Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to meet the goal set out in the Government's strategy for international development, published on 16 May 2022, to end the practice of female genital mutilation.

The UK continues to be a global leader in supporting the Africa-led movement to accelerate progress towards ending female genital mutilation (FGM). Through our first phase of support to the movement, the UK has supported over 10,000 communities pledge to abandon FGM (2013-2018).

Our second phase of support works with activists and local communities to lead change and hold governments to account. This involves using communication campaigns to stop the silence around FGM, promote open discussion and amplify changing social attitudes. Phase two includes support to the UN Joint Programme to strengthen laws, policies and systems to end FGM in 17 countries in Africa; and to the World Health Organization to strengthen healthcare systems and support doctors, midwives and nurses help end FGM and care for survivors. We are also investing to generate improved data collection to better guide interventions and effectively measure change in social attitudes and norms.

In addition, our wider portfolio contributes to ending FGM. For example, in Sudan, UK Aid has driven trailblazing community engagement and national advocacy efforts. This programme contributed to the historic achievement of the law criminalising FGM in Sudan in 2020, Article 141. Other UK programmes to prevent violence against women and girls, such as our investment in the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, also support efforts to end FGM.