Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent (a) discussions she has had with her Zimbabwean counterpart on taking steps to, (b) Official Development Assistance funding her Department has made available and (c) other steps her Department has taken to help improve access to education for women and girls in Zimbabwe.

Minister Ford discussed girls' education with the Zimbabwean Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Hon. Dr. Evelyn Ndlovu on 23 May 2022. They discussed the UK's bilateral support and progress in implementing the Government of Zimbabwe's commitments to the Kenyatta Declaration, including allocating 20 percent of the budget to education and allowing girls to return to school after pregnancy.

The UK is the largest bilateral donor to the education sector in Zimbabwe, investing £241 million since 2012. Despite significant challenges in the sector, this has supported 190,000 girls and boys in Zimbabwe to get a decent education.

The UK support is channelled through three programmes. The Teacher Effectiveness and Equitable Access for Children Programme (TEACH) (£39.8 million from 2019-2025) supports school improvement grants, teacher development and girls' education. The Zimbabwe Girls Secondary Education Programme (£39.6 million from 2012-2023) has supported over 57,000 marginalised girls to attend and complete their secondary education and provided over 5,100 bicycles so girls can travel safely to and from school. The UK's Girls Education Challenge fund (£44 million from 2017-2023) has piloted catch-up materials to support the lost learning time caused by COVID-19. The UK is also a major funder of the Global Partnership for Education, which has provided $75.7 million to Zimbabwe since 2013.