Oral Answers to Questions

Karl Turner Excerpts

Wednesday 9th April 2014 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)]

1. What assessment she has made of the level of women’s participation in the upcoming Afghanistan presidential election.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)]

Provisional estimates show that approximately 7 million people voted in Afghanistan’s presidential and provincial council election last Saturday. About a third of women voted—a tremendous achievement. That is evidence that support for democratic institutions and women’s participation is making a real difference on the ground.

[Karl Turner]

Early indications show that the role of women in Afghanistan’s elections has taken great steps in the right direction, but what plans are in place to ensure that those hard-won battles for the rights of women are not lost as a result of the international security assistance force draw-down at the end of this year?

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise that point. The Department for International Development committed £20 million of funding to help the UN work to support the elections, including nearly £5 million for a programme to support women’s participation. As we go forward, we must ensure that the constitution that is already in place to support women’s rights is enforced, that we are working at grassroots level and putting more money into community programmes and that across government, for example in the police, women get the chance to play their full role. As far as I and the Government are concerned, we are determined to ensure that those hard-won additional rights for women are not just maintained but built on further.