Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to support (1) an international pledging conference to encourage humanitarian assistance to the East Africa region, and (2) negotiations for the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is working closely with our partners to raise the profile of the crisis in East Africa to help secure a broad base of donor funding. We are considering all options on how best to do this, building on our existing life-saving aid, international partnerships and work to ensure a robust response from humanitarian and development actors.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) has successfully supported the export of over 23 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports since August 2022. The UK works closely with the UN and like-minded partners to ensure the continued success and stability of the initiative. We call on all parties to cooperate to ensure that the potential of the BSGI is maximised.
The UK is also providing £5 million towards the "Grain from Ukraine" initiative launched in Kyiv last November to deliver Ukrainian grain to humanitarian crises. The ship to which we have contributed this humanitarian assistance is currently on its way to East Africa loaded with 30,000 tonnes of much needed grain.