Baroness Sugg

On 16 November the Foreign Secretary announced how women and girls will be at the centre of our foreign policy priorities, with more than £20 million of new funding to help stop violence against women and girls around the world. We are restoring funding for women and girls to pre-ODA cut levels, focusing on giving more girls a quality education; ending the extremely harmful practice of female genital mutilation, supporting girls' health; and ending the abhorrent use of sexual violence around the world.

The UK is firmly committed to defending comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally - this includes family planning and maternal health, both central to the empowerment of women and girls. Any funding for SRHR will contribute to UK objectives to improve the lives of women and girls across the world. Following the Spending Review, decisions on allocations and individual programmes will be published in the usual way.

The Integrated Review published in March sets out the Government's vision of the UK's role in the world through to 2030. The review was the result of extensive consultation with non-governmental organisations and Parliament. It provides the framework for all UK Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy including in relation to open societies, conflict and multilateralism. The review renewed the UK's commitment to be a force for good in the world and puts promoting open societies at the centre of the Government's priorities, defining the framework for UK action both internationally and domestically.

The review also outlined our approach to conflict, including focusing on preventing, managing and resolving conflict in priority regions and working in partnership with allies and multilateral organisations. The review underscored the UK's determination to seek multilateral solutions to global challenges. It set out a clear ambition for the UK to be a problem-solving and burden-sharing nation with a global perspective, working with others to protect our values and shape the international order of the future. We maintain an ongoing dialogue with Non-Governmental Organisations and Parliamentarians, including on the implementation of the Review.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Secretary is leading work on the new International Development Strategy, which will be cross-government in scope. We look forward to engaging with partners and stakeholders, including civil society and Parliament, over the coming months. This will build on the extensive engagement and call for evidence that was undertaken to inform the Integrated Review.

The UK's mine action investments are a vital part of our global effort to promote conflict prevention and resolution. We invested £124 million to help clear deadly explosive devices worldwide in the last three years through the Global Mine Action Programme 2. This funding has cleared and confirmed safe 394 million square metres, the equivalent of over 55,000 football pitches, and delivered UK commitments under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and the Cluster Munitions Convention.

In financial year 2021/22 we will remain a leading donor in this sector.

The United Kingdom expects to take on the Presidency of the Convention on Cluster Munitions from 22 September. We are developing an action plan for how we can best use the Presidency to support our disarmament objectives and show our multilateral leadership. The plan will be finalised in the coming months.

The overarching Equalities Impact Assessment on the reductions in Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.7% to 0.5% of Gross National Income was completed and shared with Ministers in March 2021 as final ODA allocations decisions were taken.

The Prime Minister and President Kenyatta of Kenya will co-host the Global Education Summit: Financing the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in London in July 2021. As co-hosts, it is our policy to use all the means at our disposal to host a successful Summit. A well-funded GPE will be central to delivering the two ambitious global objectives endorsed by G7 Foreign and Development Ministers in London on 5 May of getting 40 million more girls in school, and 20 million more girls reading by age 10 in the next 5 years.

As the Foreign Secretary has previously confirmed, we plan to increase our next contribution to GPE, details of which will be announced in due course.

The Government welcomes the publication of the Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity as a strong example of UK thought leadership on an important environmental issue with clear - but often overlooked - economic consequences. The Government will closely examine the Review's findings, call on international partners to do the same, and will respond formally to the Review in due course.

Voluntary family planning has wide-ranging benefits for individuals and societies, including supporting their resilience to climate change. Supporting people in their reproductive choices may also have a positive impact on the conservation of nature over the long term, given the role this plays in empowering women and lowering fertility rates. In this context, it is important to note that it is high income countries that have the greatest impact on the biosphere. The UK is a proud defender of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and between 2015 and 2020 reached an average of 25.3 million women and girls with modern methods of family planning per year.

The UK has placed girls' education, and broader gender equality at the heart of our G7 Presidency. We have set out two ambitious global objectives to get 40 million more girls into school, and 20 million more girls reading by age 10 in the next 5 years. We are using our G7 Presidency to rally others in getting behind these objectives, and stand up for every girl's right to 12 years of quality education.

A well-funded GPE will be central to delivering these global objectives, especially in securing education financing from developing countries' domestic budgets. We are looking forward to hosting the Global Education Summit to refinance GPE with the Government of Kenya in July. Outreach to foreign governments about pledges to GPE is in hand, and we are in regular dialogue with civil society organisations, including the Send My Friend to School coalition. Details of the UK's next contribution to GPE will be announced in due course.

The UK is proud to defend universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights which is fundamental to the empowerment of women and girls. Global health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, is a top priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

As announced last year, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce how much we spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). We will temporarily move to a target of spending 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA, rather than 0.7%.