK was among the first countries to require companies to submit details of their real beneficial owners – information which is then made public by the UK government.

• We will lead an international effort to make global commodities trading more transparent – the physical sales by governments producing oil, gas and minerals to commodity trading companies where the national government receives an undisclosed share of production. This will address a black hole which can provides opportunities for corruption on a colossal scale that can hinder economic growth and foster national security challenges.

• The UK was a founding member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global standard to promote the open and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources. Ghana, for example, revised its mining tax law after joining the EITI, which led to revenues more than doubling between 2010 and 2011, from $210 million to $500 million.

• DFID publishes its data every single month as opposed to every quarter, going beyond the highest international standards, and we hold our partners to the same high standards.




News story: Director appointed for Faraday Battery Challenge

Jaguar Land Rover’s Director of Engineering Research, Tony Harper has been appointed as Director, Faraday Battery Challenge.

Tony will join UK Research and Innovation in April 2018 to lead the Faraday Battery Challenge. This is government’s £246 million investment to develop safe, cost-effective, durable, lighter weight, higher performing and recyclable batteries in the UK. It is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

He will work across Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), who will jointly deliver the challenge, and work closely with the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC).

Leading industry experience

Tony has been working as Director of Engineering Research at Jaguar Land Rover since 2006. He is a chartered engineer, a fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Academy of Engineering, and an honorary fellow of the University of Warwick.

In addition, he is an elected member of the UK Automotive Council Technology Group and sits on a number of industry advisory councils.

Tony said:

This is a unique opportunity to maximise the advantage for the UK from the shift to the electrification of transport by creating a high-tech, high-value, high-skill industry in battery technology.

It is also a very exciting time to be joining UK Research and Innovation as it sets out to become the best research and innovation agency in the world.

Innovate UK Chief Executive, Ruth McKernan, said:

Tony’s long-standing experience and expertise in automotive research and development means he is the ideal candidate to lead the ground-breaking Faraday Battery Challenge.

He will have an important role to play in ensuring the UK is a world leader in the development of automotive battery technologies.

Business Minister Richard Harrington added:

With 200,000 electric vehicles set to be on UK roads by the end of 2018, investment in car batteries is a massive opportunity for Britain and one that, through our flagship Industrial Strategy and the Automotive Sector Deal, the government is committed to seizing.

To realise our grand ambitions we need great leadership, which is why I am delighted that someone as talented and respected in the sector as Tony Harper will be spearheading our efforts to make Britain the ‘go-to’ destination for the development and deployment of this game-changing technology.

Work so far

The Faraday Battery Challenge has already made strong progress.

This includes the multi-million pound Faraday Institution to speed up research, innovation and scale-up novel battery technologies, and a £80 million investment through the APC for the UK’s first automotive battery manufacturing development facility

Faraday Battery Challenge CWLEP Video

Innovate UK has also invested £40 million across 27 battery research and development projects.

Independent institute HSSMI are one such project to get funding. It will conduct research into batteries at the end of their life and look at how these could be reused, remanufactured or recycled.

Faraday Battery Challenge HSSMI video

Innovate UK is inviting applications in a second round of collaborative research and development funding under the Faraday Battery Challenge. Find out more and apply.




News story: PHE launches opioid treatment quality improvement programme

Opioid substitution treatment (OST) plays a fundamental role in supporting people to recover from drug dependence. But sustained recovery is hard to achieve when addiction is combined with a lack of personal and social resources. Long-term recovery often needs high-quality treatment and a range of other support, tailored to each person.

Clinical guidance, including the new Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management, describes quality drug treatment. PHE is helping drug services implement the guidelines and improve treatment where it is not optimal.

The OST programme will support services to improve the quality of treatment so that people understand how their treatment works, comply with it and stick with it. That way they should get more from it and increase their chances of recovery. This will include a focus on using psychosocial interventions to support changes in behaviour. There is already a lot of good practice in this country, and the programme will aim to harness and build on that.

Among the issues that we plan to address, one is people continuing to use drugs, particularly heroin, while receiving treatment. Drug treatment monitoring data (NDTMS) and PHE’s drugs evidence review both found that people who continue to use illegal substances (especially heroin) while on substitution treatment are less likely to fully benefit from treatment and to reduce the wider harms caused by their drug use. Cutting down, rather than stopping drug use, is still a good result for many people and they still benefit from being in treatment. Pushing people too hard to stop all ‘use on top’ can drive them out of treatment or prevent them seeking help in the first place. The programme will develop resources to support services in getting this right.

The programme will also enhance wider recovery support for those in treatment by supporting services to help more in other aspects of their lives beyond drug use, such as employment, living arrangements, family relationships, trauma and abuse.

PHE will be making contact with providers and service user organisations shortly to gain their input and involvement.




