Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the Women, Peace and Security commitments under (1) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and (2) the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, in the UK’s foreign policy.

In formulating policy the Government takes full account of the commitments we have made in the context of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, flowing from UNSCR 1325, and of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. In January, together with the International Development Secretary and the Minister for the Armed Forces, I launched the fourth National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security for 2018-2022, which focuses on what we can deliver internationally through diplomacy, development, and defence. The International Development (Gender Equality) Act (2014) binds us to integrate gender into all Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) including the CSSF Multilateral Strategy Fund and in other strategic funds with an ODA content. The UK continues to work to amplify women's voices and to support their educational, economic and political empowerment. We promoted the participation of women in political and mediation processes in Burma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Syria, Somalia, Colombia and Yemen and strengthened the role of women in the security forces in Somalia and Afghanistan. We provided services to survivors of gender based violence in DRC, Syria and Somalia and launched a campaign on tackling the stigma of sexual violence globally bringing together survivors, experts, local governments, civil society, media and faith groups. The Government remains wholly committed to the WPS agenda, including ending sexual violence in conflict, and continues to work on mainstreaming gender throughout foreign policy.