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.
A few days ago I had the great privilege of speaking at DFID Mozambique’s summit on ending Child and Early Forced Marriage (CEFM). Mozambique has one of the highest rates of CEFM in the world, with around 1 in 2 …
It always strikes me on my visits to Africa how imaginatively people use their mobile phones. Mobiles are not just for calls, texts or browsing the internet. Instead they are used to transfer money, like I saw on my last …
Nothing can quite prepare you for walking into Zimpeto market, the largest wholesale market in Mozambique. It is a hive of activity, colour and noise with stacks of fruit and vegetables piled high in great walls of produce. It is …
Twenty years ago the world took an important step in agreeing that population is not just about measuring the numbers of people in the world, it is about the quality of lives of individuals and that every person counts. At …
As I'm sure you know by now, I am passionately committed to tackling violence against women and girls wherever it occurs, and this issue was the theme of my last speaking event at CSW before heading back home. The Millennium …
If I needed any reminder of the degree to which female genital mutilation (FGM) has shot up the international agenda in the last couple of years, the scrum to attend this morning’s FGM event at the UN Commission on the …
There's a key ingredient to women's equality that just hasn't made it far enough up the agenda, yet could literally power development: energy access for women and girls. So, this morning, I spoke at a meeting hosted by the Global …
As long as there is gender-based violence, we will never achieve gender equality. The Prime Minister appointed me as Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence against Women and Girls Overseas in 2010 for exactly that reason. And today Poland organised their …
There is immense power in the act of naming. Naming something so widespread that is passes almost without comment, like breathing or gravity, or the colour of the sky. And yet, for women everywhere, it has a huge impact on …
The world has been guilty of turning a blind eye to the challenges, discrimination and abuse people with disabilities - especially women and girls - can face every day. They are disproportionately some of the poorest and most marginalised in …
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