Laura Kyrke-Smith
MP for Aylesbury · Labour · United Kingdom
“T6. I spoke to one of my constituents, originally from Zimbabwe, about the Government’s proposed immigration reforms. She works two jobs caring for elderly residents while also raising her two kids as a single mum.”
House of Commons26 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Whether the threat is from Russia, Iran or rogue AI agents, keeping our country safe is the precondition for growth and progress here at home.”
House of Commons19 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Earlier this week, the Prime Minister spoke in this Chamber about the threat that misinformation and disinformation pose to our democracy. Trusted local media is vital to countering the false information that is out there, yet our local media outlets are struggling to stay afloat.”
House of Commons15 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank my colleague and neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard (Alex Mayer), for securing this important debate.”
House of Commons13 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That could help to tackle the increased congestion on our roads, but it could also have a beneficial impact on the environment, given that a single coach can remove dozens of cars from the road and significantly reduce emissions per passenger. Within transport planning, accessibility must also be front and centre.”
House of Commons13 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Alongside our rail and bus networks, these coaches are vital in so many ways. Last week, I caught up with the brilliant Candice Mason from Masons coaches in my constituency to discuss the challenges facing the business and the sector. Sadly, the picture is not looking great.”
House of Commons13 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
The complete record
357 held · 331 searchable for Laura Kyrke-Smith. The searchable lines are below in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 7.
This is not an official version of UK Parliament proceedings. It reproduces the published record and links to it; the official version is the one UK Parliament publishes.
“Potholes have plagued motorists in Buckinghamshire for too long, damaging cars and making drivers, pedestrians and cyclists less safe. I welcome the Government’s commitment to delivering more than £20 million in funding to Buckinghamshire council to fix those potholes, and I am working hard to get Labour councillors elected on 1 May to ensure that the investment delivers results. Will my right hon. Friend reaffirm the Government’s commitment to our road infrastructure, and ensure that it keeps getting priority in Parliament?”
House of Commons20 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In recent weeks, I have heard my constituents express their relief, but also their fear that this exact moment would come. I thank the Foreign Secretary for all the work that he has been doing to secure a lasting peace, and I am glad to hear him speak of the need to send a clear message to Israel that the resumption of airstrikes is unacceptable, but I worry that this message will be heard only if it is conveyed through both words and actions. Can he reassure my constituents that he is looking at what further actions may be needed, including on sanctions, to get back on the path to peace?”
House of Commons20 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I was delighted to meet my constituent Amy Scullard at the Pebble Brook Community Cafe last week. Amy helps run a peer support group in Aylesbury for parents and parents-to-be who are struggling with their mental health, as so many people do. Amy is an absolute inspiration and I look forward to joining her group in future. Will the Leader of the House join me in recognising the vital role that such mental health support groups play and will she continue to ensure that mental health gets the attention that it deserves in Parliament?”
House of Commons13 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I held a public consultation in my constituency on the future of the NHS. Participants were crystal clear that we need to cut bureaucracy and get resources to the frontline. When they talk about the frontline, they mean not just hospitals but people out in the community, and, crucially for my constituency, GP practices. Will the Secretary of State share more about how he intends to make that shift?”
House of Commons13 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is making an important point about costs. One of the brilliant football clubs in my constituency, the Aylesbury Vale Dynamos, really struggles with the cost of keeping its ground maintained. It is at real risk of flooding, and the cost of dealing with that is huge. The other club in my constituency, Aylesbury United, has not had a ground in Aylesbury since 2006. Does my hon. Friend agree that, given the costs that they incur, having access to a secure and financially sustainable ground to play on is an essential part of the sustainability of vital grassroots football clubs?”
House of Commons6 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In recent weeks I have been contacted by many constituents who are frightened by the decision of Buckinghamshire council to close its housing register temporarily. Does my right hon. Friend agree that people facing homelessness deserve our full support, and that we must address the underlying causes of homelessness, such as the lack of affordable and social housing? Will she make time for a debate on that issue?”
House of Commons6 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for bringing deeply fragile and unstable conflicts such as Afghanistan into this discussion. Does he agree that aid plays a deeply stabilising role in such conflicts and, as such, contributes to global stability and security and to our own national security? Does he agree that that should be recognised in the tough choices we have to make on development spending?”
