Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps the Government has taken to support meeting the specific targets on (a) violence against women and girls, (b) female genital mutilation and (c) child and early forced marriage within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This government is proud of its global leadership on tackling violence against women and girls. Globally, one in three women have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. We cannot and will not tolerate this.

We are supporting the UN and national governments in the challenge to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls, including female genital mutilation (FGM) and child and early forced marriage (CEFM), across a range of interventions, including, but not limited to:

• The largest donor commitment ever to ending FGM, with a flagship regional programme of £35 million over five years, and an additional £12 million commitment in Sudan.
• Between 2016 and 2018 DFID is providing over £2 million through Amplify Change to 43 grassroots organisations tackling FGM across 16 countries in West Africa, the Sahel, Rift Valley, Horn of Africa and Middle East.
• DFID’s £25m world-leading research and innovation fund programme – What Works to Prevent Violence - is drawing together global experts to produce rigorous evidence on violence prevalence and test ways to stop it before it happens. This evidence will be a global public good, helping country governments, donors and civil society to get the most out of every penny spent on interventions.
• DFID has a large £39 million global programme supporting UNICEF/UNFPA to end CEFM in 12 priority countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Yemen, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Niger, Burkina Faso and Ghana).