Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department takes to ensure that UK aid is administered in a way which does not discriminate based on religion or belief.

As stated in the International Development White Paper published last month, upholding Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is vital for open and inclusive societies. We will ensure that UK development policies are inclusive of people who are marginalised for their religion or belief. Equality issues are routinely considered during the approval process for all our aid programmes. We provide guidance and capability building to ensure that all programmes consider the Public Sector Equality Duty and assess how their interventions will impact on those with protected characteristics, including religion or belief.