House of Commons5 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“T2. This week is National Apprenticeship Week. I know from my constituents that apprenticeships are a vital and successful route into the workplace. Will the Minister join me in welcoming the 26,000 apprenticeships in the defence sector across the country? Will the Government continue to build the right skills and workforce of the future through apprenticeships?”
House of Commons10 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I would like to see international co-operation extend to better anticipating and engaging constructively in resolving the crises that cause people to flee their homes in the first place, and to providing support for people closer to their homes. For example, the 3.3 million people who have fled across a border to escape the conflict in Sudan need support in Sudan and when they flee to neighbouring countries. That work has just got harder with the dramatic cuts to the US international aid budget, which I fear will be deeply destabilising. Ultimately, that is where the work must start to stop vulnerable people attempting to reach our own shores. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak and I look forward to supporting the Bill tonight.”
House of Commons10 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The APPG on refugees, of which I am co-chair, last week published an inquiry into safe routes, proposing further solutions, such as reviewing the financial restrictions for UK-based sponsors to reunite with their children who remain in danger overseas. I hope those proposals will be considered. The benefit of options such as family reunion and humanitarian visas is that they are also controlled and orderly, in the same spirit as the Bill. I also see a vital role for international co-operation. I know the Home Secretary has been working with European neighbours to tackle the criminal smuggling gangs, which is vital. I was pleased to see the joint action with Germany in December.”
House of Commons10 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“While I welcome the Bill and I hope it reduces the number of people crossing the channel in grave danger, the reality is that for as long as persecution, war and conflict exist in the world, there will always be people fleeing for their safety, including to the UK. With that in mind, I see a vital continuing role for safe and legal ways for refugees and asylum seekers to seek protection in the UK. We know that safe routes can work; I am proud of our country for the Homes for Ukraine scheme and the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, for example. When such schemes operate effectively, we do not see people of those nationalities getting on small boats.”
House of Commons10 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is really important when international events can be so unpredictable and fast-paced, as we have seen with the fall of Assad in Syria, for example. Secondly, we have to be careful to minimise the risk of unintentionally criminalising asylum seekers—people like Ibrahima Bah, a young person from Senegal who was sentenced after steering a dinghy that broke apart next to a fishing vessel, under threat, he claimed, of death. It is the smuggling gangs we need to target, not young people who are coerced while trying to survive. I know that Ministers will be looking carefully at that. I turn to the international context in which we are discussing the Bill.”
House of Commons10 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome the Bill’s focus on unaccompanied children who enter the country in that way. It is right that we will no longer detain them without time limits, and it is right that local authorities will be supported to make decisions on their accommodation needs. We must not leave those vulnerable children in hotels or in any inappropriate adult accommodation. I cannot tell the House how much I welcome the repeal, in full, of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024. Some £700 million of taxpayer money was wasted on a scheme that was inhumane and never going to work. There are two areas of the Bill that we will need to scrutinise carefully as it moves forward. First, I would like reassurance that we are able to continually review which countries are safe and which are not, based on evidence.”
House of Commons10 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I draw the attention of the House to my entry in Register of Members’ Financial Interests and the support I receive from the Refugee, Asylum and Migration Policy project. Members across the House want an immigration system that is well managed. When I speak to my constituents, they tell me that is what they want, too—grip, control and a Government back in control of our borders. I am so pleased that the Bill seeks to provide exactly that, and not just with slogans, but with solutions. I welcome the establishment of the Border Security Command and the enhanced powers to tackle the criminal gangs that make it possible for people to cross the channel in small boats. Those gangs are exploiting some of the world’s most vulnerable people, and that is unacceptable.”
House of Commons10 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have seen a really worrying escalation of violence on the west bank, just at the time when this fragile peace has been found in Gaza. Large parts of Jenin refugee camp have been completely destroyed by Israeli security forces, and thousands have been forcibly displaced. UNRWA services have been interrupted. What measures is the Minister taking to ensure that Palestinians can live safely and securely in their homes on the west bank?”
