Official Development Assistance: Bilateral Allocations

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Noble Lords do not need me to tell them just what a difficult context this is. Since the return of the Taliban, the prospects for women and girls have diminished greatly. We work closely with our partners, we still fund programmes in Afghanistan and we will continue to do so.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, while I am delighted that the Government are still prioritising women and girls, how are they going to ensure that this priority remains through the multilateral grants?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I think it is impossible to do development without prioritising women and girls, and almost everything we do benefits disproportionately—and quite rightly—women and girls. It is one of the reasons why we prioritise health, because most of that does go to support women in particular. We use our voice very strongly and increasingly strongly on the boards of multilateral institutions. I speak regularly with the presidents of the World Bank and the African Development Bank, and our engagement with the UN never fails to articulate strong support for women and girls, particularly at this time when, globally, it is becoming more and more contested.