I was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development on 5 September 2012. I am the Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green.
Last week I spent 2 days in Burma, the last foreign country I will have visited as the UK's champion for tackling violence against women and girls overseas. And what a fascinating 2 days it was meeting Burmese civil society …
My last day in India was spent back in New Delhi and I could write a whole blog just on my first meeting of the day with 10 young people! They're part of the 'With.in' initiative, funded by DFID, which …
Yesterday was day 2 of my visit to India on the theme of violence against women, and I spent the day meeting people in some of the poorest areas of Madhya Pradesh. It was an incredibly informative and inspiring day, …
Since 2010 I’ve served as the UK’s first ministerial champion for tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) overseas, and developing this role has kept me quite busy. From the UN to the UAE, I’ve compared notes with ministers, officials …
Though it may not seem obvious, access to clean energy and women’s empowerment especially in the developing world are intrinsically linked. Collecting firewood, for example, can make a woman or girl vulnerable to attack while she’s outside her village searching. …
Imagine your life if you were married at 15, against your will, to an abusive husband. It’s the same for almost all the women you know. Your education came to an abrupt end once you were married, and you’re not …
When you think of Somalia, you probably think of Black Hawk Down, Al Shabaab terrorism and piracy. But if you’re born a girl in Somalia, you face so many other risks, both severe and everyday. Decades of war and humanitarian …
I can clearly remember my first overseas visit as a DFID minister. It was just under 2 years ago, in October 2012. I was struck by the optimism and hope that filled the air of this new and ambitious country. …
Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread human rights abuses in the world. In the last few weeks alone there have been numerous high-profile reports of incidents where women have suffered because of their gender. World …
I'm in Rwanda for a 3 day visit and on arrival in Kigali yesterday morning, I went straight to the genocide memorial at Ntarama Church to lay a commemorative wreath for the Rwandans who lost their lives in 1994. Only …
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