Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps he has taken to support women and girls in Central Asia.

The FCDO's International Women and Girls Strategy commits to at least 80 percent of the FCDO's bilateral aid programmes to have a focus on gender equality by 2030. In Central Asia, the FCDO is taking a twin-track approach via targeted programming and mainstreaming gender equality. FCDO programmes are transforming attitudes, tackling gender-based violence and promoting women's economic empowerment. We work closely with governments, communities and civil society and use research to ensure our interventions achieve impact. To date, we have created 1,302 new jobs for women and capacitated 1,549 service providers to prevent and respond to gender-based violence across Central Asia.