Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking in order to reach SDG5 (gender equality) target in advance of International Women’s Day.

The UK was instrumental in securing agreement for a stand-alone goal and dedicated targets for gender equality and women’s empowerment across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are continually working on the advancement of SDG5, which remains a top development priority and a top priority for the UK. Our support is delivering results at scale – since 2015 UKaid has supported an estimated 3.3 million girls to gain a decent education, reached an estimated 7.3 million women and girls with humanitarian assistance and helped an estimated 9.8 million women with life-saving water, sanitation and hygiene programmes. We look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March.