Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making with the governments of the United States, Russia, and others, to stabilise Syria and to make significant progress on peace negotiations.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK has been undertaking stabilisation activities in Syria for a number of years, through projects totalling over £100 million funded under the Conflict Pool and thereafter the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. But as the Government made clear at the London Conference on Syria in February, the post conflict stabilisation and reconstruction needs in Syria following a political settlement which ends the civil war will require a significant international response.

We are currently working with our international partners to ensure a coordinated post-conflict planning effort which is able to respond to the timeline that will – we hope – emerge from successful UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva, which are due to resume on 14 March. However, as agreed at the London Conference, it will rightly be for the UN to coordinate this work, with the support of Member States including the UK.

The UK is supporting peace negotiations through our leading role in the International Syria Support Group, as well as our support to the Syrian High Negotiations Committee. UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura intends to resume peace negotiations in Geneva from 14 March. We hope that this effort delivers rapid progress towards political transition as envisaged by the 2012 Geneva Communiqué.