Chamber and committees

I agree that cross-portfolio working is essential to addressing the multilayered, intersectional barriers that women face. I am fully aware of those barriers, especially those faced by women from an ethnic minority background who wish to enter the creative industries. The Scottish Government has expanded its funding for childcare, and I press it to continue to do so.

The Scottish Government, through Creative Scotland, provides support to a number of cultural organisations and individuals in Dumfries and Galloway. Two of Creative Scotland’s regularly funded organisations—the Stove Network and the Wigtown Festival Company—are based in Dumfries and Galloway. Together, they receive a total of £186,000 per year in funding. In addition, the Stove Network receives regular funding from Creative Scotland as part of the culture collective programme.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of cultural cinema to our communities, and we continue to work closely with Screen Scotland and partners to support its development across Scotland. Screen Scotland’s strategy and funding supports the inclusive and sustainable growth of our screen sector, with a focus on ensuring wide access to cinema and a diverse range of content, including support for cultural cinema venues, organisations, touring programmes, independent film exhibitors and the distribution of Scottish titles across Scotland.

The miners strike of 1984-85 is considered to be the most bitter industrial dispute in living memory. The Scottish Government recognises that the impact of the strike is felt across Scotland’s former mining heartlands, and we acknowledge the need to provide reconciliation, dignity and comfort to those communities that are still affected.

As the 40th anniversary approaches, the Scottish Government is considering how best to raise the profile of the strike and its legacy. We are in communication with partners, including the National Union of Mineworkers, which are developing commemorative activities with the communities that were impacted.

I am happy to do so.

We have consistently called on the UK Government to fulfil its legal commitment to invest 0.7 per cent of the UK’s gross national income in official development assistance.

We have been clear in our opposition to the UK Government’s plans to relocate people to third countries since the memorandum of understanding with Rwanda was announced. The UK Government’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill and its treaty with Rwanda abdicate the UK’s moral and international responsibilities to recognise and support refugees.

People should be able to make a claim for asylum with full and fair consideration by the Home Office and, if successful, they should be supported to rebuild their lives as refugees in the UK.

In November, we provided £750,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to ease the suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza. That was in response to a flash appeal and was a one-off contribution.

Famine is now imminent in Gaza, primarily because of restrictions on aid access. The First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister in December, asking him to make it clear to Israeli ministers that they and Israeli military commanders will be held accountable for deaths from starvation and disease as a result of their restrictions on access for humanitarian aid. It is now urgent that that message is conveyed directly to Prime Minster Netanyahu. The restrictions must be lifted immediately.

It is a privilege to open the debate and make my first opening speech to the Parliament as the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development. I am delighted to support a Cabinet in which the majority of members are women—indeed, it is believed to have the highest proportion of women of any Government in the world, which clearly demonstrates our commitment to equality in action.

Joining the ministerial team is an honour, particularly as I am the first woman of colour to hold a ministerial position in Scotland. I am proud to be that first woman, but I am determined that I will not be the last. Women of colour are leaders in their communities in Scotland and around the world and should be reflected in the leaders we elect to serve us. I look forward to working with colleagues from across the chamber.

It is a privilege to speak to the motion to mark international women’s day, whose theme this year is “Inspire Inclusion”. That serves as a reminder that gender inequality affects everyone. Resourcing and amplifying the voices of women, girls, other marginalised groups and advocates for human rights, particularly in the global south, is a vital lever for advancing gender equality in the pursuit of a fairer world.

We meet at a time of increasing global conflict, as our concerns continue to grow about the impact on all civilians who are affected by violence. We know that conflict disproportionately affects women. We see that in devastating reports from non-governmental organisations in Gaza that show that there has been an increase in the number of miscarriages and premature births. Pregnant women are having caesarean sections without anaesthetic, and others are being forced to use scraps of tents in place of period products.

The evidence is clear. UN Women reports that a peace agreement that includes women is 35 per cent more likely to last 15 years or more. Despite that, of 18 peace agreements that were reached in 2022, only one was overseen by women representatives.

When I represented the Parliament at the 66th Commonwealth parliamentary conference in Ghana, a clear thread among the remarkable and inspiring parliamentarians I met was that human rights are not just for some but for all. We must do more to ensure women’s full involvement in achieving and sustaining peace and stability.

Last week marked the second anniversary of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine. I know that every member of the Parliament is shocked and appalled at the resulting violence and the humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold. Providing support and sanctuary for displaced people from Ukraine remains the Government’s priority. Since the war started, 26,000 people have come to the United Kingdom with sponsorship by a Scottish host or by the Scottish Government. Sixty per cent of all arrivals have been women, but we are particularly concerned that the UK Government’s visa changes will make it harder for families to be reunited in the UK.

We are investing more than £100 million in 2023-24 and more than £40 million in 2024-25 in the Ukrainian resettlement programme to ensure that people continue to receive a warm Scots welcome and are supported to rebuild their lives in our communities for as long as they need to call Scotland their home.

When people are moving around, it is easy to slip through the system, but I hope that our equally safe strategy captures the situation for such women.

