Oral Answers to Questions

William Cash Excerpts

Wednesday 9th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise that point. The Department for International Development committed £20 million of funding to help the UN work to support the elections, including nearly £5 million for a programme to support women’s participation. As we go forward, we must ensure that the constitution that is already in place to support women’s rights is enforced, that we are working at grassroots level and putting more money into community programmes and that across government, for example in the police, women get the chance to play their full role. As far as I and the Government are concerned, we are determined to ensure that those hard-won additional rights for women are not just maintained but built on further.

[Mr William Cash (Stone) (Con)]

May I thank the Secretary of State for that reply? I hope that now that the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014 has received Royal Assent, she will be able to give the maximum opportunities to protect women and make certain that they are fully empowered.