Select committee: International Development Committee

Recommendation 28

Third Report - From Srebrenica to a safer tomorrow: Preventing future mass atrocities around the world Published 17 Oct 2022 Paragraph 91 Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government should reassess whether the new International Development Strategy allows for a sufficient share of ODA to reach communities in fragile and conflict- affected states, as well as other states it assesses as being at risk of mass atrocities. It must also introduce a dedicated budget line for atrocity prevention within the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.

From: International Development Committee, Third Report - From Srebrenica to a safer tomorrow: Preventing future mass atrocities around the world (HC 149), paragraph 91, 17 October 2022

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 19 January 2023 (deadline 17 December 2022).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government agrees with many of the Committee's recommendations on atrocity prevention but says it "cannot commit to developing a written strategy at this time".

  • It agrees that atrocity prevention is separate from conflict prevention, and says the Mass Atrocity Prevention Hub in the FCDO's Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation has been established with "central policy ownership" of the approach.
  • On the Committee's call for a cross-departmental strategy, it disagrees, stating that it "cannot commit to developing a written strategy at this time" while taking a whole-of-government approach.
  • On reporting, it partially agrees: "From 2023" it will expand the existing atrocity prevention section of the annual Human Rights and Democracy Report.
  • On resources, it partially agrees but says that, "given fiscal constraints", it cannot guarantee additional resource until budgets are confirmed, with updates "in due course".

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