Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support access to safe gynaecological care in Nigeria.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) supports strengthening health systems across a broad range of programmes, including on maternal and child health, family planning, and HIV and AIDS response.

In Nigeria, our Lafiya programme supports the strengthening of the health system and public health care. This does not specifically target gynaecological care but does include support on improving family planning service delivery and maternal health.

The UK has supported 9.5 million women and girls to use modern methods of contraception since 2018 through the Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme, which now works across 17 African countries, including Nigeria. This £260 million programme delivers voluntary family planning services and reproductive health and rights, with a focus on reaching those most in need - young people, women living in extreme poverty and people with disabilities. It has averted 45,080 maternal deaths, 5.9 million unsafe abortions and 16.5 million unintended pregnancies.

The UK also plays a vital role in strengthening countries' own ability to deliver life-saving maternal, reproductive and child health services through the Global Financing and Reproductive Health Supplies programmes, and our support to FP2030 and UNAIDS.