News story: The IAGCI invites tenders to evaluate the UK Home Office Country Information Products

The Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI) is part of the Office of the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. Its purpose is to review the content of all Country of Origin Information (COI) produced by the UK Home Office. COI is information used in procedures that assess claims of individuals for refugee status or other forms of international and humanitarian protection. It is also used in policy formulation.

The IAGCI reviews UK Home Office COI products to provide assurance to the Independent Chief Inspector that the content is as accurate, balanced, impartial and as up to date as possible. COI is contained in:

  • a Country Policy and Information Notes (CPINs); and
  • responses to information requests

CPINs are generated on an ongoing basis for the top 20 asylum intake countries, and commonly address a specific type of common asylum claim(s) or provide general information for several claim types. They are compiled from material produced by a range of recognised external information sources (news sources, academic literature, independent research reports, fact finding reports from UK government or from other governments, etc.). These documents also contain Home Office policy on the recommended position to be taken with respect to various types of claims, based on the available and accepted country information.

Information Request (IR) responses are made directly by case workers or others to the Home Office. These relate to information that is not covered in the CPINs. The IAGCI includes in its reviews a consideration of the COI included in a sample of (not more than ten) IR responses. Each IR response is typically a maximum of 2 pages in length.

Tender Details

IAGCI commissions country experts or experienced researchers to evaluate and report upon the country of origin information contained in UK Home Office information products. At its next meeting, the IAGCI requires a country expert to review the use of country information used in the following CPINs (3 separate tenders, 1 for each country):

Tender 1: Democratic Republic of Congo

Country policy and information note: women fearing gender-based harm or violence, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 2017 (36 Pages)

Country policy and information note: opposition to the government, Democratic Republic of the Congo, November 2016 (32 Pages)

Tender 2: Iran

Country information and information note: Background information, including actors of protection and internal relocation, Iran, December 2017 (69 pages)

Tender 3: Turkey

Country policy and information note: Kurdish political parties, Turkey, August 2017 (33 Pages)

Country policy and information note: Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkey, August 2017 (29 pages)

For each tender, the expert is also asked to consider a selection of approximately 10 Information Request Responses (each is an average of 2 pages long).-

Description of work

Country Policy and Information Notes aim to provide an accurate, balanced and up to date summary of the key available source documents regarding the human rights situation, with respect to the issues selected for coverage, in the country covered. The purpose and scope of the reports are clearly set out in an introductory section of the document. Reviews should evaluate the reports in this context and seek to identify any areas where they can be improved. Specifically the review should entail:

  • Assessing the extent to which information from source documents has been appropriately and accurately reflected in the CPIN Reports.
  • Identifying additional sources detailing the current human rights situation in the country with respect to main grounds for asylum claims (which are noted in each CPIN Report).
  • Noting and correcting any specific errors or omissions of fact.
  • Making recommendations for general improvements regarding, for example, the structure of the report, its coverage or its overall approach.

Reviewers should follow these specific guidelines:

  • The review should focus exclusively on the country of origin information contained within the document, and not pass judgment on the policy guidance provided.
  • The CPIN should be reviewed in the context of its purpose as set out above. It should consider the situation in the country up to the stated ‘cut off’ date for inclusion of information.
  • When suggesting amendments, rather than ‘tracking changes’ on the original CPIN, a list of suggested changes should be provided as part of a stand-alone review paper, and each report should be reviewed separately. A reporting template will be provided to reviewers (for reference please refer to most recent reviews on the IAGCI webpage for examples of the template).
  • Any suggestions for additional information (or corrections to information in the document) must be referenced to a source document for the Home Office to be able to use it (preferably Open Source). The Home Office may use foreign language source documents, but only if the information is considered essential and is not available in English language source.

Previous reviews of COI products can be viewed on the ICIBI website

The reviewers selected to review the CPINs for the above-named countries will be requested to attend an IAGCI meeting at the Office of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, when their review will be considered. This meeting is due to take place in April 2018. Alternative arrangements may be made, if attendance is not possible. Representatives from the UK Home Office will also attend the meeting to provide responses to comments and recommendations made in the review.

Reviews commissioned by IAGCI may be used as source documents for future CPIN reports or other Home Office information products.-

How to Apply Researchers interested in conducting any of the reviews should submit:

Payment for this work will be set at £2000. Expressions of interest should be submitted to the IAGCI Chair, Dr Laura Hammond laura.hammond@soas.ac.uk

Unfortunately, we are only able to accept expressions of interest from individuals and not from institutions or consultancy groups.

Reviews will be commissioned by Friday 23 February 2018.
Final reviews will be required to be submitted by 20 March, 2018. The reviews will be discussed at a meeting of the IAGCI in April 2018.