Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address violence against women and girls in the least developed countries.

The UK is recognised as a global leader in tackling violence against women and girls in all its forms by pioneering approaches around the world that have shown reductions in violence of around 50%, proving that VAWG is preventable. We are scaling up our investments, including through the launch early next year of a new £67.5 million seven-year programme to scale up effective interventions to prevent VAWG. We are also making the biggest single investment worldwide to date by any international donor to end FGM (£50 million).

We know that success in the fight against VAWG will depend on putting women's rights organisations at the heart of our response. That is why the UK has provided long-term support to women's rights organisations on the frontlines through our contribution to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. We are also delighted to have been selected to co-lead the new Generation Equality global Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence to drive more concerted, scaled-up global action.