International Sustainability: Natural Resources and Biodiversity

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin of Kennington, for ensuring that this really important topic was not overlooked as we move towards the Dissolution of Parliament.

I would like to start with the work of the Bayelsa State Oil & Environmental Commission, chaired by the right reverend Primate the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu. The commission has spent the last seven months investigating the impact of oil company activity and oil pollution in this Nigerian state, and it released its interim report last Friday 1 November. It does not make comfortable reading. In 1956, Shell drilled Nigeria’s first oil well in Bayelsa state. Today, it is one of Nigeria’s largest oil-producing states. It is also home to the world’s most diverse ecological zones, made up of fragile riparian wetlands and mangrove swamps. Despite its vast oil wealth, Bayelsa has the lowest human development index score of all of the nine Niger Delta states. Currently, the life expectancy there is just 50 years.

All related environment pollution, particularly oil spills and waste disposal into land, rivers, and creeks, and systematic flaring of associated gas, has destroyed lives and livelihoods in the developing world. Roughly 40 million litres of oil wind up in the Niger Delta annually—eight times more than is spilled in the whole of America, the world’s biggest producer and consumer. The ensuing loss of habitat and biodiversity, including mangrove swamps, has been enormous. Huge swathes of fragile wetlands have been destroyed. Watercourses that local people rely on for fishing have been contaminated and farmlands have been tainted. The resulting damage to human health includes higher incidences of cancer, respiratory illnesses, fertility issues and neonatal death. Surely it is unacceptable that international oil companies apply different environmental standards in Nigeria from, for example, Aberdeen. Will the Government undertake to exert pressure on international oil companies, through either legislation or regulation, to ensure that they uphold the same environmental standards, regardless of the location of their operations? That is the major ask of the commission.

I echo the concern of other noble Lords, particularly the noble Lords, Lord Judd and Lord Bruce, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Peterborough, about the Prime Minister’s announcement on the Ayrton Fund, which could divert much-needed aid to the UK from parts of the developing world which, as we have heard, suffer from extreme environmental degradation. Frankly, I do not think that making this announcement was the Prime Minister’s finest hour. Raiding the ODA budget in this way only adds insult to injury.

There is an African-led project called the Great Green Wall. Its aim is to plant a forest of trees, stretching 8,000 kilometres across the Sahel from Senegal to Djibouti. This will create a natural barrier to the desertification and land and soil degradation taking place in the region. It will provide livelihoods for millions and create habitats for biodiversity to flourish in. This is a visionary concept; I hope that it will also go quite some way in helping to improve on the soil degradation that we have heard so much about this afternoon. Why is it that DfID is not investing in this African-led initiative when France, Italy and Germany are? Perhaps the Minister could write to me and put her response in the Library. This is really important because it is a visionary investment in the natural capital which the noble Lord, Lord Rees, spoke about.

Leveraging in money from the private sector will be necessary if we are to move from the billions to the trillions of dollars needed to realise the sustainable development goals, but the focus of all new projects must remain pro-poor. We must avoid falling back into the bad decision-making that led to the Pergau dam scandal, to name the most notorious example—although many others exist. This is especially important in the context of the recently announced infrastructure commission. I applaud the aims of that commission, as we will need to leverage in the vast sums needed, but it has to be absolutely focused on delivering for the poorest countries in the world if ODA money is used to seed it.

One recommendation in the House of Commons International Development Committee’s report of this year on UK aid and climate change was that,

“the Government should adopt the model of the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014 for climate change, to ensure that all”,

climate assistance,

“is screened for a contribution towards a … low carbon world.”.

This would of course also embrace the activities of the CDC. Is there any intention on the part of the Government to take this suggestion forward?

In the five years from 2013 to 2018, UK Export Finance gave £2.6 billion to support fossil-fuel projects in low and middle-income countries. I believe that this completely undermines the Government’s international climate finance spend, and that the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, would agree 100% about that. However, as we move into the decade of delivery for the sustainable development goals there is only one place for fossil fuels: in the ground. My expectation is that the Minister will argue that supporting gas infrastructure in developing countries aids the transition from oil and coal, but that argument is a complete red herring. I accept what my noble friend Lord Bruce of Bennachie said; however, I do not agree with him. I agree that there is a huge challenge, but it is a challenge that must be met. There is no other option.

