Global Gender Equality

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Monday 17th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I add my thanks to the Minister for bringing this Motion to your Lordships’ House and for giving all those who have taken part in the debate an opportunity to highlight the good work that the Women Deliver conference does. I pay tribute to the many and varied contributions we have had to the debate, not least those from my noble friend Lady Hussein-Ece, my noble friend—if I can refer to her as such—Lady Tonge, and the noble Baroness, Lady Osamor, for their first-hand accounts and appreciation of the conference. A special commendation is due to the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, not only for being the only man to contribute to the debate but for the elegant contribution that he made.

The contributions all served to illustrate that a world without the flair and imagination, and the sheer drive and determination that women bring to workplaces and the home would be an immeasurably poorer world, in which the SDG ambition to leave no one behind would not be realised. We have also heard of the many hardships, indignities and sometimes outright cruelties inflicted on women.

Although we are used to the daily injustices that women face in the developing world, it is hard to understand how we have come to a situation in which women’s control over their own bodies is coming under threat in the USA. My fear is that actions such as those in Alabama will serve as a model to aspire to for other populist regimes, of which we see an increasing number around the world. The fact that so many noble Lords have mentioned the same point goes to illustrate how very serious the developing situation is. I hope that the Minister will convey our concerns to those concerned in the USA.

The opportunities given to us by fora such as the Women Deliver conference, the United Nations Security Council in passing Resolution 2467 on sexual violence in conflict in April this year, and the Ending Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Humanitarian Crises conference in Oslo just last month, are invaluable in keeping women’s rights front and centre of humanitarian issues. But it is not easy. Let us consider Resolution 2467. Many feel that its language was ultimately watered down during negotiations to appease the United States. This included removing references to safe access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services for survivors, as well as the specific needs of LGBT people, who are often targeted during conflict. The call for a working group to review progress on ending sexual violence was also removed. So do our Government have any plans to monitor the progress of the UK and other UN member states in implementing Resolution 2467?

It is true that the UK Government have taken some notable steps towards protecting women and girls in conflict, particularly through the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, launched by the Foreign Office in 2012, which seeks to raise awareness of the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Through the PSVI we have spent £46 million, providing support for Governments, police, judiciary, the military and NGOs for evidence-gathering and training for prosecuting these crimes. The UK Government are also working alongside Nadia Murad’s initiative and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations to develop the Murad code, which will set ethical standards for the prosecution of sexual violence in conflict. I could not agree more with the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, and with the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, that it is only when the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are brought to justice that we will see a decline in them.

Although these initiatives are all to be applauded, the issue of sexual violence in conflict is still severely underfunded. As we have heard already, according to the International Rescue Committee, specific funding for combating gender-based violence in emergencies accounted for only a paltry 0.12% of the total humanitarian response spend from 2016 to 2018. It similarly estimates that there is currently a $104.2 million funding gap for gender-based violence services in emergencies. So what specific steps is DfID taking to close this gap and to encourage other major donors to follow suit? While I am on the subject, what percentage of DfID’s own spend is currently focused on gender-based violence services?

I now turn to the issue of what role soldiers should have in addressing issues around sexual violence in conflict. My understanding is that the previous Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, was of the opinion that troops should have a role in protecting civilians— particularly women—from human rights violations. However, as far as I am aware, little information was given on whether training for the troops would be tailored to account for cultural sensitivity to the specific context of each conflict, whether consultation with local women’s organisations would be prioritised, or how the military programme would co-ordinate its efforts with the PSVI and DfID programmes. The more I think about soldiers being involved in work with severely traumatised women and girls with complex medical, psychiatric and social needs, the more alarmed I become. Surely this work is best left to trained professionals with the necessary skills? I hope that the Minister agrees.

There is also the issue of increased danger faced by NGO staff if they are working in the same physical and humanitarian space as soldiers. According to OCHA, the United Nations Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 139 aid workers were killed in 2017 while doing their jobs. This number will increase if the roles of military and NGO staff are not kept very distinct.

Let me turn to Yemen. The UN Secretary-General has labelled Yemen,

“the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”.

Women and girls are particularly vulnerable. The UN estimates that there has been a 63% increase in incidents of gender-based violence since the conflict began. Yemen’s peace efforts have been criticised for not doing enough to include women, and we have heard that the same has happened in Syria and Afghanistan, despite promises to act otherwise. However, earlier this year, at a meeting organised by Oxfam, I was privileged to meet some formidable Yemeni ladies—all civil society activists—who, with great difficulty, had managed to leave Yemen so that they could advocate for peace, food and medicines. They were; Dalia Qasim, co-founder of the Hodeidah Girls Foundation; Leila al-Shabibi, a women’s rights activist; and Dr Aysha Thawab, who works in women’s healthcare management. Their voices must be heard in the peace negotiations in Yemen. Research shows that the engagement of women is the secret to ensuring lasting peace. So says the World Economic Forum. According to UN Women, the likelihood of peace lasting more than two years increases by 20% when women participate in the peace process.

Can I ask the Minister whether she will ensure that Martin Griffiths, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, and Mark Lowcock, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-Ordinator, hear this plea? The women of Yemen are asking that they be given a seat at the table when talks to end the war take place.

To conclude, the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver focused on,

“power, and how it can drive—or hinder—progress and change”.

Nowhere will that power tell more than in giving women a seat at the table where decisions are made at the highest level.