Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is true to say that in many countries the Covid-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women and their role in society. It has also had a disproportionate impact on girls' education as many schools have closed and the priority in some cases has been to educate boys rather than boys and girls. That is why we are putting an enormous amount of public money from the Irish Aid budget into the education of girls over the next number of years. It is close to €250 million.

As I mentioned earlier, we are seeing in Tigray the impact of conflict on women and girls, particularly when sexual violence is used as part of that conflict, as it increasingly is. That has always been a part of war and conflict but there is certainly much evidence that it is being used now. When there is a peace process that is trying to put things back together after a conflict, women must be part of the healing process.

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