The fact is that the developing world itself is moving towards the decarbonisation of gas, so why are we promoting soon-to-be-defunct infrastructure to the developing world? This proposed infrastructure will last well beyond 2050 but what we really need to turn to is leapfrog technology. We need to use our initiative and imagination to harness what is already available to us. Stranded assets will help no one. We need to make sure that there is a just transition of skills and jobs from the oil industry to renewables, but we need a plan. Do the Government have a plan for a just transition? Will the Government undertake to address this policy incoherence?

Finally, if we are to realise the ambition of the sustainable development goals by 2030, we must accelerate leadership of ambition and the UK, with its expertise in development, must use its voice and influence. A number of noble Lords have mentioned the soft power that we still retain on the global stage. DfID’s voice and influence is respected throughout the world. It has the leverage referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Rees. As we approach the “decade of delivery” it would be a reckless move to expunge the department’s influence by subsuming it into other government departments. I ask the Minister to make an unequivocal undertaking that DfID will survive intact should the Conservative party—heaven forbid—win an outright majority on 12 December. My party, the Liberal Democrats, will make that firm commitment. In addition, Liberal Democrats will make sure that every penny of the 0.7% of GNI is invested to help the poorest people in the poorest countries of the world, and that ODA spending by other government departments is held to the same level of transparency and accountability as DfID’s.

Polio: Pakistan and Afghanistan

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Sheehan]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made to eradicate polio in (1) Pakistan, and (2) Afghanistan.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last countries in the world with cases of wild poliovirus. Conflict and inaccessibility make delivering the polio vaccine to all children there very difficult. Nevertheless, we assess that there has been good progress. The eradication programme is deploying new strategies to ensure that no one is left behind, such as tackling misinformation about vaccine safety head-on. The UK remains steadfast in its resolve to rid the world of this debilitating disease.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

I thank the Minister for her response. We are on the cusp of eradicating polio and Pakistan and Afghanistan are chief among the very few problem areas that remain. One reason for this is the attacks by anti-vaxxers; tragically, in April this year a vaccinator and two security men were killed in Pakistan. Today is World Polio Day and I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to them and all aid workers everywhere who continue to risk their lives. What urgent action are we taking together with the Government of Pakistan to quell fears about the polio vaccine?

[Baroness Sugg]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question—on World Polio Day, as she highlighted. I am absolutely in agreement that we must ensure that those trying to bring life-saving support to the most vulnerable are not subject to violence. She is sadly right that we have seen attacks on vaccinators both in Pakistan and Nigeria, and we are working very closely with Governments to ensure that those attacks stop. We are also working with religious and traditional leaders to ensure that these people are kept safe. We have recently seen a very welcome fatwa issued supporting Pakistan’s polio vaccination programme in an effort to end that violence.

ISIS: British People

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I agree about the dangers of the recruitment of children and the dangers of them being left. I hope that I made clear in my response to the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, some of the things we are trying to do to ensure that children who are British citizens are returned home safely. We absolutely recognise the real danger and that is why urgent conversations are going on, some of which I simply cannot discuss at the Dispatch Box.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, if the Government propose to take only British children and not their British mothers, what assessment have they made of the probable fate of those mothers?

Ebola

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

I join the noble Lord in paying tribute to my right honourable friend Rory Stewart. He achieved a lot in his short time at DfID, passionately advocating for what 0.7% can do, putting climate and the environment at the heart of what we do and co-ordinating our response to Ebola and really pushing the agenda on that. I am sure that our new Secretary of State will continue that good work. The noble Lord is also right to point out the importance of communication. We are working on every angle of that, ensuring that we do so in the correct languages, using media where we can. I mentioned the anthropological research that we are doing, which is looking into how we can best spread the message, rather than the disease.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, the outbreak in the DRC has already affected two neighbouring countries, Uganda and Rwanda. Given that Rwanda takes up the chair of the Commonwealth meeting next year, with the CHOGM in Kigali in June 2020, there is an opportunity to focus a spotlight on neglected tropical diseases. I welcome the fact that the Minister is still in her place at the Dispatch Box. What will this Government do to ensure that the proposed summit on NTDs and malaria gives Ebola high prominence and successfully generates the resources and political will to deliver on Commonwealth and SDG commitments?

