Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to counter the threat to the education of women and girls around the world arising from the actions of the Taliban since they took power in Afghanistan.

The UK Government has made clear its condemnation of the Taliban's decision not to re-open girls' secondary schools, including through statements from the G7+, female Foreign Ministers and the UN Security Council. Women in Afghanistan, and Afghan women in the UK diaspora, demand that girls' right to education be upheld, and we stand with them.

As the Prime Minister has said several times, we are working to hold the Taliban to account to ensure that they live up to the promises they have made. With our international partners, we continue to press the Taliban to reverse this decision. We continue to provide funding for emergency education support through the UN system, Education Cannot Wait, and the Global Partnership for Education.