Dec. 04 2008
Source Page: The optional protocol to the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): the experience of the United Kingdom. By Jim Murdoch. 34 p.Found: The optional protocol to the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
Mar. 11 2024
Source Page: UK supports millions of people globally in bid to end gender-based violenceFound: Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord Ahmad, visits United
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that civilians in Gaza receive medical aid.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it, with a focus on practical solutions that save lives. We have trebled our aid commitment this financial year and are supporting NGO and UN partners to deliver medical aid and care in the Gaza Strip. This includes support for primary healthcare, trauma and emergency care services, disease surveillance and outbreak response, and deployment of Emergency Medical Teams.
We have provided targeted support for children through a £5.75 million contribution. This is supporting work to assist over 5,800 children with severe malnourishment and 853,000 children, adolescents and caregivers affected by the conflict, to receive emergency and child protection services, including mental health and psychosocial support. At the end of February, we announced £4.25 million to the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits and 45,000 clean delivery kits. On 21 February, the UK and Jordan air-dropped life-saving aid to the Tal Al-Hawa hospital in northern Gaza. Four tonnes of vital supplies were provided, including medicines, fuel, and food for hospital patients and staff. We are also exploring further options to help meet the medical needs of Palestinians.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what medical (a) equipment and (b) other aid the UK has sent to Gaza by equipment type.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have tripled our overall aid commitment and are supporting NGO and UN partners to deliver medical aid and care in the Gaza Strip. This includes support for primary healthcare, trauma and emergency care services, disease surveillance and outbreak response, and deployment of Emergency Medical Teams.
We have provided targeted support for children through a £5.75 million contribution. This is supporting work to assist over 5,800 children with severe malnourishment and 853,000 children, adolescents and caregivers affected by the conflict, to receive emergency and child protection services, including mental health and psychosocial support. At the end of February, we announced £4.25 million to the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits and 45,000 clean delivery kits. On 21 Feb, the UK and Jordan air-dropped life-saving aid to the Tal Al-Hawa hospital in northern Gaza. Four tonnes of vital supplies were provided, including medicines, fuel, and food for hospital patients and staff. We are also exploring further options to help meet the medical needs of Palestinians.
It must be recognised that the support to large scale appeals prevents us from directly attributing UK funding to specific items.
Mar. 27 2024
Source Page: Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) programme: building women’s economic empowerment into climate transitionsFound: Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) programme: building women’s economic empowerment into climate
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent steps his Department has taken to help ensure women and girls in Gaza have access to sanitary products.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have provided £4.25 million to the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, to provide life-saving support to vulnerable women and girls in Gaza. This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 45,000 clean delivery kits and 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits. These dignity kits include tampons, reusable pads and underwear. The Foreign Secretary met with the London representative of UNFPA on 28 March to discuss the needs of vulnerable women and girls in Gaza and I [the Deputy Foreign Secretary] met with UNFPA Executive Director, Natalia Kanem, on 16 April in Geneva.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the United Nations press release UN experts appalled by reported human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls, published on 19 February, concerning findings of reported human rights violations to Palestinian women and girls by Israeli security forces from (1) the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, (2) the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, and (3) the Working group on discrimination against women and girls.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns sexual violence unequivocally and without exception. These reports are deeply disturbing. Reports of sexual violence must be fully investigated to ensure justice for survivors and victims.
Through our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict programmes and dedicated funding totalling £60 million, we are leading work internationally to prevent conflict-related sexual violence and strengthen justice and support for all survivors.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the humanitarian situation in Gaza on the delivery of maternity care.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is closely monitoring the situation in Gaza and collects information from multiple sources, including on the status of healthcare provision. We are also in regular contact with humanitarian partners who operate in Gaza.
The UK is doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air. We trebled our aid commitment during the last financial year, including £4.25 million to the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, to provide life-saving support to vulnerable women and girls in Gaza. This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits and 45,000 clean delivery kits.
Correspondence Mar. 21 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: 20 March 2024 Lord Ahmad Minister of State (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, United
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Taliban leaders they have sanctioned using Magnitsky-style sanctions since 2021; and how many sanctions they have imposed in response to the suppression of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to meet our obligations under the United Nations sanctions regime relating to Afghanistan through the Afghanistan Sanctions (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, which came into force on 31 December 2020. The Government has not introduced any Global Human Rights sanctions against the Taliban since they took power in 2021, but we keep all evidence and potential designations under close review. More broadly, officials from the UK Mission to Afghanistan regularly press Taliban acting ministers on human rights abuses in Afghanistan, including against women and girls.