Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are following up the Girl Summit 2014 in order to counter early marriage and Female Genital Mutilation; and how they plan to ensure that there is continued global momentum on those issues.

We are delighted that the Girl Summit has accelerated international momentum on ending FGM and Child, Early and Forced Marriage. We have already seen follow-up events take place in Uganda, Bangladesh and Ethiopia and the African Union plan to host a Girl Summit later this year. Since the 2014 Girl Summit, the Department for International Development has focused on delivering the UK Government’s commitment to supporting an end to FGM and Child, Early and Forced Marriage globally, through its £35million programme on ending FGM and the recently launched £36million programme to accelerate action to end Child marriage.

Domestically, a number of measures have been taken to strengthen the law on FGM through the Serious Crime Act, £1.6million has been committed for the next stage of the Department of Health’s FGM prevention programme, and an FGM Unit has been established and commenced a programme of outreach.