[Baroness Sugg]

We are the leading donor for regional preparedness and will certainly be working with Rwanda to ensure that it is firmly on the agenda.

Sahel: Climate Change

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Sheehan]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of climate change on the livelihoods of people in the Sahel region of Africa.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, the countries of the Sahel are on the front line of climate change. About 80% of people in that region are reliant on agriculture or grazing livestock. Rising temperatures and more erratic rainfall pose a serious challenge to their livelihoods. Last year, the Prime Minister committed the UK to significantly scaling up support to the Sahel. Helping farmers and pastoralists to anticipate and adapt to the impacts of climate change will be an important part of our efforts.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

I thank the Minister for her response, which is all well and good. Our Government have committed to deliver the sustainable development goals, including SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production. Nevertheless, our Government give major subsidies for oil and gas extraction, such as tax allowances, zero-rated petroleum revenue tax and UK Export Finance support. Given that DfID is the department with oversight for delivering the SDGs domestically, what conversations have been had with other departments about the transition of investment and jobs from the fossil fuels sector to renewables?

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Baroness is quite right to point out the importance of tackling climate change. Unless we do so there will be 100 million more people living in poverty for the next 15 years. That is why we have put the environment and climate change at the centre of what we do at DfID. The Secretary of State has been clear on our commitment to green our development spending, making sure that everything is Paris-compliant and, indeed, doubling DfID’s spending on environment and climate. The priority for UKEF, at home and abroad, is to encourage international opportunities for UK businesses, but as I say, the Government fully recognise the importance of tackling climate change—while also recognising that developing countries will need to use energy from a range of sources while making that important transition to a low-carbon economy—and ensuring that we reach the development goals.

Sustainable Development Goals

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Wednesday 10th July 2019 Grand Committee

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I too thank the Minister for securing this debate. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Earl, with whom I always—I think—agree. No one can accuse the sustainable development goals of lacking ambition. The 17 SDGs, with their attendant 169 targets measured by 232 indicators, are by design all-encompassing, cover every dimension of human existence and do not neglect the planet that nourishes and sustains each and every living thing. They are indeed universal.

The debate is timely. Even as we speak, the UN high-level political forum on sustainable development is taking place, culminating in a three-day ministerial forum from 16 July to 18 July. I will therefore concentrate my comments primarily on our Government’s contribution to the high-level panel as we present our voluntary national review, among the 47 other VNRs that will be presented.

VNRs are one of the key requirements of the UN’s document, Transforming Our World, which framed the SDGs. Essentially, they report a county’s progress in implementing the SDGs on the domestic front. The document states that the reviews will be voluntary, state-led and involve ministerial and other relevant high-level participants, and will provide a platform for partnerships through the participation of major groups and stakeholders. In the UK, our Government have said that they intend to implement the SDGs and measure progress in delivery through the single departmental plans.

Are the single departmental plans effectively monitoring delivery of the SDGs on the domestic front? UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development, or UKSSD, is a cross-sector network of organisations which work together to drive action on the UN sustainable development goals in the UK. Its members say no, in a comprehensive report published in 2018, Measuring Up. Published only a few short months ago, in January 2019, the Environment Audit Committee’s report on the SDGs concludes that:

“In their present format, Single Departmental Plans are … inadequate as a means of delivering the SDGs in the UK”.


It does not help that the Government have failed to ensure that all SDG targets are embedded in single departmental plans and there are significant gaps in plans and accountability. What will the Government do about that?

The Department for International Development has been tasked with exercising overall control of cross-departmental delivery of the goals domestically. I have great respect for the work that DfID carries out in delivering the 0.7% ODA target in the international arena, but its record in keeping tabs on ODA spend by other government departments does not bode well for DfID’s role in monitoring delivery of the SDGs across all government departments. Can the Minister comment on the Environmental Audit Committee’s call for an independent body modelled on the Committee on Climate Change to review critically the UK’s progress on achieving the SDGs? I would welcome her opinion on that.

As mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Stroud, 111 countries have already presented their VNRs to the UN. The countries often cited as exemplars are those which deployed responsibility from the very top. In Germany, oversight for delivery of the SDGs lies with the office of the Chancellor and in Japan it is with the Prime Minister’s office. They have led from the front and ensured that both private and public sectors are included.

In Germany, the State Secretaries’ Committee for Sustainable Development steers implementation of the sustainable development strategy, and the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development monitors the German Government’s national sustainable development strategy. The German Council for Sustainable Development, an independent advisory council consisting of 15 high-profile public figures, represents the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainable development in national and international dimensions. In presenting its VNR, Germany ticked all the boxes.

The leadership to deliver this agenda in the UK patently does not come from the very top. Secretaries of State are not taking full responsibility for their departments’ performance against relevant SDG targets, let alone the Prime Minister. When will a satisfactory framework to monitor, assess and incentivise action be put in place? How will we engage our civil society partners in a high-level advisory capacity to represent economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainable development, as requested by the UKSSD?

In this year’s high-level political panel on sustainability, the set of goals to be reviewed in depth includes goal 13: to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Here, I pay tribute to the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, and the noble Lord, Lord Rees of Ludlow, who both eloquently expressed their concerns on climate change.

Only a few weeks ago, our Parliament approved a Motion to declare an environment and climate emergency, and the Government have announced a legally- binding target of net zero emissions by 2050. However, in the Environmental Audit Committee’s investigation of the scale and impact of UK Export Finance’s support of fossil fuels in developing countries, the conclusion was that the UK is sabotaging its climate credentials by paying out “unacceptably high” fossil fuel subsidies to developing nations, while claiming to lead the world in tackling the climate crisis.

It is invidious to make money out of locking developing countries into soon-to-be- defunct infrastructure, especially when there are plenty of opportunities in clean, non-fossil fuel investment. The noble Lord, Lord Rees, mentioned “leapfrog” technology.

That is where we should be putting our money in developing countries. Will the Government change their policy and stop sending billions of pounds in subsidies to help build fossil-fuel power plants? Gas and diesel are no longer acceptable as a response. They will not bridge technologies; we are beyond them. We have to move to fossil-fuel-free means of generating energy.

Before I finish, I will say a few words about poverty and despair in the UK. I commend the speeches of the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, and the noble Lord, Lord Bird, and—as I hope I can still refer to him—my noble friend Lord Loomba. As the fifth richest nation, with an aspiration to cement the “global Britain” brand on the international stage, we must lead by example and fix our fault lines at home. The EU referendum exposed those fault lines in dramatic fashion, as was starkly highlighted in the report of the UN special rapporteur on poverty, Professor Philip Alston. His damning report included the words:

“Changes to taxes and benefits have taken the highest toll on those least able to bear it”.


I am glad that the noble Lords I mentioned covered this in great depth.

To conclude, on 24 and 25 September this year, heads of state and of government will gather in New York to follow up and comprehensively review progress on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. The event is the first UN summit on the SDGs since the adoption of the 2030 agenda in September 2015; it will be a defining moment on whether the SDGs’ ambition to transform our world will be realised by 2030. Our contribution will be key. We were instrumental to the universal acceptance of the SDG framework. All eyes will be on us to see whether we still have the appetite to play a central, transformative role or whether Brexit has sapped our energy and distorted our identity as a global player of standing. I hope that our Government will step up to the mark and demonstrate determination to meet the 2030 SDG ambitions.

Pakistan: Aid Programmes and Human Rights

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd July 2019 Grand Committee

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for securing this debate. According to DfID’s development tracker, almost one-third of Pakistan’s population, about 60 million people, live in poverty, 22.6 million children do not go to school and half the population cannot read or write. Moreover, Pakistan carries a high risk of natural disasters—2010 saw the worst floods in its history, killing thousands and affecting 23 million people—and it is a little-known fact that the country copes with the second highest number of refugees in the world.

Given its obvious need and our joint history, there can be little argument about the legitimacy of the aid that Pakistan receives, so long as it is properly audited and adheres to the overarching principle of the UN sustainable development goals that no one is left behind, and that includes vulnerable minorities. I hope the Minister will address the issues raised today.

