Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2017 to Question 108244, on Prosperity Fund, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Prosperity Fund projects on gender equality in developing countries.

All Prosperity Fund Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending must comply with the International Development Act 2002 and Gender Equality Act 2014. Large, multi-year Prosperity Fund programmes are being developed, building on the foundations laid by smaller projects in 2016/17.

The multi-year Prosperity Fund programmes will include an assessment on gender equality and inclusion. We are implementing a gender strategy to develop these assessments using specialist capability. An external monitoring and evaluation mechanism is in place that will provide information on the impact of programmes on gender equality.