Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to promote (a) gender equality and (b) women's empowerment for women suffering from HIV.

We are committed to driving progress and demonstrating leadership on gender equality and women's empowerment, including for women living with HIV, on the global stage. In April 2023, the UK convened member states, civil society, UN agencies and grassroots organisations at Wilton Park to bolster support for and resist rollback on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) at the national, regional and global level. In May 2023, the UK joined other G7 leaders in re-asserting the critical role of comprehensive SRHR, including HIV services for women, in our efforts to achieve gender equality.

Our political action on this is also supported by our programming investments. For example, 60 per cent of the Global Fund's spending is specifically targeted to programs for women and girls and about one-third of Global Fund investments directly benefits SRHR. Our Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme delivers integrated sexual and reproductive health services, including HIV services, across 17 countries in in sub-Saharan Africa. Up to £200 million will also be delivered towards the WISH Dividend women's sexual health programme focussed on sub-Saharan Africa, which has the highest rates of fertility, child marriage and maternal mortality in the world. The Dividend programme will reach up to 10.4 million women, including women with HIV.