There is one point about the treatment of minorities that I do not think has been mentioned yet: the prevalence of the problem on a regional level. India’s record is worsening year on year, such that in the world watch list by Open Doors it now ranks in 10th place and the BJP-led Government promote the message that to be Indian one must be Hindu. Myanmar is another case in point, where national Buddhists see any non-Buddhists as unwelcome outsiders, and that includes Muslims, Christians and Hindus. Add to that list Nepal, Bhutan and Turkey, all of whose leaders have found that appealing to national religious identity is a way to boost their power, especially in rural regions. What work are our Government doing on a regional level to promote interfaith understanding and tolerance, particularly in rural areas?

I want to be absolutely clear: I abhor the use of the death penalty wherever it is employed, and utterly condemn the misuse of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. But is there hope that change is coming? As ever, to enact change, leadership is essential, and the courage of the judges in upholding the acquittal of Asia Bibi is commendable. That took real courage, as the noble Lord, Lord Alton, has pointed out, given the fate of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, two brave politicians who spoke up on Asia Bibi’s behalf and were consequently murdered. Does the Minister believe that the new Government in Pakistan are indicating that they want to change the direction of travel and move away from extremism? If so, that is the vision of Pakistan that we must help to promulgate. It is a geopolitical necessity for us.

World Food Programme

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Lord is quite right: the executive director has been highlighting this issue for some time. There have been talks with the Houthis about ensuring that aid can be delivered safely and that our humanitarian workers are protected. The UK is playing a leading role in responding to the crisis, through both our humanitarian programmes and, importantly, our diplomatic influence. Of course, we need to ensure that we achieve a political solution in Yemen.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, in evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this year the executive director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, referred to the Sahel region as ripe for mass migration, destabilisation and many other issues. Climate change is a factor and the UN estimates that 80% of the region’s farmland has been degraded as a consequence. How does DfID work with the WFP to plan for impending food crises?

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Baroness highlights the Sahel. Humanitarian needs remain incredibly high there, with significant spikes due to underlying structural challenges, inadequate access to basic services and cyclical food insecurity. We are working closely with the WFP to ensure that it has the right organisational capacity and programming to meet the different needs of vulnerable people. We provided £248 million in humanitarian assistance to the Sahel and Cameroon from 2015 to 2019, which supported more than 2 million people.

Global Gender Equality

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Monday 17th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I add my thanks to the Minister for bringing this Motion to your Lordships’ House and for giving all those who have taken part in the debate an opportunity to highlight the good work that the Women Deliver conference does. I pay tribute to the many and varied contributions we have had to the debate, not least those from my noble friend Lady Hussein-Ece, my noble friend—if I can refer to her as such—Lady Tonge, and the noble Baroness, Lady Osamor, for their first-hand accounts and appreciation of the conference. A special commendation is due to the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, not only for being the only man to contribute to the debate but for the elegant contribution that he made.

The contributions all served to illustrate that a world without the flair and imagination, and the sheer drive and determination that women bring to workplaces and the home would be an immeasurably poorer world, in which the SDG ambition to leave no one behind would not be realised. We have also heard of the many hardships, indignities and sometimes outright cruelties inflicted on women.

Although we are used to the daily injustices that women face in the developing world, it is hard to understand how we have come to a situation in which women’s control over their own bodies is coming under threat in the USA. My fear is that actions such as those in Alabama will serve as a model to aspire to for other populist regimes, of which we see an increasing number around the world. The fact that so many noble Lords have mentioned the same point goes to illustrate how very serious the developing situation is. I hope that the Minister will convey our concerns to those concerned in the USA.

The opportunities given to us by fora such as the Women Deliver conference, the United Nations Security Council in passing Resolution 2467 on sexual violence in conflict in April this year, and the Ending Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Humanitarian Crises conference in Oslo just last month, are invaluable in keeping women’s rights front and centre of humanitarian issues. But it is not easy. Let us consider Resolution 2467. Many feel that its language was ultimately watered down during negotiations to appease the United States. This included removing references to safe access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services for survivors, as well as the specific needs of LGBT people, who are often targeted during conflict. The call for a working group to review progress on ending sexual violence was also removed. So do our Government have any plans to monitor the progress of the UK and other UN member states in implementing Resolution 2467?

