Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will consider adding Sudan as a focus country within the Women Peace and Security National Action Plan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is appalled at the severe impact of the conflict in Sudan on women and girls, including widespread sexual violence.
Through our leadership roles at the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council, we have championed evidence collection and accountability. On 6 October, the UK led efforts to renew the mandate of the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), the only independent mechanism preserving evidence of atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence. We also fund a specialist Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) investigator within the FFM and are deploying a UK secondee to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Darfur investigation.
On 1 November, the Foreign Secretary announced an additional £5 million to support critical humanitarian services in Sudan, £2 million of which will be specifically allocated to bolster responses which focus on supporting the survivors of rape and sexual violence. This is in addition to the £120 million in UK funding already allocated for Sudan this year, including support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.
We directly support women and girls through our programming, including the Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme which provides sexual and reproductive services to women, girls, persons living with disability and men, with UK aid delivered in camps for IDPs and elsewhere. Through our Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) programme, the UK is providing an additional £4.95 million until March 2026 to support 100,000 women and girls with a range of services to prevent and respond to FGM, child marriage and gender-based violence. This brings the total UK support delivered through this programme to £19.95 million.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether upholding the rights of women and girls is one of his Department's priorities.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to putting women and girls at the heart of everything we do. This includes defending their rights and freedoms and tackling the rollback on gender equality globally. The recent appointment of Baroness Harriet Harman as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls highlights our ongoing commitment to protecting women and girls' rights in the UK and around the world.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) value for money of supporting (i) women's rights and (ii) women-led organisations through Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is strong evidence showing that women's rights organisations play a significant role in securing and advancing women's rights as well as providing humanitarian assistance, tackling climate change and promoting and protecting democracy. They provide good value for money as this type of support moves away from short term project funding towards strategic investments which have wider social and economic value which sustains long after funding ends.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has learned lessons from the implementation of Official Development Assistance reductions in 2020-21.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has learned lessons from previous rounds of reductions to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.
We recognise that the reduction demands significant shifts in the scale and shape of our ODA spending, which is why we are taking the time necessary to fully consider how we will reprioritise and refocus the ODA budget, in line with the shifts underway as we modernise our approach to development.
We are taking a rigorous approach to value for money as we work through decisions as part of the ongoing Spending Review, in order to deliver the best outcome for both UK taxpayers and our partners.
To improve predictability and certainty, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's ODA budget will no longer be exposed to the volatility of ODA spending by other departments, including asylum costs, providing greater predictability and certainty for our budgets.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department last raised the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan in the (a) UN Human Rights Council and (b) General Assembly.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government continues to call for the human rights of all Afghans to be protected. We condemned the Taliban's actions against women and girls in a statement at the UN Third Committee on 8 October and in a statement on Afghanistan at the 57th UN Human Rights Council on 9 October. The future of Afghanistan as a country at peace with itself, its neighbours and the international community, relies on there being human rights for all.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle global hunger.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
We are urgently addressing catastrophic forms of hunger through diplomatic and humanitarian channels. The Foreign Secretary recently committed to doubling our aid for those affected by war in Sudan. Last week, the Prime Minister announced the UK’s Board-level role in the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. This will pool resources and expertise for long-term solutions, backed by new £70m UK support, including for climate-resilient food production.