Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the UK is taking (a) on its own and (b) with international counterparts to improve the rights of Women and Girls in Afghanistan.

The Government condemns the Taliban's appalling repression of Afghan women and girls, and officials regularly raise those issues, and other priorities, most recently in July. In parallel, we continue to engage directly with a range of Afghans to inform and shape our policy and programmes.

Working both bilaterally and multilaterally with international partners, the UK Government is committed to sustaining collective pressure on the Taliban to reverse their inhumane restrictions. Upholding human rights and gender equality is not only a moral imperative, but essential for building a stable, inclusive, and prosperous country for all Afghans.