House of Commons6 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Unfortunately, what Sophie went through is not uncommon. At least one in five people who give birth experience a mental health problem during pregnancy or after birth. In fact, while we hear a fair amount about physical conditions such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, it is mental ill health that is the most common complication of pregnancy in the UK.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Sophie was very isolated, recovering from a C-section, staying at home, trying to protect herself and her baby from covid, and not wanting visitors, but we were in regular touch on WhatsApp, helping each other to navigate life with a little baby and two older siblings. Sophie was getting more and more concerned about her baby’s feeding, and it was causing her to suffer from increasingly bad insomnia. She took herself to A&E with concerns about the baby’s milk intake, which I suspect were more a reflection of her own anxiety than the baby’s feeding, and she spent a night there before being discharged. I do not know whether they asked her about her own mental health. What I do know is that the next day her messages were increasingly distressed, and two days later she took her own life.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I beg to move, That this House has considered maternal mental health. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I am so glad to have secured this debate on maternal mental health, which I know really matters to people in my constituency and across the country, yet it is still too easily overlooked. For me, it is also very personal. In 2021, I lost one of my best and most brilliant friends, Sophie, to suicide. She left behind her wonderful husband and three little girls, aged six, three and just 10 weeks at the time. Her death was an awful shock to us all, and I will never forget the moment I received the message from her husband, which said: “I do not know how to say this and I cannot believe I am writing this, but Sophie died this morning.” It was still the covid pandemic at the time.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“People’s experiences of mental health are also really varied, ranging from mild to moderate conditions such as low self-esteem, anxiety and depression to more serious conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder and post-partum psychosis. While most people find a way through, perinatal mental health can be incredibly serious, as it was for Sophie.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree with the hon. Member; that support is needed, and I will come on to that. The causes of these mental health challenges are really varied. Some people will have past experiences of mental health problems or difficult childhood experiences. Some will struggle after a traumatic birth. Some will be experiencing stressful living conditions. Some evidence suggests there are biological or hormonal factors, and some people are at higher risk than others: young mums face particular risks, with post-natal depression up to twice as prevalent in teenage mothers compared with those aged 20 or over, and data suggests that post-natal depression and anxiety are 13% higher in black and other ethnic minority mothers than in white mothers.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree: mother and baby units are vital. For women in the period from six weeks after giving birth to one year after giving birth, the leading cause of death is suicide. While I want to speak more widely today, I want us to be very conscious of that extreme end of the risks that women face. Despite the potential seriousness, the stigma around these problems is huge. Some 70% of women will hide or underplay maternal mental health difficulties, and in turn, they will never get the support they need.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I absolutely do, and I am sorry to hear of the experience of my hon. Friend’s friend. What are the consequences of all this? The human suffering is immense, but maternal mental health has economic consequences and costs, too—an estimated £8.1 billion each year in the UK, according to research from the London School of Economics, and nearly three quarters of that cost relates to adverse impacts on the child rather than the mother. I want to suggest four ways in which maternal mental health support can be improved, and I will be as brief as I can. The first is improving specialist perinatal mental health services. The second is better embedding mental health support in routine maternity care. The third is improving community support, and the fourth is education and awareness raising.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Absolutely—that is one way in which people can experience severe mental health challenges and consequences, and it needs to be considered. I also want to acknowledge that new dads and partners experience mental health challenges too, but given our limited time, I am focusing today on maternal mental health.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Secondly, I turn to routine maternity care, which is where the mental health support for the vast majority of women can and should sit. Again, we have seen progress, with some vital new services in place, including care for women experiencing baby loss, severe fear of childbirth, birth trauma and loss of custody at birth.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are still seeing mothers with newborns being put into adult psychiatric units and separated from their babies, despite the national guidance saying that mother and baby units are best practice. Continued support for these services is crucial, both in mother and baby units and in the community, and that must include research to develop the best interventions and robust evaluations of the care provided. The Mental Health Bill is a sorely needed piece of legislation, and I really welcome it, but I wonder whether it might include a provision to ensure that all women who have given birth within the 12 months prior to admission to a psychiatric unit are given the option of being admitted to a ward where they can remain with their baby. That could help to prevent women from falling through the cracks in the system, as they do currently.