Speeches by Macdonald.

“I have one final question for Fawzia. You were in Doha. You mentioned there were four women as part of the negotiations. Have you ever really felt that there was meaningful participation of women in peace processes? Some of the evidence we have received has said that often it can be tokenistic. Could you talk briefly a…”

“On that point, obviously we look at the FCDO as a Department, but the Ministry of Defence also has a clear role to play in women, peace and security. Have you seen any examples of other countries where they have used some of the budgets from other Departments to support this agenda?”

“Thank you for coming. I should also say that I am the vice chair of the APPG on Afghan women and girls. It is as I said, if you care about women’s rights, you have to care about Afghanistan. Thank you for coming. To follow up on that question, I know there is the case at the moment at the ICJ using the convention on th…”

“Are you talking about the UK Government? You said “they are incredibly supportive”. Did you mean the UK Government?”

“One more general question: how effective are the UK and other international partners in supporting the genuine inclusion of women in women, peace and security programmes? Maybe Fiona first and then I will come to Lord Ahmad.”

“I have one final question for Fawzia. You were in Doha. You mentioned there were four women as part of the negotiations. Have you ever really felt that there was meaningful participation of women in peace processes? Some of the evidence we have received has said that often it can be tokenistic. Could you talk briefly a…”

“Picking up on that last point, it looks like there will be more of a shift towards multilateral aid instead of bilateral aid. Lord Ahamd, do you think there is more that we can be doing through institutions like the World Bank where a lot of money is going through IDA, for example, to make sure there is more of a push …”

“Thank you for coming. I should also say that I am the vice chair of the APPG on Afghan women and girls. It is as I said, if you care about women’s rights, you have to care about Afghanistan. Thank you for coming. To follow up on that question, I know there is the case at the moment at the ICJ using the convention on th…”

“Are you talking about the UK Government? You said “they are incredibly supportive”. Did you mean the UK Government?”

“One more general question: how effective are the UK and other international partners in supporting the genuine inclusion of women in women, peace and security programmes? Maybe Fiona first and then I will come to Lord Ahmad.”

“Do you think if you were writing that national action plan now, you would have included Sudan and Gaza?”

“Picking up on that last point, it looks like there will be more of a shift towards multilateral aid instead of bilateral aid. Lord Ahamd, do you think there is more that we can be doing through institutions like the World Bank where a lot of money is going through IDA, for example, to make sure there is more of a push …”

“Do you think if you were writing that national action plan now, you would have included Sudan and Gaza?”

“Can I turn to the national action plan for women, peace and security. If the Government were to launch a new one, what should be its priorities and why? Also, Sudan is not one of the currently listed countries. Do you think there is enough flexibility? You would have thought maybe 18 months ago that we would have added…”

“Can I turn to the national action plan for women, peace and security. If the Government were to launch a new one, what should be its priorities and why? Also, Sudan is not one of the currently listed countries. Do you think there is enough flexibility? You would have thought maybe 18 months ago that we would have added…”

“Can I ask for more follow-up on that? You are a politician and you know how difficult it can be to make the case for aid being spent in certain areas. How do you think we can make the case for continuing the funding of things like the trials in DRC, which are not the things that necessarily poll as the most popular? It…”

“On that point, obviously we look at the FCDO as a Department, but the Ministry of Defence also has a clear role to play in women, peace and security. Have you seen any examples of other countries where they have used some of the budgets from other Departments to support this agenda?”

“Can I ask for more follow-up on that? You are a politician and you know how difficult it can be to make the case for aid being spent in certain areas. How do you think we can make the case for continuing the funding of things like the trials in DRC, which are not the things that necessarily poll as the most popular? It…”

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for his remarks on the value for money scheme, which I welcome, and to put on the record that I am a member of the local government pension scheme. I did not have an opportunity to do that earlier.”

“I cannot say that devolution is a topic that comes up very often on the doorstep, but the issues that this Bill is designed to address—too much power exercised by people far away, too little say in shaping the places where we live, and too much confusion over where to go when we have a problem or an issue that needs re…”