International Development (Gender Equality) Bill

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Friday 7th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, in the three years that I have been in this House, we have had the opportunity and the privilege to debate many of these issues on a number of occasions. It is, therefore, very tempting for me merely to say, “I support this Bill; it is the right thing to do”, and sit down, because we have already had the chance to make these points. However, they are such important points, and so many women across the world have such terrible lives, that I fear I am not going to let your Lordships off so lightly.

I start by echoing the praise of the noble Lord, Lord Quirk, for the noble Lord, Lord McColl. I am lucky enough to share a room with the noble Lord, Lord McColl; I can speak at first hand of his enormous support for many good causes, of his personal support for me, which I very much value, and of his extreme modesty in the wonderful causes that he supports. I quite often have come back after the recess and said, “Have you had a good time, Ian?” and he has said, “Oh yes, I was operating on the Mercy Ships all the way through”. His dedication to these causes is something to be applauded and something that we should all honour as well.

Considering that the International Development (Gender Equality) Bill was originally No. 18 on the Private Members’ Bills ballot, it is a significant achievement that we are having this debate at all. Without the support of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister and the dedication of Bill Cash in getting it through, as well as the support of the International Development Secretary, we would not have got this far. I would like to pay tribute to her and to her predecessor, Andrew Mitchell; they both focused particularly on policy work at DfID to support women and girls.

Women across the world, whether they live in Sweden or Sudan, are entitled to live their lives with dignity, free from fear and empowered to control their own futures. However, while we know that women are integral to the development agenda, it remains the case that in many parts of the world their contributions are neither valued nor encouraged, as the noble Lord, Lord Quirk, told us so eloquently. There have already been significant steps taken to challenge the status quo, but the pursuit of gender equality cannot be just an element of the international development agenda. It is true that one of the eight millennium development goals is focused on women and girls, but should this mean that they are excluded from the other seven? Of course not.

Nevertheless, for poor women in poor places, significant gender gaps remain in education enrolment, fertility, access to healthcare and access to the local economic market. Women produce 50% of the world’s food and yet they earn only 10% of its income and own only 1% of its property. Women do not participate in society on equal terms with men, meaning that they are largely ignored in the decision-making process. It is not a coincidence that women in wealthier sections of society have not only received an education, but are more prominent within their communities. Even where developing countries as a whole are getting richer, differences between men and women remain, entrenched in ideology, despite nearly a century of women’s activism.

The participation of women in their communities and wider society is invaluable. Government agendas which fail to address the representation of women may lead to free and fair elections initially, but a male-dominated parliament, as we know only too well, will never be able fully to tap into and harness the entire population’s potential and capacity. Furthermore, by considering the different needs of men and women in emergency aid situations, we can better target our aid at the vulnerable, helping those who need it most. Systemic shocks, such as famine, economic downturn and conflict, adversely affect males and females, and yet women often suffer disproportionately and have very little say in rebuilding their communities after such events. Fewer than 3% of signatories to peace agreements are female.

DfID’s record on assisting women has been really good. Due to the department’s focus on the women’s and girls’ agenda, more than 14 million women have gained access to financial services; almost 3 million girls are in primary education; and more than 4 million women are using modern methods of family planning. The Government should be commended on these successes. The value of these achievements should not be underestimated. By promoting equality between the sexes, we can ensure that women receive a full education, marry and have children later in life and fully participate in their communities.

Let us take a moment to look at the evidence. An extra year of secondary schooling for girls can increase their future wages by 10% to 20%. Putting resources in women’s hands results in more household spending that benefits children, and a recent study of 30 developing countries showed that women with no schooling had three more children on average than women who attended high school. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that equalising access to productive resources between men and women could raise output in developing countries by as much as 4%. Estimates of the loss of growth owing to gender inequality in education range from 0.3% in sub-Saharan Africa to 0.81% in south Asia. It cannot be said often enough that when half the population is locked out of education and economic opportunity, there is no realistic path to sustainability. Without gender equality, economic prosperity will remain a dream.