We must push forward to ensure that women’s and girls’ rights are at the heart of everything that we do at home and abroad. Our global perspective complements domestic equality policy, and the Conservative amendment is right to draw attention to the unacceptable practice of female genital mutilation, which is the physical manifestation of a deep-rooted gender inequality. FGM is illegal in Scotland and is recognised internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It is important that we work collectively to prioritise both protection and prevention.

Globally, there is growing momentum towards adopting a feminist approach to international policy considerations—one that is fair, intersectional and based on human rights. In Scotland, we are committed to taking a feminist approach to all of our international work. As part of that, we will continue to strive to give people who are most affected by structural inequalities and injustice, conflict, climate change and environmental damage a platform to speak for themselves, influence and make decisions.

Our commitment to invest in women and girls as advocates for human rights is clear. We have invested in the Scottish human rights defender fellowship programme and, as part of that, in 2023-24, we are supporting three women from the global south to undertake fellowships in Scotland on gender and the environment.

Since the programme was established, in 2018, we have welcomed 17 human rights defenders—the majority of whom have been women—from 16 different countries to participate in the programme, and we support them to further develop their skills and networks in safety.

We also fund the women in conflict 1325 fellowship programme, which is delivered by Beyond Borders Scotland. The United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 was the first Security Council resolution on women, peace and security, and our fellowship programme has, to date, helped 362 women peace builders by providing training and building their capacity in the prevention and resolution of conflict.

I am pleased to announce today that we have just awarded the contract for our new international development women and girls fund. Following a competitive process, the fund is the first new programme to be launched as part of the equalities programme, following our 2021 international development review. We will deliver the fund in partnership with Ecorys, in collaboration with the Forum for African Women Educationalists in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia. In line with the UN sustainable development goal, the main aim of the new £3 million women and girls fund is to support the advancement of gender equality and the rights of women and girls in our African partner countries.

We recognise the lack of funding for women’s rights in the global south. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in 2021, less than 1 per cent of global bilateral overseas development assistance for gender equality and women’s empowerment went specifically to women’s rights organisations and movements—the very organisations that are the key drivers of change in addressing gender inequality. When gender equality remains one of the greatest human rights challenges globally, that simply is not good enough, and the fund puts feminist principles into action.

As we begin phase 1, taking a grass-roots, participatory approach, the focus and delivery mechanisms will be designed by Malawian, Rwandan and Zambian women and girls. Through that process, local women and girls will be empowered to define and meet their priorities. They will have the decision-making power. The aim is to challenge and shift typical structural inequalities by moving beyond simply hearing the voices of women and girls to ensuring that their voices actually influence the actions that are taken. Reflecting our commitment to equalising power, the fund will provide direct funding to organisations led by local women and girls to support them to advocate and advance the rights of women and girls in their cultural context.

I am pleased to note that a guidance note outlining our approach to mainstreaming gender equality across our international development portfolio was published a few weeks ago. That aligns with our commitments to do no harm and to build more gender-responsive programmes. The new mainstreaming approach will, equally, apply to our new health and education programmes, which we will also launch in 2024.

It is important to recognise that women are not a homogeneous group—we exist in all our wonderful multifaceted diversity. We must remember that achieving gender equality does not involve just one glass ceiling being smashed. For many women, that metaphor does not illustrate the complexity of their experience when facing unique and compounding intersectional inequality. I know that, even if we break the glass ceiling and step into positions of influence, we then face glass walls. We continue to encounter prejudice, to not have our voices heard and to be overlooked when it comes to decisions that affect us.

In order to truly tackle structural inequality, therefore, gender inequality cannot be considered in isolation from other forms of discrimination. That is why we must ensure that intersectionality is at the heart of the feminist approach and that the voices that are amplified are as diverse as the communities that are impacted by our interventions.

By investing in women’s organisations, feminist networks and grass-roots movements, as advocates for human rights, we can support those who are speaking out for structural change and amplify the voices that are too rarely heard.

I am clear that inspiring inclusion requires a participatory feminist approach that invests in women and girls in the pursuit of transformed national and international systems that work for people and place.

I am pleased to move,

That the Parliament welcomes the 2024 International Women’s Day theme of “Inspire Inclusion”, which recognises that, when people understand and value women’s inclusion, they forge a better world; acknowledges that, at a time of increasing conflict affecting civilians around the world, the specific impact on women and girls can be profound; recognises that achieving gender equality is more vital than ever and remains one of the greatest human rights challenges globally; marks International Women’s Day and the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, and welcomes the efforts of organisations and communities working tirelessly in pursuit of peace, inspiring inclusion, pushing forward on gender equality and amplifying the voices of women and marginalised groups, and notes the Scottish Government’s investment in women as advocates for human rights, and initiatives such as the Warm Scots Future, Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship and Human Rights Defender Fellowship, and its commitment to a feminist approach to international relations.

I refer the member to my earlier answers, and I assure him that the Scottish Government is doing everything that it can to support this very valuable service.