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 effect of the planned reduction in Official Development Assistance spend from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent on (a) the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal target 5.6 and (b) girls and women in the global south.

Promoting gender equality and advancing women and girls' rights around the world is a priority for the UK Government. The seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision, to temporarily reduce the overall amount we spend on ODA. Despite this, the UK remains committed to advancing gender equality, and we will take full advantage of the opportunities that 2021 will offer. This includes the UK's Presidency of the G7, co-hosting the Global Partnership for Education replenishment, COP26 and co-leadership of the new global Action Coalition on GBV.

The UK is proud to defend comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights, including family planning; these are fundamental to the empowerment and health of girls and women in the global south. For example, between 2019 and 2020 alone, UK aid helped over 25 million women and girls use modern methods of contraception. We are working through the implications of the ODA reductions for individual programmes and activities. No decisions on individual country or sectoral budgets have been made yet.