Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the G7 summit being held in Cornwall between 11 and 13 June 2021, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a call to action on girls' education that includes tackling (a) violence against children and (b) all other barriers to education.

2021 is a year of UK leadership on the world stage, including on girls' education. Meeting under the UK Presidency, G7 Foreign and Development Ministers endorsed two new, global, SDG 4 milestone targets on girls' education, which we are calling on the world to help deliver. G7 Foreign and Development Ministers also endorsed a girls' education declaration, which specifically states that the G7 will work in collaboration with developing country partners, multilateral institutions, civil society, girl-led groups, and youth leaders, to remove the obstacles to education that stand in the way of girls. This includes committing to address the social, environmental, and institutional barriers to education for adolescent girls, such as reducing violence, including sexual and gender-based violence in and out of schools, increasing access to comprehensive sexuality education, promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, and amending restrictive policies or legislation that prevent girls from thriving in school.

The Prime Minister is calling on G7 Leaders to re-endorse both the targets and declaration in the Leaders' Communique, and we have already met with a number of stakeholders to discuss how we can galvanise action towards our two global objectives.