Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of adopting a formal feminist foreign policy, comparable to those of Spain, Canada, and Mexico, that extends beyond development policy to diplomacy, trade, and defence.
Answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the May 2026 International Strategic Framework on Women and Girls, the UK committed to embed women's and girls' rights at the heart of our work, extending beyond development policy to diplomatic, security and trade work, using the full weight of our foreign policy levers to drive progress. We will focus on the disadvantages facing the most marginalised women and girls and address the deep-rooted inequalities that hold women and girls back.
This includes deploying our diplomatic influence, working through the multilateral system, and integrating women's economic empowerment and participation across our work on jobs and growth, trade and investment. Our approach ensures that women's and girls' rights are advanced across the breadth of the UK's international engagement.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what commitments they have made in relation to the Madrid Joint Political Declaration on Building Peaceful and Democratic Societies, signed on June 3, 2026; and what progress has been made in delivering said commitments.
Answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The priorities in the Madrid Joint Political Declaration closely correspond with the UK's
international approach on women and girls. This is reflected in the International Strategic Framework on Women and Girls, which guides UK action to advance women's safety, voice, choice and economic empowerment globally.
The UK has continued to deliver these priorities. We have established the International Coalition to End Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), with Spain as a founding member, bringing together partners to strengthen global action. We continue to support women's participation in peacebuilding and conflict resolution and the prevention of conflict-related sexual violence, alongside refreshing the UK's Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan. The UK has also committed £254 million to expand access to family planning and maternal healthcare. In July, the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Gender Equality with Spain to deepen cooperation on violence against women and girls and women's leadership.
The FCDO assessed the impact of its funding allocations through an Equalities Impact Assessment for 2026/27 - 2028/2029 ODA allocations and concluded that spending decisions across multilateral and central programmes do not cause disproportionate negative equalities impacts.
We have further protected central programme spending on: ending VAWG; preventing sexual violence in conflict; Women, Peace and Security (WPS); and funding for Education Cannot Wait.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to continue advancing women and girls' rights abroad following recent spending cuts to international aid.
Answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains committed to advancing the rights of women and girls in the UK and around the world. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has raised ambition and committed that by 2030, at least 90 per cent of the FCDO's bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes will contribute to gender equality. In May 2026, the Government launched the International Strategic Framework on Women and Girls, placing women's and girls' rights at the heart of UK foreign policy, alongside a new International Coalition to End Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), with work now underway towards a global summit linked to the UK's G20 Presidency next year.
We have further protected central programme spending on: ending VAWG; preventing sexual violence in conflict; Women, Peace and Security (WPS); and funding for Education Cannot Wait.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on women and girls of the 39 per cent reductions in bilateral ODA to Afghanistan by 2029.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has committed £315 million to Afghanistan in the new spending review period to address the most severe impacts of Afghanistan's protracted crisis and protect the most vulnerable. While reducing the size of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for Afghanistan will necessarily have an impact on the scale and reach of the work we do, we have taken steps to limit this. Women and girls will remain central to our approach, as highlighted in the UK international strategic framework on women and girls 2026. Funding allocations for Afghanistan are based on a robust Equalities Impact Assessment and aim to address the rights and needs of women and girls. We also remain steadfast in our commitment that at least half of those reached by UK aid in Afghanistan will be women and girls.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure that their priorities are furthered by multilateral official development assistance spending contributions; and how will UK contributions will be recognised.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains committed to multilateral institutions. I refer the noble Baroness to the reply to HL2775, which affirms the Foreign Secretary's commitment to international institutions, as set out in a statement on 21 July. On 27 July, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced that the Foreign Secretary will take on the role of UK Governor to the World Bank, which provides around $100 billion in finance per year. In the announcement, the Foreign Secretary stated that in taking on this role, he wishes to send an unambiguous signal regarding this Government's commitment to global leadership on development and climate.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement their commitment to establish and publish a cross-government monitoring framework for Women, Peace and Security.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is unwavering in its commitment to the Women, Peace and Security agenda and is in the process of refreshing the UK's fifth Women, Peace, and Security National Action Plan. The refresh will retain transparent and proportionate governance, monitoring and evaluation arrangements, ensuring transparency, accountability and effective measurement of progress and impact.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are providing support to strengthen the participation of women in peacebuilding efforts in Columbia.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is firmly committed to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Following the launch of Colombia's WPS National Action Plan, which the UK supported, we continue to work with the Colombian Government and civil society to support its implementation. UK funding has helped advance accountability and support for thousands of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia over the last ten years. The UK continues to advocate for women's full and equal participation in peace negotiations in Colombia and on a global scale, which we made clear during the statement delivered by the UK's Chargé d'Affaires to the UN Security Council on 17 June.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are providing support to assist the implementation of Colombia's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and, if so, whether funding for this reaches local organisations.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The UK is firmly committed to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Following the launch of Colombia's WPS National Action Plan, which the UK supported, we continue to work with the Colombian Government and civil society to support its implementation. UK funding has helped advance accountability and support for thousands of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia over the last ten years. The UK continues to advocate for women's full and equal participation in peace negotiations in Colombia and on a global scale, which we made clear during the statement delivered by the UK's Chargé d'Affaires to the UN Security Council on 17 June.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what emergency humanitarian response plans they have to prevent the worsening of humanitarian needs and mass displacement in El Obeid, Sudan.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
Further to the answers provided in the Private Notice Question debate on 24 June, the UK is continuing to use its role as UN Security Council penholder to urge an immediate end to the violence in El Obeid, in concert with our fellow members of the Coalition for Atrocity Prevention for Sudan, and other international partners.
On 3 July, the UK convened an Urgent Debate at the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in El Obeid, and on 6 July, we secured the adoption by consensus of a UK-led resolution, condemning - and calling for an urgent inquiry by the UN Fact-Finding Mission into - recently reported atrocities.
We will continue using every lever available over the coming days and weeks to try and prevent the mass civilian casualties in El Obeid that we all fear.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent further sexual violence in Sudan; whether they are collecting evidence of those who have suffered sexual violence; and what plans they have to hold perpetrators to account.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington
The UK remains determined to tackle the abhorrent levels of conflict related sexual violence (CRSV) against women and girls in Sudan, including the widespread use of rape as a weapon of war.
Since the start of the conflict, we have prioritised work on protection, prevention and care services, providing access to vital medical and psychological care, supporting survivors' families, and supporting women-led organisations to deliver essential services on-the-ground. Earlier this year, the Foreign Secretary announced a further £20 million of funding for these activities after meeting survivors in the border town of Adré.
Alongside our atrocity prevention work, the UK is also committed to gathering evidence of atrocities to support future prosecutions. We led efforts to establish the UN Fact-Finding Mission and have secured its mandate extension for two successive years. We also supported the deployment of a specialist sexual and gender-based violence investigator last year, and through our Sudan Witness programme, we are supporting Sudanese human rights defenders to document violations and abuses, including evidence of CRSV, to ensure Sudanese civil society can build a foundation for justice. We have also earmarked funding for development of a women-led investigations network.
We need urgent action from across the international community now, including international criminal investigations into the atrocities committed to date, to ensure accountability for the perpetrators, justice for victims, and an end to the systematic campaign of sexual violence against Sudanese women and girls.