Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote sexual health in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a major humanitarian donor to Sudan with £226.5 million provided last financial year (FY) and a further £120 million this FY. Working with a range of humanitarian partners this funding will target over 650,000 people with life-saving aid including support for women and girls that will be delivered through networks of Sudanese responders. Through the Sudan Free of Female Genital Mutilation programme, UK funding will support work on protection, prevention and care services for survivors of sexual violence. Through the Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme, we have also provided sexual and reproductive services to women, girls, persons living with disability and men, with UK aid delivered in camps for internally displaced persons (IPDs) and elsewhere. We have also enhanced our atrocity risk monitoring, including monitoring of conflict-related sexual violence and are working with UN and non governmental organisational partners to provide safe spaces, clinic treatments, dignity kits and psycho-social services for survivors.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he is having with international counterparts on tackling sexual violence on women in Mali.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to addressing sexual violence against women and girls in Mali, including through our bilateral programming. In financial year 2024/25, the UK allocated £800,000 to the Women in Law and Development in Africa for survivor support and economic empowerment initiatives, £300,000 to the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, to strengthen protection mechanisms. These programmes provide trauma support, skills training, and leadership development for women.
The UK also co-chairs the Women's Empowerment Dialogue Group in Bamako alongside the International Organisation for Migration and UN Women, working with the Government of Mali and international partners to advance gender equality and tackle sexual violence. These efforts reflect the UK's broader commitment to women's rights in the Sahel.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support humanitarian programmes in central Africa.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports a range of humanitarian activities across central Africa, including emergency food assistance, treatment for malnourished children and life-saving sexual and reproductive health services. We are concerned by the escalation of humanitarian needs in central Africa, spurred on by the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The UK allocated over £80 million for humanitarian programmes in DRC last financial year (2024-25), including cash and food aid, access to clean water and support to halt the spread of mpox through our health emergencies programme. We are working in partnership with UNHCR to provide vital assistance to refugees in the region, and we aim to assist 3.5 million people with our humanitarian support in DRC this year. The UK remains in regular contact with DRC, Rwanda and other partners to support a peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern DRC.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international partners to help tackle sexual violence in conflict in Sudan; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of conflict in Sudan on women and girls.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to tackling gender-based violence in Sudan. On 8 May 2025, the Minister for Development visited the Sudan-Chad border to raise awareness of the conflict and speak directly with Sudanese refugees, including survivors of sexual violence and torture. This followed a visit by the Foreign Secretary in January 2025, where he announced £20 million to support to lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services. At the London Sudan Conference on 15 April, the Foreign Secretary announced a further £120 million in UK funding for this financial year. Through the Sudan Free of Female Genital Mutilation programme, UK funding will also support work on protection, prevention and care services in response to the increasing rates of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) across Sudan. On 13 March, the Minister for Africa chaired a UN Security Council Briefing on CRSV in Sudan, highlighting the worsening trends and emphasising the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will (a) uphold funding commitments for (i) the Women’s Integrated Health Services programme and (ii) other sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes and (b) ensure that funding reaches grassroots (A) women, (B) girls and (C) youth-led organisations.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations are being worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent or gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027. Decisions on individual programmes and thematic areas will be based on various factors including equality impact assessments.
Considerations will also take into account the vital role played by grassroots and women, girl and youth-led organisations to protect and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will increase development funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations are being worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review and resource allocation process, following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027. Decisions on individual programmes and thematic areas will be based on various factors including equality impact assessments.
The UK is committed to promoting and defending universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) including safe abortion. The evidence shows that supporting comprehensive SRHR through proven evidence-based public health interventions saves lives and supports prosperity. The UK's commitment to defending and promoting SRHR has never just been about aid. We will use multiple levers: working to influence policy, through health and development diplomacy, as well as using our ODA budget, to advance SRHR for all.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to levels of Official Development Assistance on the number of women and girls using modern methods of family planning in recipient countries.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's commitment to defending and promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR), including family planning, uses multiple levers: working to influence policy, through health and development diplomacy, as well as using our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget, to advance SRHR for all.
We plan to publish final 2025/26 ODA programme allocations in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Annual Report & Accounts this summer. Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used from 2026/27 onwards will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments. The UK is committed to empowering women and girls around the world through our international work.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve (a) gender parity, (b) equitable investment and (c) the focus on women for HIV (i) prevention, (ii) research, (iii) data and (iv) services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring that everyone benefits equally from HIV prevention, treatment, and care, and the Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and a broad range of system partners are working together to develop a new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year.
We know from the UKHSA’s latest data that women are not benefitting equally from the progress made on HIV as other key groups are, and as part of the new HIV Action Plan we are exploring ways to improve this. The plan will be informed by the UKHSA’s annual data, including the monitoring and evaluation report, which sets out key indicators to track progress towards our 2030 ambitions, including by gender. This data also helps system partners to understand where services can be improved and made more accessible to key populations.
The Department supports research and development, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which has commissioned research focused on women living with HIV, including the impact of menopause on HIV-positive women's wellbeing and engagement with HIV care, and the intersectional experiences of black women in the digitalisation of sexual and reproductive healthcare, including but not limited to HIV. In addition, the NIHR is funding a £20 million research project to evaluate an expansion of HIV opt-out testing in 47 emergency departments in England where HIV prevalence is high. Emergency department opt-out testing has successfully targeted those who are unlikely to engage with local sexual health services, such as women, and results from the research will be considered in the development of the new plan.
There has also been significant progress through the Department’s national HIV Prevention Programme, which supports communities disproportionately affected by HIV, including women, in particular black African and heterosexual women. The programme delivers National HIV Testing Week, aimed at improving testing and increasing awareness of HIV prevention. During 2024 Testing Week, self-testing was particularly popular amongst women, with a nearly 41% increase in total self-testing orders compared with 2023.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the planned reduction of Official Development Assistance on the number of women at risk of preventable death in pregnancy and childbirth.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through, following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent or gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027. We will be taking a rigorous approach to ensure that all ODA delivers value for money, including by considering the impact on women and girls in accordance with the public sector equality duty.
The UK remains unequivocally committed to supporting global efforts to end preventable maternal, child, and newborn deaths in line with Sustainable Development Goal targets. This month the UK delegation to the UN Commission on Population and Development committed to protect and progress sexual and reproductive health and rights, including maternal and newborn health by cosponsoring the launch of the Global Midwifery Accelerator. The UK continues to work closely with partners and provides strong political leadership on maternal health, to end preventable deaths.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the exploitation of women in poorer countries involved in surrogacy.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK does not support international surrogacy involving any form of exploitation and is committed to eradicating all forms of modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking in line with Sustainable Development Goal 8.7. Globally the UK is proud to defend and promote universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights. At the multilateral level, and through our diplomatic and Official Development Assistance partnerships, we advocate that all people have the right to make informed decisions about childbearing, including if, whether and when to have children. Family planning interventions, including surrogacy, must always be voluntary and rooted in a human rights-based approach.