5th Report - Protection not permission: The UK’s role in upholding international humanitarian law and supporting the safe delivery of humanitarian aid

The government agrees on the importance of IHL's comprehensiveness and accountability, detailing its existing foreign policy of supporting international criminal justice, vigilant alarm-raising, and support for the International Criminal Court.

The government agrees on the vital role of local organisations in humanitarian access negotiations and describes its commitment to leveraging UK influence to include them, and its funding of the Centre for Competence on Humanitarian Negotiations.

The government agrees that humanitarian aid must be facilitated and commits to strengthening UK diplomatic influence through a new internal humanitarian diplomacy and access strategy, actively pursuing diplomatic efforts, and supporting relevant international mechanisms.

The government acknowledges seeking to mitigate negative impacts of sanctions and counter-terrorism legislation on humanitarian aid delivery and describes existing work with aid partners, including the UK Tri-Sector Group, to promote compliance.

The government asserts it is clear and consistent in its support for IHL in Gaza, consistently urges Israeli authorities to conduct swift investigations into incidents involving aid workers, and believes it is meeting its obligations through existing measures.

The government agrees to stand firm in support of international courts, stating its full commitment to international law and respect for the independence of the ICJ and ICC, and reinforcing its support through multilateral fora.

The government agrees that prosecuting breaches of IHL locally is preferable and highlights its existing support for capacity building in partner countries to strengthen justice and accountability mechanisms for IHL violations.

The government states it is committed to bringing perpetrators of serious international crimes to justice and already possesses a robust legal framework, including extraterritorial jurisdiction, for prosecuting such crimes in the UK regardless of where they were committed.

The government agrees, stating it already strongly supports and funds various UN investigative mechanisms, providing specific examples of financial support to several missions and ongoing funding for the ICC and other bodies. It also commits to promoting the use of the IHFFC where appropriate.

The government agrees, stating it recognises the IHFFC as an important mechanism and, while it hasn't used it in specific past contexts, it will consider its use where appropriate and will promote the use of the IHFFC.

The government agrees, stating it already uses its extensive sanctions powers to encourage compliance with IHL, citing specific examples of sanctions against individuals in Sudan, South Sudan, and Myanmar in 2025 and 2024.

The government agrees, stating it already uses its sanctions powers to encourage compliance with IHL, providing examples of recent sanctions. It also notes that the FCDO continues to assess resourcing requirements for the Sanctions Directorate and that the evidential threshold for designations is set appropriately.

The government acknowledges the importance of employers' duty of care, detailing its existing due diligence processes for partner organizations, post-incident assessments, and funding for INSO, while also committing to incorporating the IASC Risk Sharing framework.

The government agrees, explaining that FCDO already prioritises mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) funding through existing internal guidance, due diligence frameworks, and funding guidelines, which enable partners to budget for staff psychological support.

The government agrees, detailing that FCDO's existing guidance, due diligence framework, and funding guidelines already enable partners to budget for staff psychological support and wellbeing, including for local organisations, and ensures flexible cost recovery.

The government accepts its responsibility and plans to review existing programme guidelines and consider stand-alone guidance on mitigating risks to aid workers, including promoting direct partner contact. They will also continue efforts to support global Humanitarian Notification Systems.

The government partially agrees, stating FCDO is committed to aid worker safety and assesses high and low security costs using a Value for Money lens focused on maximising impact. They clarify that their existing Humanitarian Allocation Model already accounts for access and local security considerations.

The government agrees and commits to exploring the possibility of including a dedicated budget line for programme-specific security risk management costs in FCDO's standard templates, and will issue guidance to staff reviewing humanitarian budgets.

The government agrees, committing to issue internal guidance emphasizing the importance of FCDO officials aiming for direct contact with local delivery organisations during proposal and implementation stages to ensure security concerns are adequately covered.

The government agrees and commits to issue internal guidance emphasizing the importance of FCDO officials aiming for direct contact with local delivery organisations during proposal, implementation, and evaluation stages to ensure security concerns are adequately covered.

The government partially agrees that collaborative approaches enhance cost efficiency, but states that a new security risk management fund is not required. They fund INSO as a pooled resource, are exploring funding for GISF, and support consortia for shared resources and impact.