HM Government

Damian Green, the First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office, will give the opening speech at the UK-Japan Defence Industry Dialogue event in London.

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Dynamic new resources for teachers will help build crucial life-skills for young people to boost their resilience and improve their mental health and wellbeing, as part of a new evidence-based programme for schools unveiled by Public Health England (PHE).

With around 1 in 5 young people experiencing cyberbullying and 1 in 3 reporting that their body was “too fat”, pupils aged between 11 and 16 will be taught how to cope with some of modern life’s most challenging issues, equipping young people with resilience skills that will help them throughout adulthood.

PHE has developed a series of new resources for secondary school teachers to use in their lesson plans as part of the Rise Above for Schools programme. The resources will help teachers to engage pupils with coping strategies about ‘traditional’ health issues, like smoking and alcohol, while also addressing some of the most challenging pressures young people face today in an ‘always on’ social media generation.

The 7 Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) lesson plans have been accredited by the PSHE Association and piloted with teachers, ensuring they are robust and of the highest quality. The resources include a range of techniques for teachers to employ to enable pupils to safely learn, explore and discuss coping strategies for dealing with issues, such as:

• bullying and cyberbullying
• alcohol use and smoking
• positive relationships and friendships
• exam stress
• online stress and social media
• body image in a digital world

The launch comes as new analysis by PHE shows that a supportive learning environment in schools, including good quality PSHE provision, is associated with improved health and wellbeing. Growing evidence also suggests that the skills and qualities acquired through PSHE have a significant impact on students’ academic achievement, employability and future life chances.

Launching Rise Above for Schools at PHE’s Annual Conference, Prof. John Newton, Director of Health Improvement at PHE said:

As natives of the social media world, young people have to navigate a minefield of challenges while enjoying the benefits of technology.

The new resources will help young people develop coping mechanisms and life-skills to deal with diverse challenges, from cyberbullying and exam stress to body image, in a digital world.

Rise Above for Schools uses relevant content in creative ways, tapping into inspirational video from vloggers and YouTubers to get young people talking about the things that matter to them, helping build a foundation of healthy behaviours that last into adulthood.

Jenny Fox, PSHE Association Subject Specialist said:

Young people today face a range of new pressures that can potentially harm their emotional and physical wellbeing. By addressing these key issues, resources from Rise Above for Schools support the important role PSHE education plays in helping young people to make positive, informed choices throughout their lives.

The lesson plans provide opportunities for students to engage in active learning and to discuss and reflect upon the social and emotional aspects of issues they face on a daily basis. The lessons are consistently well matched to the needs of young people and enable them to demonstrate progress as their understanding and skills develop.

Rise Above for Schools is inspired by Rise Above, a youth campaign and online hub where young people find and share inspirational content.

Teachers can use the exclusive video content from well-known influencers and positive role models to facilitate open and informed conversations on a range of important issues.

Case studies and teachers are available for comment, along with expert commentary on the programme.

About Rise Above

The Rise Above website and social media channels host exclusive content from vloggers and YouTubers, including films, interactive videos, animations and quizzes.

The content tackles topics that young people are most concerned about, such as puberty, relationships, smoking, drinking, alcohol, peer pressure, exam stress and body image.

Rise Above is an evidence-based campaign developed by Public Health England which impacts behaviour change to delay and prevent risky behaviours among adolescents and give young people the best start in life.

To date the YouTube channel has received more than 2.8 million views.

About Rise Above for Schools

Rise Above for Schools from PHE provides new PSHE resources to support secondary school teachers when promoting positive health, wellbeing and resilience among young people aged 11 to 16.

By using video content featuring influential young people, such as vloggers and YouTubers, the resources will help specialist and non-specialist teachers to facilitate open and informed conversations about sensitive topics among their students.

Children and young people today, face increasingly complex lives where they are experiencing many new pressures that can harm their physical health, mental wellbeing and educational attainment. PHE has created Rise Above for Schools to help young people build resilience and cope with the challenges life throws at them.

Public Health England

Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. It does this through world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and the delivery of specialist public health services. PHE is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health. Follow us on Twitter: @PHE_uk and Facebook: www.facebook.com/PublicHealthEngland.

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La experiencia británica de talla mundial en temas de agro se destacará en Agrofuturo 2017 , la plataforma de negocios y conocimiento líder para el sector agropecuario en América Latina. Durante este evento participaremos con una delegación comercial de empresas británicas que ofrecen soluciones innovadoras relacionadas con el agro. Igualmente, expondremos sobre los proyectos Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible y Semillas del Futuro, ambos financiados por el Reino Unido.

Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible:

• Su propósito es promover la adopción de sistemas de producción silvopastoriles en fincas ganaderas para mejorar la gestión de los recursos naturales, incrementar la prestación de servicios ambientales (biodiversidad, suelo, agua y retención de carbono), y elevar la productividad en las fincas participantes. Desde 2010, el gobierno británico ha aportado £15 millones de libras esterlinas, administradas por el Banco Mundial.
• Como resultado, más 40 mil hectáreas de los predios participantes del proyecto tienen prácticas sostenibles, transformando la manera tradicional y extensiva de hacer ganadería, por una más productiva y en sintonía con la naturaleza. Además, cerca de 2700 ganaderos que decidieron inscribirse a través de convocatorias públicas en 12 departamentos, hacen parte del proyecto aprendiendo estrategias que luego implementan en sus predios.

Semillas del Futuro:

• Planea reemplazar las actuales instalaciones del banco de germoplasma del CIAT, en su sede principal cerca de Palmira, transformándolo en un centro de recursos genéticos del siglo XXI que no solamente conserve la diversidad de cultivos, sino que además investigue y promueva activamente su uso para el mejoramiento de los cultivos, la adaptación al clima y la seguridad alimentaria. Esta iniciativa es implementada por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical CIAT en alianza con el Consejo de Investigación en Biotecnología y Ciencias Biológicas del Reino Unido. Nuestro Embajador Peter Tibber anunció en marzo pasado una contribución de £1 millón de libras a esta iniciativa.

Los invitamos a seguir nuestras redes sociales con toda la información de este evento:

Twitter @UKinColombia Facebook UK in Colombia

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Thank you Mr President, and a happy new year to you. And thank you also to Special Representative Menkerios for your briefing.

At the outset let me express my thanks to you, Mr President, and to the Secretariat, for leading a successful visit to the African Union in Addis Ababa. We all saw and heard firsthand just how critical the relationship is between the UN and the AU and I look forward to, and commit to, doing whatever I can to strengthen that relationship.

I do so because our two great organisations share the same objectives, the same priorities, and the same respect for the principle of African leadership. So it’s in all of our interests to forge an even closer relationship as we strive to maintain peace and security in Africa. To do so, I see three steps that we should take.

First, and as others have said, we need to do more to learn from each other. A simple first step would be having more joint briefings in this Chamber from AU and UN officials as we do on Somalia. They are a vital means of increasing the awareness and knowledge of all of us around this table. There should also be more joint analysis, joint planning and joint assessments so that we form a common understanding of a situation and together find common solutions.

The recent UN/AU visit to DRC and Nigeria on women, peace and security is an example of the sort of collaborative work we should encourage. We should cultivate our joint reporting on gender based violence in places like South Sudan so that we move beyond reporting to sharing of action plans, and further collaboration. We should agree as the United Nations that we will make available any of our Special Envoys or Special Representatives if the African Union PSC wish to hear from them. And we should invite the African Union to do the same.

We should also look at what more we can do as Member States. The United Kingdom works closely with AU member states to provide military capacity building, delivering training and sharing expertise on improving accountability, human rights compliance and preventing sexual violence in conflict. I know others are doing the same and I encourage all to do so.

Second, Mr President, we need both organisations to play to their comparative strengths so that together we are more than the sum of our parts. We need only look to Somalia to see that it works. The bravery and the heroism of AMISOM troops, to whom I pay genuine and profound tribute, supported by the United Nations, has enabled the political process and progress we see there.

During this year’s Presidential elections, it was AU troops who protected the venue, infrastructure and participants, ensuring the safety and security of all those involved. And it was the UN Support Office in Somalia who helped AMISOM in the preparatory work, setting up the venue, ensuring the integrity of the site, as well as providing vital security equipment to AMISOM. Together they, we, helped make history; ensuring that the most democratic presidential elections in Somalia in decades passed off successfully and peacefully. It is a model that we should replicate elsewhere.

My third and final point, Mr President, is that our cooperation will count for little without sustainable financing. As we heard last week during our discussions with the AU PSC in Addis, this is a top objective for all of us. So we must find a solution which shares the responsibility to provide adequate, predictable and sustainable financing to AU-led missions, including the AU’s own commitment to fund 25% of costs by 2020.

It was important to the UK, that on our visit in Addis, so many speakers from the two Councils, and the AU Commission, reiterated their commitment to finding and funding that 25%. This financial solution must be combined with the undertaking of agreed standards and mechanisms to ensure oversight and accountability for performance, conduct and discipline, including sexual exploitation and abuse, and financial management. In doing so, not only will the finances of AU missions be secured, but their performance and their accountability will also improve. This will only be to the benefit of peace and security and to the benefit of so many outside this chamber. This seems to me a fruitful area for concrete follow up by the UN Secretariat and the AU PSC.

In conclusion, Mr President, there is still some way to go to bring our organisations even closer together. But through these three steps I believe we can do so. And our collaborative progress to date should encourage us that we can resolve future challenges together. Thank you.

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UK calls for the Government of Azerbaijan to end restrictions on independent media.

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