Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the rights of women in Afghanistan.

We have repeatedly condemned Taliban restrictions on women and girls' rights, including through UN Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions. As the Foreign Secretary has said, exclusion of women from all aspects of public life is a tragic setback for Afghanistan. Officials from the Doha-based UK Mission to Afghanistan continue to press Taliban acting ministers and Afghan officials on human rights abuses in Afghanistan, including the most recent ban on female medical education. Our current £161 million aid programme provides vital life-saving support to the country's most vulnerable people, including access to healthcare and education. We are committed that at least 50 percent of people reached with UK aid in Afghanistan will be women and girls.