As has already been mentioned, education is the solution. By integrating boys and girls in early childhood on an equal footing in an educational environment, entrenched sexism can be eradicated. We must ensure that this integration does not end at puberty. Equality for girls must continue into their teenage and adult years. Access to micro-finance initiatives and the ability to own their own land are as important for women as early-years education. Ultimately, women will escape poverty not, of course, through international aid but through business. They must be able to reap the benefits of their own hard work for themselves and their families.

While I recognise fully that households where women have a greater say tend to allocate a greater share of resources to education and health, these aspects of family life should not be entirely relegated to mothers and female family members. Programmes implemented in the developing world ensuring that children receive regular health checks and vaccinations are very often targeted at mothers, unintentionally reinforcing the stereotype that childcare is very much their remit only. By simply changing the word “mother” to “parent”, or including pictures of fathers and children in literature and posters, we can challenge the idea that a woman’s place is in the home. By doing this, we can begin to combat the exclusion of women from wider society.

My noble friend Lady Hussein-Ece focused her remarks on violence against women, and I will not repeat her arguments. Suffice it to say that one in three women worldwide will experience violence in their lifetime; by 2050, 50 million girls will have been forced into marriage before even reaching their 15th birthday. One woman from Tanzania recently reported:

“I see some women being beaten by their husband every day. When you talk to them, they say they are married and they cannot separate. These women will never climb the ladder: they will stay at the bottom”.

There you have it.

Another challenge to gender equality is access to contraception and choice over birth spacing. Traditional contraceptive methods are usually dependent on the co-operation of men, resulting in more than 200 million women who do not want to be pregnant but are not able to use contraceptives. This means that they cannot determine when to have their children and have a harder time feeding them, paying their medical bills and providing them with education. They are trapped in this vicious cycle of poverty, which could be broken simply by providing women with their own contraceptive methods. Again, this can be implemented through education.

I know that my honourable friend in the House of Commons has worked closely on his Bill with the Gender Rights & Equality Action Trust, otherwise known as the GREAT initiative. This organisation also deserves to be commended for its dedication to ensuring gender equality across the developing world. It runs a number of worthwhile projects, including the “Great Men Value Women” campaign, which works with teenage boys to give them a safe space to discuss their vision of masculinity and the tools they need to challenge the stereotypes to which they are often required to conform. Projects such as these are also vital to the gender equality agenda.

I applaud the Secretary of State’s commitment to this Bill and am grateful for the Opposition’s support as well. Who knows what might follow in the future without this Bill, which will enshrine in law Britain’s commitment to promoting gender equality around the world? It will also introduce a reporting duty on the Department for International Development, ensuring that all future Governments are held to account on this issue. It is only through passing the Bill that we can ensure the continuity of the equality agenda, not just for today’s Government but for all Governments.

Girls’ Education Challenge

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is right, and that is one of the lessons from the MDGs. Looking forward beyond 2015, it is not just a case of getting children into school but of making sure that they stay in school. DfID built into its programmes consideration of the results—that is, ensuring that children stay in education and that they learn while they are there, and that teachers and educational programmes are in place. One reason for there being a focus on secondary education is that children are required to have gone through primary education.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, will my noble friend join me in welcoming to this House, for its First Reading today, the International Development (Gender Equality) Bill and in wishing it a safe and speedy passage?

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend’s timing is extremely good because, as she says, the Bill has its First Reading here today, and I welcome its arrival. As she and noble Lords will know, DfID already puts girls and women front and centre, and this Bill, which I am sure will have all-party support, will ensure that that continues to happen. It will ensure, for example, that the 2006 international development Act is amended so that that commitment is duly reported to Parliament. I think that this Bill has more cross-party support than some.

Children: Affordable Childcare

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, who speaks with so much experience and expertise, for providing us with the opportunity to debate this important topic. In thinking about this debate, like the noble Baroness I inevitably cast my mind back to my own experiences, 20 years ago, and to how we coped and managed with two small children. My sister, who lived nearby, stayed at home and was a fantastic support. My sons had two loving and committed grandmothers who lived close enough to help and did more than their fair share. The children went to a great nursery and later I was lucky enough to have a flexible job. Housing costs were considerably lower, with a decent family home costing three times a salary. Many parents today have to work longer hours for what I, at least, took for granted. I now appreciate more than I did at the time how easy I had it compared to many parents today but even then I felt guilty, and at times stressed and under pressure.

