Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Official Development Assistance programmes that his Department funds are targeted at supporting women and girls.

The UK's Gender Equality Act 2014 (an amendment to 2002 International Development Act, IDA), legally requires all overseas development funding to meaningfully consider the impact of how it will contribute to reducing gender inequality. The UK Aid Strategy prioritises the rights of women and girls under its fourth strategic goal of tacking extreme poverty and helping the world's most vulnerable.

The FCO supports a number of Official Development Assistance programmes targeted at promoting girls' education, empowering women peacebuilders and supporting female survivors of sexual violence in conflict. The programmes include lobbying efforts encouraging foreign governments to prioritise girls' education reforms, financial support for women mediator organisations, capacity building programmes for female judges and women peacebuilders and consultations with survivors of sexual violence. Additional information on the FCO's ODA programmes can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/official-development-assistance-fco-programme-spend