Millennium Development Goals

Lord Bhatia Excerpts

Thursday 7th November 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Bhatia (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Loomba, for raising this important issue today. He is an acknowledged individual who has worked on this issue for many years, particularly in India. I declare my interest as the vice-chair of the India 800 Foundation and as a supporter of a recently established charity called the Pearl Education Foundation.

I believe that the statistics published by various national and international agencies mask some of the realities of the problems facing women and girls in Asia and Africa. I should like to focus on some main issues relating to women and young girls. They are those of education and healthcare for women and, in particular, young girls between the ages of eight and 16. Many young girls are unable to go to school because many schools, both primary and secondary, do not have toilet facilities. That is a big issue and a deterrent that stops young girls attending schools. Many mothers of those young girls who have not been through any formal education are themselves unaware of those problems. The second issue on the health front for young girls is access to affordable sanitary towels. Right on the ground, those NGOs that work on this issue find that rags of clothing are used again and again, causing immense health issues. Please will the Minister inform us whether those two issues form part of Britain’s funding for women and girls under the millennium development goals?

Although Britain is contributing substantial funding through DfID in the third world, I draw the Minister’s attention to the issues facing many women who come to Britain from third-world countries to join their families. Research shows that many women who come from third-world countries are unable to speak English or connect with the wider community. As a result, finding jobs becomes almost impossible. Their inability to talk to their doctors and those at their children’s schools is well known. ESOL for those isolated groups of women, to bring them from the margins to the mainstream, is very important. Very little funding is available from local or central government, and I hope that the Minister will look into the issue and inform the Committee what is being done to increase funding in that area of work in the United Kingdom.