A quick trawl through the Mumsnet forums on this subject shows no change and no agreement. From the comments of stay-at-home parents who feel that they have to justify their choice to working parents who feel guilty for working long hours to keep on top of their careers, it is clear that whatever it is, there is no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all solution. However, without flexibility, affordability and good-quality childcare what is really quite a short period of one’s life can, instead of being a fulfilling and exciting time filled with love and adventure, become a stressful and miserable experience for both parents and children. Needs change for babies and pre-schoolers, of course, compared with school-age children. Families are different and, obviously, childcare needs should be as flexible as possible to cater to the many individual circumstances and challenges that families face. All these families need to be supported in the choices that they make and I welcome the introduction of flexible parental leave so that parents, not government, can decide how to manage their lives when they have a baby.

Whether it is the ability to find a childminder, a nursery in the right location with available places, a work-based creche or a school that can offer after-hours care, we know that too many parents cannot get that mix of childcare that they need. It is lack of flexibility that can lock many parents out of the workplace. This is why affordable and accessible childcare is so important in our society, not just for the well-being and success of future generations but for the well-being and success of parents. Data suggest that more than half of stay-at-home mothers, one-third of the total, would prefer to be in paid employment, but in the UK one-quarter of women who go on maternity leave do not return to work, resulting in a significant cost to companies in recruiting and training their replacements, as well as the loss of knowledge, skills and expertise.

Let us look for a moment at the costs. The UK has reached Nordic levels of public expenditure on childcare but has come nowhere near reaching Nordic levels of coverage among low earners. Public childcare subsidies, at 1.1% of GDP, are among the highest in the world, yet the average cost of childcare is still 28% of household income. In Sweden, where they also spend 1.1% of GDP, childcare costs are 6% of household income while in Germany, where they spend 0.4% of GDP, the out-of-pocket cost of childcare is 14% of household income. As I read those figures, even though I know I have checked them, I still find them very hard to come to terms with.

So we spend more than the OECD average on childcare, yet British parents are still paying some of the highest costs in Europe. Clearly, neither taxpayer nor parent is getting value for money. The limited options available to parents for such high costs are due in large part to overcomplex funding systems and unnecessary bureaucracy, which are stopping childcare providers from growing and flourishing, thus preventing many parents and children from taking advantage of the excellent childcare that exists across the country. Let us take a quick look at the most common options available to parents— childminders, nurseries and school nurseries.

Childminders are popular, flexible and local. Many parents prefer home-based care, especially for the younger children. They also suit parents who work shifts; I used one myself when my elder son was small, and it worked well. Despite this, though, as the noble Baroness has pointed out, the number of childminders has almost halved over the past decade, to the point where just 1% of funded early-year places are provided by childminders. This appears to be due to two issues: difficulty in accessing funding and the mass of paperwork involved in registration. Childminders have to register with Ofsted. They have to spend about £80 on a medical check, £100 on a preregistration course, up to £100 on paediatric first aid training and more on public liability, car and home insurance, a website, professional membership, DBS checks, buying equipment, toys and books and sorting out marketing and accountancy. The whole process costs around £800, clearly contributing to high costs for users of the service.

Since September, any good or outstanding childminder can automatically offer funded places for two to four year-olds. Previously, fewer than 4,000 childminders were accessing funding but now 32,000 are automatically eligible. To help to reduce the bureaucracy, childminder agencies are being set up to help with admin and to simplify the process. They could spread the costs, reduce the hassle and use economies of scale to make it cheaper, and for parents they should make it easier to find an employer childminder. In France, where creches familiales have similar functions to agencies, they have five times as many childminders per person than England. I welcome the new childcare business grant scheme that has been introduced to boost the provision of childcare and to incentivise entrepreneurship. It will encourage and support the starting up of new childcare businesses by providing a flat-rate start-up grant of up to £500.

