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 safeguarding implications of humanitarian actors distributing aid through male-only teams.

The available evidence suggests that most safeguarding violations linked to the delivery of humanitarian assistance are committed by men and that most of the survivors and victims are women and girls. Given the power imbalances inherent in the distribution of humanitarian assistance the safeguarding risks are likely to be lowered by having women actively involved in distribution work. The UK continues to advocate for and actively support the recruitment, training and protection of women in humanitarian work to help reduce the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment and other forms of harm.