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree; we need to shed more light on this, precisely for that and other reasons. I will touch briefly on my first recommendation, which is to ensure that specialist perinatal mental health services are protected. In the last 10 years, there have been significant steps forward. Mother and baby units in particular can be an important part of someone’s treatment and recovery, as well as having significant benefits for the parent-infant relationship. Tragically, there are still too many stories of women not being able to access those units. They are perhaps too far away from where a woman lives, or there is not a bed available, or the need for a mother to get that care has not been identified properly.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“With the right support in place at this crucial and pressured time in women’s lives, they do surmount great mental health challenges and recover, often quickly and well—and their babies get off to a good start in life. The Government have embarked on transformative work to improve the country’s health, and better maternal mental health outcomes must be one test of our success.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know the Government are listening; I am particularly pleased that not just mental health, but suicide prevention are woven into our health mission, where moving from treatment to prevention is such an important focus more broadly. But there is more to do. I conclude by saying that I do not want Sophie’s life to be defined by her death. I want it to be defined by her first-class Cambridge degree, her talents as a writer and actress, her Foreign Office career, her friendships, her playful sense of humour, and the beautiful family that she began to raise. I talk about her death because I hope her experience can be a catalyst for change. While her story—every story like hers—and the wider statistics can seem bleak, the real story here is one of hope and potential.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have struggled with the guilt that I did not somehow do something to stop it, but I also recognise how ignorant I was and how hard this is. I have had good conversations with Sophie’s dad about what needs to change. He is part of a group called Facing the Future—a support group for people who have lost family to suicide. One of his group members said: “I think what I’d like to see is a more proactive and visible campaign to target those who are at risk. Not just for those at risk, but for their families/friends/carers/loved-ones. Let people know that it’s okay not to be okay...Give people the knowledge and confidence to ask someone they are concerned about how they are feeling, to know what to look for and ask, and to know where to go for help.” That is absolutely right. There are some fantastic charities and campaigns out there.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We need them to be across the country and widely accessible, with clear maternal mental health guidance embedded in them. Finally, it is incumbent on all of us to keep building a society where everyone understands the mental health challenges in the perinatal period, including the suicide risk in the most serious cases. Crucially, we all need to learn to be good allies to people who are struggling. I think about that a lot in relation to Sophie. When Sophie sent me messages saying, “Feeling desperate today”, and, “I’m just not sure I have it in me to keep going”, did I do enough? Did I worry about her anxiety? Yes. Did I worry about her being depressed? Yes. Did I worry about suicidal thoughts? Honestly, yes. But did I think she might take her own life? No.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They would understand the specific needs and risks of the perinatal period, and be able to intervene quickly where that is needed. Thirdly, I want to acknowledge the importance of community support for pregnant and new mums, as we have heard from other Members, and I recommend its expansion. There are fantastic voluntary groups providing some support, and in some places family support hubs are up and running, but often the postcode lottery kicks in again. We are a long way from the broader and more reliable provision that was established under the last Labour Government—notably the Sure Start model, which all the long-term evidence shows was so effective. As part of our national health mission to shift care from hospital to the community, we need to rebuild those community services, including for pregnant and new mums.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I wonder if any healthcare professionals asked Sophie not just how the baby was but how she was. I wonder if the discussions about her baby’s feeding were had in a way that sought to reduce her anxiety. I wonder if she was given less attention because this was her third child, and her earlier experiences had been smoother—but I will never know. In the same way that many physical health complications are dealt with by multidisciplinary maternity services, the same should be true for mental health care. That means midwives, health visitors and others being trained to ask the right questions and assess the risks, and then psychological therapists, equivalent to those employed in talking therapies, integrated into maternity teams to support women’s care where necessary.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I absolutely agree. A recent report from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance highlighted huge variation in the support services available locally, with confusing referral pathways, inequitable referral criteria and long waiting lists—some women have to wait six months for an assessment and up to a year for treatment. Too often, as I have noted, women are cared for unequally. Those who have existing disadvantages experience stubbornly poorer outcomes. We need better integration of mental health into all routine contacts during pregnancy and after birth for all women who need it. During that period, women have an average of at least 16 routine contacts with health professionals, including GPs, midwives and others, and they are an ideal opportunity to ensure that women are routinely and compassionately asked about their mental health.”
