Afghanistan: Women and Girls Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Earl of Sandwich
Main Page: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)Department Debates - View all Earl of Sandwich's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(2 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I can assure my noble friend that we are working on all the particulars that she mentioned. I have travelled to the region with my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary to look at the issue of borders. The other matters that she mentioned are getting our full attention.
The Earl of Sandwich (CB)
My Lords, a number of Arab countries already encourage the participation of women in the economy as a whole, and in business. Is the FCDO doing enough in preparing for its future relations with the Taliban to work closely with those countries?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)
My Lords, I assure the noble Earl that we are doing just that. Sir Simon Gass and Martin Longden are in Qatar, in our temporary embassy to Afghanistan. From an operational standpoint, we are working with the Taliban to ensure safe passage—but also, importantly, to make sure that they uphold the guarantees they have given.