The Government strongly supports the work of INGOs and NGOs in Pakistan. They are important development partners for the UK Government and reach an estimated 19 million of the poorest people in Pakistan. We have been concerned by some of the restrictions placed on NGOs, particularly INGOs, by the Government of Pakistan and others. We regularly raise the importance of maintaining the space for civil society and allowing organisations to continue their important development, humanitarian and human rights work as well as their work to counter the drivers of violent extremism, at senior levels within the Government of Pakistan. We continue to encourage the Government of Pakistan to engage NGOs on policies that affect them.<\/p>
A review by UN Human Rights Council of Pakistan's implementation of the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights held in July this year noted its concern about the Government of Pakistan's regulations of INGOs. The UK intends to raise freedom of expression as an issue of concern during Pakistan's Universal Periodic Review in November.<\/p>
I intend to visit the country by the end of the year and shall address these issues.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1405", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mark Field"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cities of London and Westminster"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mark Field"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-10-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "108196"} , {"_value" : "108197"} , {"_value" : "108199"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-10-25T16:15:29.797Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-10-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Pakistan: Politics and Government"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department last had discussions with the Government of Pakistan on space for civil society in Pakistan; what was on the agenda at that meeting; what the outcome of that meeting was; and when the next such meeting is planned to take place.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4131", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jim Shannon"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Strangford"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jim Shannon"} ], "uin" : "108195"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }