Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she has taken to protect local staff on programmes funded by her Department from sexual harassment and to provide routes to report sexual harassment.

All organisations which DFID plans to fund are first subject to a rigorous Due Diligence assessment to ensure that they, and any organisations they fund, have adequate controls in place. This includes controls to protect staff from harm, such as sexual harassment.

In addition, DFID’s new Supply Partner Code of Conduct mandates that suppliers and their sub-contractors must have a workforce whistleblowing policy. All of our funding mechanisms allow DFID to terminate funding projects early if suppliers do not fulfil their obligations.