Alistair Burt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Burt on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many fringe events were held during the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds

I refer my honourable Friend the member for North East Bedfordshire to the Foreign Secretary’s statement to the House on 16 June 2014 on the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. There were 175 fringe events during the Summit, which included panel discussions and debates, theatre and performance, marketplace with products made by survivors, gallery, silent cinema, exhibitions. We estimate that several thousand members of the public attended the fringe each day. In addition, our Embassies and High Commissions overseas held a global fringe and hosted events for each of the 84 hours of the Summit. These events challenged perceptions and encouraged policy and decision makers and the general public to engage with a subject that for too long has remained hidden.