“An honour” to represent Shipley on Parliamentary visit to Zimbabwe says local MP

Anna Dixon the Member of Parliament for Shipley, has joined other MPs on a parliamentary visit to Zimbabwe to see first hand the impact of the UK’s overseas aid in the country.

The visit, organised by the Coalition for Global Prosperity, took place during the House of Commons recess week in late February.

During the five-day trip, the Shipley Member of Parliament was part of a team that observed a number of projects funded by the UK. The focus was on how this aid transforms life opportunities for young girls and women - this included a visit to the Danda Primary School in the Mutoko District.

The team witnessed the positive impacts of efforts to re-engage adolescent girls in education, challenge stereotypes, and provide vocational training in carpentry and other practical trades.

The Parliamentary delegation was also shown how the UK was helping to reduce infant deaths supporting the innovative use of simple digital support in local hospitals.

Speaking after the visit, Anna Dixon said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to represent the Shipley constituency on this oversees parliamentary visit to Zimbabwe.

“It has been incredible to see first-hand the amazing difference that UK aid can make, particularly supporting women and girls and reducing infant mortality.

“Before I became the Member of Parliament for my local community, I dedicated time to supporting international development. I started my working life with Voluntary Service Overseas, a UK based development charity where I led the campaign to stop a cut in the aid budget. I will continue to speak up for the value of oversees development aid in Parliament.

“It is crucial that the taxpayer money designated to overseas aid is spent effectively, the benefits to our security of ensuring other countries are economically and politically stable was evident from my visit - particularly through meeting the girls benefiting from it at Danda Primary School.

“It is good to now be back in the UK and hard at work representing my constituency in Westminster and I look forward to using my experiences in Zimbabwe to contribute to future debates on the UK’s foreign aid programme.”