International Widows Day

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Monday 26th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, under the strategy I mentioned in my Answer, the FCDO will continue to stand up and speak out for women and girls’ rights and freedoms on the global stage and in our bilateral relationships. It also commits us to ensuring that at least 80% of the FCDO’s bilateral aid has a focus on gender equality by the end of this decade. We will target that investment towards the main life stages of women and girls to secure lifelong, intergenerational impact and strengthen political, economic and social systems that play an important role in protecting and empowering women and girls.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, as my noble friend has stated, widows suffer particular discrimination in so many countries of the world. I am delighted to hear that we offer them special help, but can he give us a bit more detail about this, especially in the area of property rights? All too often, families will seize their property and cast them out.

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, I will struggle to provide details on the property issue, but it is certainly true that the UK rightly recognises that older widows in particular face a wide range of discrimination. That is why the international women and girls strategy adopts a life-course approach, targeting investment at the key life stages of women and girls to ensure that we secure the greatest possible intergenerational impacts.

UK Aid to Afghanistan

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, I believe that so far 6,300 eligible people have been resettled through the first phase of the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, and that was targeted specifically at those who assisted our efforts in Afghanistan, as well as at vulnerable people, which includes members of minority groups. The scheme is expected to provide up to 20,000 people with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. Of course, this is a Home Office responsibility but the FCDO works very closely with that department to make sure that the programme remains accessible and effective.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, now that women are being prevented from working for NGOs, how will we ensure that aid reaches women-headed households, which are the poorest of the poor and now have no means of support?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, it is very difficult. The decision by the Taliban—which, by the way, has no basis in morality or religion—is a clear breach of international humanitarian principles as accepted by everyone and is yet another violation of the fundamental rights of Afghan women. The reality is that as a consequence of this ban it is very difficult for NGOs in that country to deliver the kinds of services and support that they provided, which is why our principal goal has to be to heap pressure on the Taliban to reverse this decision. Until that decision is reversed, I am afraid that there is no easy answer to the noble Baroness’s question.

International Development Strategy: Volunteering

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Tuesday 12th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

I will have to refer the noble Baroness to a previous answer. I cannot comment on funding commitments for specific programmes. However, the value of the scheme she has described, which has been mentioned by other noble Lords, is unquestioned. The success story there is plain for all to see. I very much hope that we can continue providing support for it, but I cannot give her any black and white answers; that is just not within my remit.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I think we all recognise the benefits to young people of going abroad in a volunteering capacity, the knowledge they gain of other countries and the richness they bring back. The same is true of young people from other countries coming here. Will Her Majesty’s Government consider reinstating the au pair scheme, set up before we joined the EU by the Council of Europe? It has been brought down by Brexit and many will not be able to have the benefits of going abroad for a year to learn about other countries.

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

My Lords, I have to be honest that I do not know a huge amount about this scheme; it has been raised in previous debates on this issue, but only at a very high level, so I cannot give my noble friend an authoritative answer. I will take away her suggestion and ensure that whichever of my ministerial colleagues will be deciding on that programme is made aware of my noble friend’s very strong views on the issue.

Animal Welfare: Tourist Attractions, Activities and Experiences

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Monday 20th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

As the noble Baroness will know, in the kept animals Bill that we were just talking about, there will be measures to prohibit the keeping of primates as pets. That will, I think, be a first within Europe, and it will be comprehensive legislation. Defra has commissioned some work on the issue of pets being handed out as prizes. I cannot give her a timeline on that, but it is an issue that we are looking at very closely.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, how do we help travel companies identify these tourist attractions where animals are cruelly treated? I suspect some of them are innocently selling these holidays without having any realisation of the cruelty being inflicted on these animals.

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)]

It is an important point and in fact, to give it credit, the Association of British Travel Agents—ABTA—has updated and published guidelines on a whole range of activities which it classes as unacceptable, and its definition is fairly closely aligned with that of many of the organisations that focus on this issue. It is a voluntary set of guidelines—what we are talking about today is something that will be harder than that, something mandatory—but it is worth acknowledging the steps that the industry is already taking.

Overseas Development Assistance

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park [V]]

My Lords, the UK remains one of the largest humanitarian donors to Yemen as well, providing over £1 billion in aid since the conflict began, supporting millions of vulnerable Yemenis with food, clean water and healthcare. We are pushing for a lasting political resolution to the conflict. The new UK aid pledge of £87 million will, we believe, feed 240,000 of the most vulnerable Yemenis every month, support 400 healthcare clinics and provide clean water for 1.6 million people. Our support for Yemen has been at the top level, in terms of other countries, and will remain so.

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

My Lords, these cuts are resulting in many small organisations doing life-changing work at grass roots being badly hit. Can my noble friend reassure the House that, where possible, the cuts will fall on big, multilateral programmes that are not solely dependent on UK aid?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am sorry, but I did not hear the main part of that question. I heard the comment on multilateral commitments and, if it helps, I can say that we are honouring those. We are maintaining our major pledges to IDA, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and more besides. The cross-cutting budget is made up of our contributions to over 30 multilateral institutions and we are protecting them.

Tuberculosis

Debate between Baroness Hodgson of Abinger and Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Wednesday 24th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I can confirm that tackling TB remains a priority. As with all ODA, we are obliged to spend money in the manner that delivers the best possible results. The noble Lord mentioned his father’s death, and I am very sorry to hear that. He also mentioned that TB was treatable, although it is worth pointing out that we have serious challenges with anti-microbial resistance. Drug-resistant TB is a real challenge, so we will have to continue to address that issue as well, and draw attention to the fact that drug-resistant TB causes, we believe, a third of all deaths from anti-microbial resistance.

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

My Lords, this past year has seen a huge disruption to the delivery of vaccinations and medical treatment and care, with TB being one clear example. Given the increased need for global health assistance because of Covid-19, surely we should be stepping up, not stepping back. Do the Government really think it is right to be cutting life-saving medical UK aid during a global pandemic?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, we are not stepping back; we are stepping up. In all, we have committed up to £1.3 billion of ODA to counter the health, humanitarian and socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 and to ensure an equitable distribution of vaccines. The UK is working with countries to ensure that, as far as possible, essential TB services continue; that TB patients are protected from Covid-19 infections; and that TB programmes make good decisions about redeploying their resources to national Covid-19 programmes in a sustainable way. Our funding has supported the Global Fund’s Covid-19 response mechanism, set up specifically to help countries keep on track during, and because of, the pandemic.