Nurseries, which provide about one-quarter of all childcare, are equally essential, providing a valued and trusted service to parents. Their funding should be simple and accessible. Any good or outstanding nursery will be able to access money just like childminders, without jumping through further bureaucratic hoops. Through this measure, the Government estimate that about 80% of nurseries would automatically get funding. They should be encouraged to expand and grow, just like any other business. Planning rules should be more straightforward so that premises can be converted without requiring additional planning permission, allowing nurseries to grow and flourish.

School nurseries are perhaps an underappreciated part of childcare yet they make up one-third of the national childcare market, with some 800,000 early-year places. However, the hours that they offer can be inflexible; most do only 9 am to 3 pm, if parents are lucky. An extra four hours a day would change many parents’ options. More school nurseries could look to the model of a mixture of funded and fee-paying care, which in turn helps local government funding to go further. Such schools can generate income from the nursery and by good, flexible timing of their sessions they can fill the spaces.

Of course, availability is not the only problem that many families face when looking for suitable childcare. Even when many families find the perfect solution for them, they are locked out of the market due to the high cost. Parents are locked out of the workplace and children are left out of sociable learning environments.

The average annual cost of a part-time nursery place for a young child is now more than £5,000. At an hourly rate, this is about two-thirds of the minimum wage. Even as the economy is picking up, with nursery costs in some parts of the UK rising more than twice as fast as family incomes, childcare is a big item on tight family budgets.

Every three and four year-old gets 15 hours of free childcare a week. This is now much more flexible so that parents can take it in blocks. Funding has been increased for low-income two year-olds and just one month after launching the scheme, 92,000 children benefitted, reaching an estimated 70% of the deprived children who most need help. On top of this basic entitlement, low-income working families can get help for up to 70% of their additional childcare costs.

Are we missing other innovative ideas? Should the Government revisit some of yesteryear’s solutions for inspiration? In World War II, shipyards in the United States established pioneering company-sponsored childcare centres. They were in operation 24 hours a day, had a nurse on site for any ill children and provided hot meals during the day. They were opened to ensure the company had the workforce to build ships and were closed after the war ended, but could this large-scale, open-all-hours creche be a possible option?

In the past, communities came together to look after children if their parents were not available. Could the Government look at childcare collectives put together by volunteers? Sweden, for example, has a long history of parental co-operatives run by many pre-schools. They are organised and staffed by the parents who use the service. The idea has echoes of the big society agenda where regulatory barriers are removed to encourage voluntary groups and communities to take action. This might also provide an opportunity for another resource we may not be using effectively.

We hear much about loneliness in old age. Could we not look to lonely older people, some of whom are already grandparents and some whom would love to be, to assist in supervising after-school homework clubs and other after-school clubs? Obviously they would need some training and checking, but need it really be prohibitively bureaucratic and expensive?

I welcome the fact that the Government are committed to ensuring that all families in the UK, of whatever size or income level, have access to a variety of flexible childcare options. We are improving the quality of childcare options by clarifying standards and taking the focus off of red tape and paperwork so that childcare professionals can focus on the children. Surely we can all agree with the Minister’s aspiration, included in a recent speech to the Family and Childcare Trust, which was referred to by the noble Baroness:

“Our vision is of childcare where families want it, at the time they need it, provided by people they trust, at a cost they can afford”.

For the sake of parents and children everywhere, let us hope that this vision can be realised.

Millennium Development Goals

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, the noble Baroness will, of course, know the range of goals. Taken together they include all the areas the noble Baroness is talking about. Obviously we need economic growth to try to pull people out of poverty but, as she also knows, leaving no one behind is included there. The aim of the new MDGs is to eradicate extreme poverty. One will not do that without addressing both social justice and economic growth.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the focus on the post-2015 agenda, but will my noble friend agree that finishing the job of the existing MDGs is also crucial? Will she also inform the House what progress she hopes will be made in the next two years?

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend is right and it is important to take forward the current MDGs. However, one of the most important things now is to make sure that the proposed new MDGs, or something very similar to them, are adopted in 2015 so that the progress made in the past 13 years is built on. As noble Lords know, DfID is committed to 0.7% of GNI going to aid. For example, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State has just announced £1 billion going towards the Global Fund. All this will help to deliver the original MDGs.

