Prosperity Fund: Sustainable Development Goals

Baroness Berridge Excerpts

Thursday 7th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott]

The UK’s aid investment is creating a safer, healthier and more prosperous world, but on the point of sustainability I feel I may do best by gleaning some more information and writing to the noble Lord to make sure I have got it correct.

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the website for the fund also states that it has programmes to tackle barriers to prosperity for certain excluded groups, particularly rural women, young people and people with disabilities. Will the Minister please outline how the fund is being used to tackle the barriers to prosperity that exist for many minority religious or belief groups, who face high or very high levels of discrimination in over two-thirds of the countries in which DfID seeks to work?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott]

The answer to that question is perhaps a cross-departmental range of activities. My noble friend Lord Ahmad is working on freedom of religion, and a great deal is going on to ensure that women and children are helped to achieve their potential so that they can play their full role in the countries where they live.