Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps with international donors to support work by local NGOs in Afghanistan on advancing the rights of women and girls.

The UK condemns the Taliban's restrictions on Afghan women and girls. We continue to support girls' education in Afghanistan through bilateral and multilateral contributions to NGOs, UN partners and multilateral funds, and we are supporting Afghanistan civil society and women-led organisations through our contribution to the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund.

FCDO officials and ministers regularly engage with women-led organisations in Afghanistan, including local and international NGOs and UN Women. On June 27, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, hosted a meeting of Afghan women leaders to discuss the impact of the restrictions, as well as the inclusion of Afghan women in the future political process.