International Day of the Girl

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Wednesday 9th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is right to highlight this issue. This is something that has come increasingly to our attention. There have been programmes of engagement with schools—she may know of the one in Bristol—and there is engagement elsewhere. Teachers have been asked to look out for girls who travel in the holidays and may not return, because it is extremely important that this issue is tackled.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, perhaps the House would consider it appropriate to congratulate Malala on her extraordinary contribution to this debate. I would be grateful if my noble friend could update the House on the Girls’ Education Challenge, which is designed to help up to 1 million of the world’s poorest girls access education.

[Baroness Northover]

I echo the support for Malala. Friday is the International Day of the Girl Child. That is the day when the Nobel prize in question may be announced. Of course, many of us hope that Malala’s contribution will be recognised. She has been extremely brave in maintaining her position, and has done so very eloquently. My noble friend mentioned the Girls’ Education Challenge. In the United Kingdom we have the world’s largest global fund dedicated to girls’ education, which will reach more than 1 million girls in the world’s poorest countries. That is extremely welcome and shows that we recognise the importance of investing in girls’ education.

Overseas Aid: Post-2015 Development Agenda

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Lord is right about how this proposal emphasises leaving no one behind and that targets can be considered achieved only when they are met across all social and income groups. That is essential in tackling inequality. It seems to us that challenging inequality runs as a thread through the whole report.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

My Lords, I returned this morning from Myanmar which—although it was a fascinating week—is still in a very fragile state. It is one of the states that has failed to achieve any of the MDGs. It is still a very poor country where one in four people lives below $1.25 a day, and it has terrible capacity issues. Given the feeling of hope in that country now, what does DfID plan to do to support the Burmese people in the run-up to the 2015 elections?

[Baroness Northover]

DfID is a strong supporter of Myanmar and we recognise that it is a very fragile state. I think that my noble friend went with an all-party group, and we are delighted that such a group has been able to visit. We recently announced £10 million in funding to help with the 2014 Myanmar population and housing census which will help to underpin the information required for the elections. We will continue to help the Government and other organisations in other ways as well.

Global Partnership for Aid Effectiveness

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right, which is why we have put women and girls very much at the centre of what DfID does. Education is part of that. As for the stages of development of various countries, I note that the countries that are most developed have the highest levels of educational enrolment and adult literacy.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that many of the aid-effectiveness indicators agreed at Busan—for example, the governance indicator which features so heavily at the G8—are already part of the Government’s development strategy?

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend is quite right, and if she looks—as I am sure she has—at the recent DfID annual report, she will see that evidence there. It is extremely important that both aid givers, such as the United Kingdom, and aid recipients make sure that they address the requirements laid down in Busan. Only by doing so will we ensure that aid is most effectively delivered and has its greatest effect.

Women: Developing Countries

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

My Lords, I am delighted to participate in this important and far-reaching debate. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Loomba, for introducing it so ably, and for the wonderful work that his foundation does for women.

Honestly, where does one start? I will start with a topical event which I sponsored this week in this building. Along with a number of other noble Baronesses, who I thank for their interest, I was filmed this week for a project called What I See—a global initiative that explores the similarities and differences of women’s experiences, perception and self-expression. It reminds us how fascinating, strong and extraordinarily original women are, but also that their voice and perspectives are too often missing from public discourse, including in this country. I welcome the What I See project, and all other efforts like it, that give women an opportunity to express themselves without bias, judgment or agenda. It will also, I hope, give encouragement to women and girls who lack self-confidence and self-esteem, and I look forward to supporting the project as it develops and goes live online in March 2014.

Before I travel across to the developing world, I will briefly mention domestic violence. I am sure that other noble Lords will expand on this particular challenge to women both in this country and, of course, throughout much of the rest of the world. We had a very constructive debate on this earlier in the year and I was privileged to participate in it. I only reiterate that domestic violence is a hidden scourge. We all know someone, however unlikely, who suffers from it. I was struck by a recent people’s panel blog on the Guardian website and the more than 400 responses to the four women who had described their struggles with domestic violence. If nothing else, people are now far more aware of the issue and discussing it openly in a way they would not have done previously.

