Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the UK Government committing additional Official Development Assistance to help support progress in gender equality throughout the world in response to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on women and girls.

Across the world we are seeing the devastating impact of COVID-19. FCDO's response has been informed by the latest evidence and data which showed, early on, the disproportionate impact the pandemic would have on girls and women. For example, UNFPA estimate that there will be 15 million more cases of domestic violence for every three months of lockdown and that there will be 13 million more cases of child marriages before 2030. FCDO continues to work to ensure the needs and priorities of women and girls are central to every aspect of our response, while supporting women's participation and leadership, including through women's rights organisations.

FCDO have so far committed over £1 billion of UK aid to counter the health, humanitarian,?and socio-economic risks, and to support the global effort to find and distribute a vaccine. In addition to being the largest funder to UNFPA we provided a further £10 million in funding to maintain vital gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls in need. Our Gender-Responsive Social Protection and Better Assistance in Crises programmes are also providing expert advice to FCDO country offices, governments and partner organisations on how to strengthen social protection measures in the COVID-19 response, including how to deliver more effectively for women and girls. Our leadership on girls' education is more urgent and important than ever, with school closures. The UK has announced £20 million for the UN Children's Fund crisis appeal, which includes education, and a further £5 million to the Education Cannot Wait fund to support emergency education in fragile contexts.