Covid-19: Foreign Aid

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Baroness Sugg

Wednesday 11th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the pandemic has had a devastating health and economic impact around the world. Women and girls have been disproportionately affected. Rates of gender-based violence have soared, in many places girls’ education has been disrupted, and they suffer from acute food insecurity. They have also had to take on additional caring duties for the sick. As my noble friend the Minister acknowledged, there will be less spent on ODA this year. Can she give assurances that the FCDO will continue to be a global leader in advancing gender equality, as well as promoting girls’ education?

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

I am grateful to my noble friend for highlighting the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 that we are seeing on women and girls. Advancing gender equality and women’s rights will remain a core part of our mission across government and within the new department. Since 2015 we have supported more than 8 million girls to get an education. Last year alone we provided 25 million women with life-saving contraception, and we will continue this work within the new department.

Covid-19: UN Sustainable Development Goals

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Baroness Sugg

Wednesday 22nd July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

My Lords, as I said, the UK remains committed to the SDGs and to the underpinning pledge to leave no one behind as we strive to achieve them. The Prime Minister said in his statement to the UN high-level event on financing for development at the end of May that, following Covid-19, there is every need for us to work together to advance shared international objectives, including the SDGs. The SDGs will therefore remain central to the new department’s mission.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con) [V]]

My Lords, given that Covid-19 has exacerbated gender inequality, pushing the rights of women and girls backwards, how will we ensure that more girls across the world are able not only to go to school but to stay in education at secondary level? Without girls’ education, SDG 5 will be impossible to achieve.

[Baroness Sugg [V]]

I completely agree with my noble friend. We know that we will not achieve all the goals without strong action on gender equality, and women and girls are key to their success. We absolutely agree on the importance of girls’ education. The Prime Minister and the department champion the right of every girl to 12 years of quality education.

Overseas Development Assistance: Gender-based Violence

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Baroness Sugg

Tuesday 28th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her congratulations; I am delighted to become a She Decides champion. I agree that it is important that we fund NGOs on the front line delivering the response to Covid-19, and that is what we are determined to do.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, small organisations and those working at grass roots are able to deliver most help to victims of domestic violence. Given the rise of gender-based violence during this crisis, can UK aid be directed more to supporting small organisations giving such vital help to victims? Can our posts overseas help with identifying the best organisations in-country to support?

[Baroness Sugg]

I entirely agree with my noble friend. In the UK we have many excellent small charities that deliver these vital services, including in respect of gender-based violence. DfID has a small charities challenge fund which was developed to ensure it can support these charities, and its posts on the ground are working to help identify them. A review process is ongoing. Applications that will address the impact of Covid-19 are being prioritised and a further round will be opened in the next few weeks.

Covid-19: Overseas Development Assistance

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Baroness Sugg

Wednesday 22nd April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, the UK played an instrumental role in establishing the SDGs, and even before Covid-19, we knew that global progress was off track. I am particularly concerned with goal 4, on quality education, and goal 5, on gender equality. The SDGs have a key role in framing and shaping recovery, and the decade of action will be more crucial than ever. We will use the international opportunities we have to build our continued SDG leadership, and we will include in that the SDG summit at UNGA this September and our G7 presidency next year.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, women and girls are being disproportionately affected by the impact of Covid-19. Can the Minister please assure me that DfID will address the specific vulnerabilities that women and girls face in the light of the pandemic, and, looking ahead, that women and girls will remain a key focus for DfID?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank my noble friend for that question. She is of course right that during times of crisis, the rights of women and girls are often overlooked. In this time of crisis, when people are at their most vulnerable, women and girls need our support more than ever. We must learn the lessons of past epidemics and explicitly include the needs of women and girls as part of our humanitarian response, and in order to stop more lives being needlessly lost. We are therefore working with our international partners to act now, putting gender at the heart of our response. The impacts of coronavirus are not gender-blind, so nor should our response be.