To put this debate in context, two-thirds of the world’s poor are women, as the noble Lord said, but they have the least say about what needs to be done to tackle poverty. So where should we start in the developing world—in Afghanistan, as the noble Lord said, with the problems that women and children will face when our troops leave next year; in the DRC, known as the rape capital of the world and the worst place on earth to be a woman; or in Saudi Arabia, where women cannot drive and have no right to vote? I was struck by a photograph I saw yesterday of a conference about women without a single woman present. As Bill Gates put it, when asked whether he thought Saudi Arabia could become one of the top 10 tech nations in the world:

“Well, if you’re not fully utilizing half the talent in the country, you’re not going to get too close to the Top 10”.

Along with the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, and others, I will travel to Burma next month with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health. I therefore turn my remarks to that area of policy, which is so crucial for women and girls in the developing world. I start by thanking the Secretary of State for her commitment to women and girls in development and to the UK Government’s support for family planning in particular.

Healthy women and girls ensure social and economic development for families, communities and states. Having women at the forefront of building strong economies can happen only if women are able to control their own fertility and destiny. We are all too well aware that the world’s population is growing rapidly. I remind the House that in 1927 it was 2 billion, in 1975 4 billion, in 1999 6 billion, in 2011 7 billion, and it is projected to reach 9.2 billion in 2050, with ever increasing demands for food, clean water, schools, housing, et cetera. This makes little sense when there are many millions of women with an unmet need for family planning, and 30% of 287,000 maternal deaths could be averted with the provision of family planning services alone.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to DfID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNFPA for last year’s family planning summit and the commitments made at that summit. The UK Government are committed to providing an additional 24 million girls and women in the world’s poorest countries with family planning services between now and 2020, which will prevent the deaths of 42,000 girls and women, for whom an unintended pregnancy carries the risk of fatal consequences.

Earlier this month, ahead of the G8 and G20 summits, we had a global summit of parliamentarians entitled—not very snappily, I fear—We Need a Decade of Family Planning: the Vital Factor for Global Development and Women’s Reproductive Health and Rights. I am really pleased to note that the G8 leaders’ communiqué refers to maternal health and identifies that more action is required to deliver on promises in some areas. I also welcome the reference to preventing sexual violence in conflict adopted by the G8 Foreign Ministers, and pay particular tribute to the Foreign Secretary’s leadership in this area.

The High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development released an important report entitled A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development, setting out the universal agenda to eradicate extreme poverty from the face of the earth by 2030 and to deliver on the promise of sustainable development. I draw the House’s attention in particular to goal 4, which makes explicit reference to decreasing maternal mortality and ensuring universal sexual and reproductive health and rights.

To quote briefly from the report:

“Women continue to die unnecessarily in childbirth. The World Health Organization estimates that every minute and a half, a woman dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth. Women living in poverty, in rural areas, and adolescents are especially at risk. Timely access to well-equipped facilities and skilled birth attendants will drastically reduce this risk. Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is an essential component of a healthy society. There are still 222 million women in the world who want to prevent pregnancy but are not using effective, modern methods of contraception. This results in 80 million unplanned pregnancies, 30 million unplanned births and 20 million unsafe abortions every year. About 340 million people a year are infected by sexually-transmitted disease. Every $1 spent on modern contraception would save $1.40 in maternal and newborn health care. But access to SRHR, especially by adolescents, is low. The quality of such services is generally poor. The public health case is clear—ensuring these rights benefits not only individuals, but broader communities”.

Empowering women to make their own choices about pregnancy and birth spacing is critical and essential to reducing gender inequality and poverty.

A woman’s ability to control her own fertility is something that we take completely for granted in this country. When I became sexually active—please do not show this debate to my mother—all I did was go along to the Marie Stopes clinic and it was all available; those of us who are in the post-pill generation sometimes take for granted how incredibly lucky we are. A woman’s ability to control her own fertility is an effective way of positively influencing all other parts of her life and the lives of her family. Fulfilling women’s rights to contraception can play a key role in extending birth intervals, which in turn promotes maternal and child survival.

