Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on projects solely for the benefit of (a) males and (b) females in each of the last five years.

The particular information requested is not collected centrally and is not available without incurring disproportionate costs. The UK Government is committed to increasing focus on girls and women across all our investments to ‘stop poverty before it starts’ by creating environments that unlock their voices, choices and control, and that empowers them economically.

Since May 2014, under the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014, DFID is required to give regard to the contribution its assistance is likely to make to reducing gender inequality, or to gender-related differences in needs, before assistance is provided.