Committees

Women, peace and security

Inquiry

The International Development Committee launched an inquiry into how the UK Government is involving the needs and voices of women in its development efforts.

The cross-party committee of MPs explored the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, adopted by the United Nations,  and considered how this agenda is being incorporated into UK aid programmes, amid plans for the UK’s aid budget to be cut to 0.3% of GNI by 2027.

Women and girls are disproportionately vulnerable to conflict, accounting for more than 95% of all UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2023. Today 600 million women, 15% of the world’s female population, live within 50 kilometres of a conflict zone.

The Committee’s inquiry explored how much progress the UK has made in delivering its priorities for women and girls and whether its commitments have translated into substantive outcomes. It also considered how it can ensure that women’s voices help to shape the policies that affect them.

The inquiry came out of the Committee’s ‘In Development’ programme, which asked development experts to submit ideas for inquiries on the key issues shaping the sector.

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:45pm on 16 May 2025.

Upcoming events

View all events

No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Tuesday 16 December 2025
2:00pm Public
Women, peace and security - Oral evidence 16 December 2025
2:00pm
  • Chris Elmore MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
  • Alistair Carns DSO OBE MC MP (Minister for Armed Forces at Ministry of Defence)
  • Stuart Mills (Deputy Director Global Issues at Ministry of Defence)
  • Emily Maltman (Head of Gender and Children in Conflict Department at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 18 November 2025
2:00pm Public
Women, peace and security - Oral evidence 18 November 2025
2:00pm
  • Professor Toni Haastrup (Professor at The University of Manchester)
  • Reem Alsalem (Special rapporteur on violence against women and girls at United Nations)
  • Eva Tabbasam (Director at Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS))
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 14 October 2025
2:00pm Public
Women, peace and security - Oral evidence 14 October 2025
2:00pm
  • Hanin Ahmed (Sudanese Activist and Emergency Response Room Leader at Emergency Response Rooms, Sudan)
  • Stephanie Siddall (Director of Global Policy and Advocacy at Women for Women International)
  • Fawzia Koofi
3:00pm
  • The Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
  • Fiona Kilpatrick-Cooper (Director of Weapons and Ammunition Management at The HALO Trust)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: indcom@parliament.uk
  • Address: International Development Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA