Found: In March 2025, Baroness Harman KC, hosted a meeting with HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh, spotlighting

Found: The appointment of Baroness Harman and of Lord Collins to represent the UK at the UN Commission on

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to counter efforts to roll back the rights of women and girls globally.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting women and girls around the world and countering the rollback of their hard-won rights and freedoms. We will continue to be a champion for women and girls across the world by showing up and making our voice heard, including though our influence at the UN and other multilateral organisations and through the work of Baroness Harman as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls. We will stand in solidarity with women's rights organisations who are on the frontline of tackling rollback, including by driving innovation to generate sustainable funding flows for women's rights. We remain committed to promoting comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including safe abortion, in the face of global rollback.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan, report to Parliament 2024 to 2025, published on 17 June 2025, what representations were made to the Special Envoy for Women and Girls by the women human rights defenders (WHRDs) from (a) Afghanistan, (b) Sudan and (c) Syria on potential steps the government might take to tackle threats and reprisals against WHRDs.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

In March, during the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls, Baroness Harman, hosted a closed meeting which gathered States, UN, and civil society representatives to highlight the shocking level of threats and reprisals against women human rights defenders (WHRDs). Baroness Harman heard powerful testimonies from WHRDs from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Syria who called on the international community to take greater action to support women's participation free from reprisals, and to condemn the alarming prevalence of such retaliatory acts.

The UK recognises the essential role that WHRDs play in promoting and protecting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law and is steadfast in its commitment to women's full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in all spheres of decision-making.