To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department provides as part of its education programmes for teaching on freedom of religion or belief, including in the Middle East; and how her Department coordinates that funding with funding through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the same purposes.
Answered on
1 March 2017
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office leads on the Government’s foreign human rights policy, including freedom of religion or belief. The Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy funds a number of programmes that focus on the teaching of freedom of religion or belief, including in the Middle East. DFID does not track spending in this area but does aim to ensure its education programmes “do no harm”; that is, that they do not inadvertently promote intolerance, exacerbate grievances or contribute to feelings of frustration due to unmet expectations.