Sustainable Development Goals: HIV

Debate between Baroness Verma and Lord Loomba

Tuesday 1st December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My noble friend is of course right: universal rights must apply to all people. That is one of the key messages we must keep reinforcing, whether at Commonwealth level or outside the Commonwealth.

[Lord Loomba (LD)]

My Lords, how will the money be targeted to help women who become widows through this appalling disease so that they are not left to become destitute and poverty-stricken?

Developing Nations: Technical and Vocational Education

Debate between Baroness Verma and Lord Loomba

Wednesday 21st October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My noble friend is absolutely right, but the starting point needs to be good education. My noble friend is right: we must increase female entrepreneurs’ ability to flourish. I have just come back from Zambia, where I saw programmes on the ground where cash transfer schemes have worked and a little money or a little intervention goes a long way in ensuring that women have economic empowerment.

[Lord Loomba (LD)]

My Lords, despite all the cuts announced recently, it is encouraging that the Government are continuing 0.7% in financial aid to developing countries. How much of that aid is being used or earmarked for increased women’s employability through technical and vocational education and training?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Lord asks a really important question. However, we have made sure that women and girls remain at the heart of each DfID programme in each country in which we are working, so we have not disaggregated that amount. I can assure the noble Lord that, with the agreement of the new SDGs, we continue to place girls and women at the heart of those programmes. We are really pleased that we got the stand-alone women SDG within the agreed SDG goals this September. However, there is a lot of work to be done and we are encouraging our partners to step up to the mark, just as the UK is doing.

International Widows Day

Debate between Baroness Verma and Lord Loomba

Wednesday 15th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Loomba]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to mark the first United Nations International Widows Day on 23 June.

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, while the Government are not planning a specific event on International Widows Day, we continue to work with our UN partners to raise awareness of the issues facing widows. We take a proactive role in promoting gender equality through engaging in International Women’s Day. The Government of course recognise that widows of all ages are among the poorest and most vulnerable in societies across the world. That is why, in our country programmes, we continue to provide support to widows.

[Lord Loomba]

My Lords, I am disappointed with the reply. My foundation—I declare an interest as the founder member of the Loomba Foundation—commissioned international research that concluded that there are more than 245 million widows supporting nearly 500 million children who are disadvantaged and living in poverty. The issue has been identified by the United Nations, which has designated 23 June as International Widows Day. It surely should have been possible to ring-fence funds. The issue should at least have been included in the millennium development goals. Why has this not happened?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, I start by congratulating my noble friend on the vital work of the Loomba Foundation in supporting widows. I declare an interest as a trustee of one of my noble friend’s charitable organisations. The UK takes a leadership role through our diplomatic and development work in supporting poor and vulnerable women and promoting their economic, social and political empowerment. We support widows through broader programmes working on women’s empowerment, asset ownership and inheritance rights, and, through this, the targeting of cash-transfer programmes. The Government are targeting all women, including widows.