House of Commons5 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I was very pleased to hear about the ambitions for the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor, which will create great opportunities for my constituents. I was particularly pleased to note the emphasis on infrastructure, including the East-West Rail link, and I would love to see a rail link from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes and on to East West Rail in due course. Does the Chief Secretary agree that good transport infrastructure of this kind is critical to growing our economy?”
House of Commons29 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am glad to hear of the uplift in funding for Gaza, and I share the Minister’s serious concerns about the effective ban on UNRWA coming into force this week. Of course, 60% of the food that has entered Gaza during the ceasefire has been delivered through UNRWA, which plays a vital lifesaving and stabilising role in the west bank by providing education to 50,000 Palestinian children, as well as healthcare, clean water and rubbish collection. What reassurances has the Minister had from Israel that if UNRWA can no longer operate, there is a viable and humane alternative way of getting support to the Palestinians?”
House of Commons28 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Foreign Secretary for his updates, and for his clear and deeply felt commitment to Sudan. It is the largest humanitarian crisis on record, yet both of the warring parties are choking humanitarian access. The SAF have blocked the UN from reaching areas controlled by the RSF, while the RSF is increasingly imposing bureaucratic obstacles to delay and block aid. What measures is the Foreign Secretary taking to ensure that both of the warring parties and their international backers are allowing vital aid to get in?”
House of Commons28 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are fortunate to have some great apprenticeship providers in Aylesbury, such as the Buckinghamshire College Group and Buckinghamshire New University. When I joined pupils from the Grange school at their careers fair, I saw at first hand their excitement about the apprenticeship options on offer. We know that apprenticeships are a win-win for young people and for sectors facing recruitment challenges, such as health and social care and construction. What steps is the Minister taking to expand and strengthen apprenticeships, and to ensure that all young people who choose to go down that route are able to do so?”
House of Commons27 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement. I have dared to feel some hope that this ceasefire could be the beginning of the end of Israel’s 15 months of pain and suffering since the appalling Hamas attacks, and the end of 15 months in which the entire population of Gaza has wondered day in, day out whether they will survive another day of bombing. The humanitarian situation is dire. Staff at the Al-Awda hospital, the only partially functioning hospital in the north of Gaza, report that they have been entirely cut off from aid supplies. The long-awaited and so far failed flood of aid is absolutely necessary, but the success of aid efforts must be measured not just by how many trucks get in, essential as that is, but by how many lives are ultimately protected and saved.”
House of Commons16 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As we have heard, the situation for women and girls is particularly severe in Sudan, with reports of gender-based violence surging, including kidnapping, forced marriage, child marriage and intimate partner violence. In fact, the UN has reported a 288% increase in the number of survivors of gender-based violence seeking its case management services. Will the Minister outline what steps we are taking to ensure that those perpetrating gender-based violence are being held to account?”
House of Commons13 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Another example is to facilitate meaningful participation of diverse groups of survivor-led organisations and women’s rights organisations in conflict prevention and peacebuilding processes. I look forward to our Government’s continued progress on this important matter. I believe those two things—reforming the way we think about funding for women in conflict, and elevating women in conflict—are not just a development priority but a diplomatic one, and are the right places to start.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have such a great track record and reputation to build on, and real, live opportunities to make progress, for example, through our work through as penholder on women, peace and security at the UN Security Council. But it means much more if we encourage countries to adopt and adhere to international human rights treaties that cover the rights of women in conflict; it means increasing pressure on perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict and external parties that back those perpetrators through sanctions, where appropriate. It means using the UK’s voice at the UN Security Council to continue shining a light on this issue and calling for accountability. It means fully supporting UN fact-finding missions so that evidence is compiled and perpetrators are deterred through monitoring.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We can introduce measurable targets to increase the amount and quality of funding that goes to women-led organisations within a particular humanitarian budget. We can use our influence within the UN to reform the multilateral funding mechanisms that are absolutely crucial in some contexts where funding is otherwise very difficult to get in—such as the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ country-based pooled funds. That would make it easier for women-led organisations to apply and succeed in receiving funding. The second point I want to touch on is how we think about and categorise the issue of women and conflict in the first place. We must start thinking about women in conflict as central, not just to our development work but to our foreign policy.