To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to implement the gender equality duty due to come into force on 6 April 2007. (120640)

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to ensure that it and related bodies are in compliance with the gender equality duty in the Equality Act 2006 by the April 2007 deadline. (120985)

Gender is an integral part of DFID’s core business to eliminate poverty overseas. The third Millennium Development Goal specifically promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment and evidence shows that gender equality is also key to the achievement of the other MDGs.

In line with the commitment in this Government’s recent White Paper (July 2006) to give greater priority to gender equality DFID carried out an evaluation of how effective the Department has been at achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. This led to the development of a three year Gender Equality Action Plan.

The Department are also taking the following steps to meet our specific legal responsibilities under the Gender Equality Duty.

The Department has launched a consultation with staff and policy heads, to review UK based functions and activities to develop our gender equality scheme ahead of the end of April 2007 deadline.

DFID’s Human Resources Division is updating gender monitoring data on our employment functions and will use this evidence to promote equality as necessary. We are now identifying other service areas where we will collect more data on outcomes, such as the uptake of DFID’s proposed volunteering scheme and the use of the Development Awareness Fund.

A network of gender champions has been established across the Department, consisting of senior civil servants, who are responsible for promoting equality and ensuring the Department’s action plans are implemented.