Women around the world are calling for sexual and reproductive health rights to become a reality, and we need to help deliver reproductive health for all those women by ensuring that reproductive health is front and centre of the agenda for the post-2015 framework and our Government’s priorities, to close the gap in unmet need for family planning, to eliminate unsafe abortion and to ensure universal access to reproductive health services. We need to ensure that all pledges made at last year’s family planning summit are realised and for national Governments to remove unnecessary barriers that prevent access to reproductive healthcare, choices and information.

Let us return to this country with a plug for my honourable friend Bill Cash’s Private Member’s Bill, which is to be read a second time in another place on 13 September. The Bill is,

“to promote gender equality in the provision by the Government of development assistance and humanitarian assistance to countries outside the United Kingdom”.

I, for one, hope that it makes some progress through Parliament.

I will end where the noble Lord, Lord Loomba, started, with the perennial problem of women in Parliament. As he pointed out, across the world the average percentage of women in Parliament is 20% and we are not doing much better here. As co-chair of Women2Win, which campaigns to get more Conservative women into Parliament, I fear that the experience of Julia Gillard in Australia may well provide another excuse, another reason, why women will not want to put themselves forward or to start the journey towards a parliamentary career. But the point is that every woman and every girl in Australia now knows what we in this country already know—that a woman can make it to the top.

I appeal to any woman who may stumble across this debate: if you think you have the guts, the determination and, most of all, the resilience to sustain you in a political career, come and find me or any of my colleagues around the Chamber and talk to us. We all want you to succeed. As Julia Gillard said in her final press conference yesterday:

“it will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that”.

Crime: Domestic Violence

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Thursday 14th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Lord speaks from a lot of experience. Of course, this is very complex. Relationships are very complex. Quite often, people are unwilling to come forward. If one were to apply the same kind of test to another group—say that it was an ethnic minority that suffered in that way—it would be crystal clear that something was unacceptable. I think there has been something of a sea change in the attitude of the judiciary and the police, but we need to see that go much further. We are seeking to support those changes.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

My Lords, were we not here in the Chamber now, I am sure that my noble friend and I would be joining many colleagues from the other place who, as we speak, are rising up in Parliament Square to support the campaign. I will resist the temptation to dance on the Benches. As the Prime Minister says:

“I want to see an end to violence against women and girls in all its forms”,

and I am proud to add my voice to all those who stand up and oppose it. Does my noble friend agree that because of changes to the law, which include the criminalisation of forced marriage, widening the definition of domestic violence and making stalking illegal, it is far more likely that those who perpetrate those crimes will now be punished than in the past?

[Baroness Northover]

I agree with my noble friend. I also support the campaign that is occurring today, and DfID is supporting the campaign that will be seen in Cape Town today—which, in the light of the news this morning, is perhaps particularly relevant. My noble friend is right to highlight the way that we have taken this forward; there are, for example, two specific criminal offences of stalking that came into effect in March 2012, and the DPM announced in September the widening of the definition of domestic violence to include 16 to 17 year-olds and coercive behaviour. We are working very hard to bring greater protection for victims and to bring more offenders to justice. It is also important that we work with criminal justice professionals to ensure proper guidance and training so that we can support these changes in the legislation.

Polio Eradication

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to extend the programme to eradicate polio to ensure an expanded contribution from non-governmental donors.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, since 1988 the number of polio cases has fallen by over 99%. Polio is now endemic in just three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. We remain strongly committed to polio eradication and are exploring with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative how to increase impact and sustainability and how to broaden the funding base, including from non-government donors.

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]

I thank my noble friend. As she points out, polio eradication is an outstandingly successful development programme. During just one day in India, for example, Rotary International is able to vaccinate 172 children. In the UK, the Government’s match-funding initiative has been able to leverage £123 million from non-government sources from a £40 billion investment. Given the success of this programme, will the Government commit to looking at renewing and extending it with a higher cap in future?

[Baroness Northover]

I start by paying tribute to my noble friend for her own commitment in this area. We can indeed eliminate polio, providing everyone contributes in the way she has indicated. My noble friend is right; the Rotarians were instrumental in securing strong, local ownership in northern India to ensure that all children were vaccinated. It is very much a success story and Rotary International is involved in similar initiatives, I am pleased to say, in Nigeria and Pakistan. We are looking at financing options from 2013, recognising the benefits of match and challenge funding.