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They are doing fantastic work, but there are two particular ways in which we can do more. The first is funding. Of course, we must recognise that all Government budgets are limited, and that there are many competing priorities for those budgets, including for the global humanitarian and development budgets—that is just the reality that we are living in—but we can get our limited budgets working harder. We can expand the amount of multi-year funding available to organisations that support women and girls in conflict—that makes a real difference to their ability to plan and deliver their work effectively. We can ensure that funding is flexible to adapt to the evolving needs of women and girls at different stages of conflict and crisis.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have been pleased to hear the Minister speak passionately about her commitment to gender equality and I know that she has hit the ground running to make that commitment and ambition a reality. I also welcome the Prime Minister’s appointment of Lord Collins as the special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict. I pay tribute to the many brilliant NGOs that are delivering important support for women in conflict and championing the rights of those women, including with funding from our Government. They are not only international NGOs such as IRC, Co-operative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Plan and Save the Children but, most importantly, women-led local groups like the International Committee for the Development of Peoples in Somalia and Right To Play in Pakistan and elsewhere.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Research shows that where women lead and participate in conflict prevention, response, recovery and peacebuilding, societies are more stable and peace is more durable. Women’s participation in peace negotiations results in peace agreements being 35% more likely to last at least 15 years, while the participation of civil society, including women’s organisations, in peace processes makes them 64% less likely to fail. Yet despite the huge volume of evidence showing that women are best placed to understand and meet the needs of their communities before, during and after conflicts, too often their voices are still ignored. I will highlight two key solutions.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When I spent time with Syrian refugees in Jordan in my previous role at IRC, I met incredible Syrian refugee women who were there without partners, or had lost their partners in the war, and who had set up their own businesses on top of caring for their families; and not only doing that but pushing donors to change their approach to better support women refugees to be entrepreneurial and to earn a living alongside looking after their families. Women, showing such great leadership, are proving absolutely critical to building lasting peace in places where conflict is being brought to an end. There is strong evidence to demonstrate that the involvement of women and girls in peacebuilding is key to achieving successful outcomes.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“For example, in Niger and Burkina Faso local organisations are nearly twice as likely as international organisations to report increased GBV caseloads, which suggests that women are more likely to report violence to those local women’s organisations. Women are also some of the chief advocates. For example, in Niger, when groups of women who were IDPs—internally displaced people—were excluded from receiving humanitarian aid, they lobbied district authorities to officially recognise their community, and in doing so secured services for people with disabilities and cash assistance for their community.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The UN has witnessed a staggering 288% increase in the number of survivors seeking case-management services for gender-based violence, and at least 6.7 million people in Sudan are at risk of gender-based violence. There are also cases of sexual exploitation driven by food insecurity and water scarcity, and there is severely limited access to essential post-rape care and support services for survivors, who are in desperate need of medical, psychological and mental health support. Despite the horrific impacts of conflict on women that we have heard about, often it is women in conflict zones who lead the response. Women are often the first responders. In Gaza, women make up 70% of frontline healthcare workers and 60% of caregivers. We know that that can lead to improved healthcare outcomes.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On 4 November last year, the United Nations Population Fund announced that attacks on hospitals have forced the only functioning neonatal intensive care unit in northern Gaza to close. The denial of access to newborn and maternal healthcare and the removal of the conditions necessary to give birth safely represent a grave threat to the survival of pregnant women, and Palestinians more widely, in Gaza. Let me also touch on the impact of the conflict in Sudan—mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North—which is having similarly grave consequences for women and girls. For example, reports of gender-based violence in Sudan have drastically surged, encompassing alarming incidents such as kidnapping, forced marriage, intimate partner violence, conflict-related sexual violence and child marriage.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As well as that, “because of the collapsing healthcare system, as a pregnant woman, you barely have the luxury of delivering your baby in a hospital.” If pregnant women are “lucky enough” to, they cannot stay and “many women have had c-sections without anaesthesia because it had run out.” That is one of many “continuous struggles”, with “hospitals lacking anaesthesia, painkillers and other basic medications and medical supplies.” Israeli authorities have denied entry to many of those critical supplies, including anaesthesia supplies, oxygen cylinders, ventilators and other medicines. According to UNRWA, of the total—extremely limited—humanitarian supplies that have entered Gaza since October 2023, just 2% were medical supplies.”
House of Commons9 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