To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 29 March 2010, Official Report, columns 739-40W, on Sierra Leone: overseas aid, what estimate he has made of the effect of the programme funded by his Department to improve the reproductive health of women in Sierra Leone on the level of female genital mutilation of women aged between 15 and 49 in that country. (325789)

The Department for International Development’s (DFID) country programme in Sierra Leone has a Special Strategic Objective of reducing maternal mortality. The £16 million programme referred to contributes directly to the achievement of this objective through a significant contribution to the Government of Sierra Leone’s Reproductive and Child Health Strategy.

My answer of 29 March 2010, Official Report, columns 739-40W, sets out the specific activities which DFID undertakes in Sierra Leone in relation to female genital mutilation.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 29 March 2010, Official Report, columns 739-40W, on Sierra Leone: overseas aid, what proportion of the £16 million his Department is providing for women’s reproductive health in Sierra Leone is spent on reducing the incidence of female genital mutilation. (325795)

My answer of 29 March 2010, Official Report, columns 739-40W, sets out the specific activities which the Department for International Development (DFID) undertakes in Sierra Leone in relation to female genital mutilation.

The £16 million programme referred to focuses explicitly on improving reproductive health care for all women in the country. This supports the achievement of DFID’s special strategic objective to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone.