Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on his Department's policies of the US Administration’s (a) recent threat to veto the UN motion on rape as a weapon of war and (b) alleged refusal to sign UN documents that refer to (i) gender and other trans-inclusive language and (ii) sexual and reproductive health and health services.

The UK voted in favour of UN Security Council Resolution 2467 on Sexual Violence in Conflict. We deeply regret that language recognising LGBT rights and the acute need for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services for survivors of sexual violence in conflict does not appear in the final text.

We continue to play an active role in the promotion and protection of LGBT rights and urge the international community to uphold the universality of human rights.

The UK will continue to support the sexual and reproductive health and rights of survivors of sexual violence around the world. We firmly believe that doing so, through proven evidence-based public health interventions, saves lives and boosts prosperity.

We will continue to work across Government and with all our partners, including other governments, the UN Population Fund and civil society, to deliver this.