Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)

Thanks a million to the Minister of State for coming in. It is really important to keep this discussion alive because very often there is a disconnect between people’s everyday lives and what we are trying to do when we give foreign aid to countries. I would like to come back to the issue of Sudan because, as the Minister of State rightly said, the people there are facing atrocities, including mass killings, sexual violence, the destruction of vital infrastructure and, above all, famine. While there are acute food shortages, it is important to highlight that maternal health and protection are sorely lacking. In 2024, 10.9 million pregnant women and breast-feeding women faced acute malnutrition. It is reported that in 2024 there were 1 million such women in Sudan. It is important to highlight that because it is 25 years since the UN adopted what was known as the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Despite that, there has been a rise in the number of conflicts and wars and a rise in militarisation, which inevitably increases violence against and killings of women and children.

I would like to know what we are going to do, first and foremost, and then come back in when everybody else has asked other questions. Is the Department undertaking work to ensure that sexual and reproductive health and rights, SRHR, of women within Sudan are still being supported? In the global sense, will we also look at other areas, for example, Afghanistan? There are no longer any female judges in Afghanistan. Ever since the Taliban came in, eight out of ten women are denied education, training and any sort of work. This is important because I believe, for International Women's Day, we donated or supported €4 million in support of this. If women are being denied access to services and a career, yet, we are donating money, what is the money being spent on? It is primarily about the maternal measures that were taken to protect pregnant women. I would be very grateful for a reply.