It is true that the UK Government have taken some notable steps towards protecting women and girls in conflict, particularly through the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, launched by the Foreign Office in 2012, which seeks to raise awareness of the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Through the PSVI we have spent £46 million, providing support for Governments, police, judiciary, the military and NGOs for evidence-gathering and training for prosecuting these crimes. The UK Government are also working alongside Nadia Murad’s initiative and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations to develop the Murad code, which will set ethical standards for the prosecution of sexual violence in conflict. I could not agree more with the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, and with the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, that it is only when the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are brought to justice that we will see a decline in them.

Although these initiatives are all to be applauded, the issue of sexual violence in conflict is still severely underfunded. As we have heard already, according to the International Rescue Committee, specific funding for combating gender-based violence in emergencies accounted for only a paltry 0.12% of the total humanitarian response spend from 2016 to 2018. It similarly estimates that there is currently a $104.2 million funding gap for gender-based violence services in emergencies. So what specific steps is DfID taking to close this gap and to encourage other major donors to follow suit? While I am on the subject, what percentage of DfID’s own spend is currently focused on gender-based violence services?

I now turn to the issue of what role soldiers should have in addressing issues around sexual violence in conflict. My understanding is that the previous Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, was of the opinion that troops should have a role in protecting civilians— particularly women—from human rights violations. However, as far as I am aware, little information was given on whether training for the troops would be tailored to account for cultural sensitivity to the specific context of each conflict, whether consultation with local women’s organisations would be prioritised, or how the military programme would co-ordinate its efforts with the PSVI and DfID programmes. The more I think about soldiers being involved in work with severely traumatised women and girls with complex medical, psychiatric and social needs, the more alarmed I become. Surely this work is best left to trained professionals with the necessary skills? I hope that the Minister agrees.

There is also the issue of increased danger faced by NGO staff if they are working in the same physical and humanitarian space as soldiers. According to OCHA, the United Nations Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 139 aid workers were killed in 2017 while doing their jobs. This number will increase if the roles of military and NGO staff are not kept very distinct.

Let me turn to Yemen. The UN Secretary-General has labelled Yemen,

“the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”.

Women and girls are particularly vulnerable. The UN estimates that there has been a 63% increase in incidents of gender-based violence since the conflict began. Yemen’s peace efforts have been criticised for not doing enough to include women, and we have heard that the same has happened in Syria and Afghanistan, despite promises to act otherwise. However, earlier this year, at a meeting organised by Oxfam, I was privileged to meet some formidable Yemeni ladies—all civil society activists—who, with great difficulty, had managed to leave Yemen so that they could advocate for peace, food and medicines. They were; Dalia Qasim, co-founder of the Hodeidah Girls Foundation; Leila al-Shabibi, a women’s rights activist; and Dr Aysha Thawab, who works in women’s healthcare management. Their voices must be heard in the peace negotiations in Yemen. Research shows that the engagement of women is the secret to ensuring lasting peace. So says the World Economic Forum. According to UN Women, the likelihood of peace lasting more than two years increases by 20% when women participate in the peace process.

Can I ask the Minister whether she will ensure that Martin Griffiths, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, and Mark Lowcock, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-Ordinator, hear this plea? The women of Yemen are asking that they be given a seat at the table when talks to end the war take place.

To conclude, the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver focused on,

“power, and how it can drive—or hinder—progress and change”.

Nowhere will that power tell more than in giving women a seat at the table where decisions are made at the highest level.

Sexual Violence in Conflict

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Wednesday 12th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, my noble friend is right to pay tribute to the many voices across the Chamber who contribute to this important debate. Sadly, rape and other forms of sexual violence are still being used as weapons of war in conflicts the world over. The UK, together with our international partners, is working to end this horror. The PSVI conference in November is going to be survivor-centred. I heard some testimony from victims of abuse in Oslo; it is incredibly important that the survivors’ voices are heard, not just telling their stories but being involved in the policy debates and informing the next steps.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, Resolution 2467 and the Oslo conference both highlighted the importance of addressing the long-term trauma that victims face, as well as the stigmatisation of sexual violence survivors and their families within their communities. I ask the Minister: how does DfID programming address these issues?

[Baroness Sugg]

The noble Baroness is quite right to address the issue of stigma and the long-term effect that this terrible violence can have on women. Through our programmes at DfID, we are working with our multilateral partners and in our country programmes to address this issue. Recently, we have developed our What Works to Prevent Violence programme, which has shown real improvements in addressing the root causes of violence, and we will continue to expand our work in that area.