Sustainable Development Goals: HIV

Baroness Corston Excerpts

Tuesday 1st December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Lord knows that the UK Government have put women and girls at the heart of all their development assistance work. We know that women are disproportionately affected by not just HIV/AIDS but a number of other complex issues. In the programmes we are working through at country level, we are therefore focusing on ensuring that, as the SDGs rightly say, no one—no one—is left behind.

[Baroness Corston (Lab)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that there are now many thousands of AIDS orphans, particularly in Africa? They frequently find that other family members take their parental possessions, and they are destitute. Do the British Government have any programmes in Africa to support such children?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, this is a really important question. On a recent visit to Zambia, I saw some of those orphaned children being taken care of predominantly by grandparents, particularly grandmothers. We found that, through programmes such as social cash transfer programmes, we are helping to keep children in school and receive an education. However, that does not really respond to the wider issue of ensuring that those children are supported throughout their childhood, and we work very closely with a number of NGOs on the ground to ensure that children have access to good healthcare and education.