Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK remains deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis in Yemen - the largest in the world. Over 22 million people - 75% of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 8.4 million people at risk of starvation across the country. Yemen relies on imports to meet 90% of its basic needs like food and fuel. As such, it is critical that all parties facilitate the flow of food and fuel into and throughout the country.
We are also extremely concerned by the rapid depreciation of the Yemeni Riyal – which has lost over 40% of its value since July. This is driving increased humanitarian need as families are less able to afford to buy available food.
The UK has consistently been one of the largest donors to the crisis, committing £570 million in response since the conflict began in 2015. We will continue to push for a political solution to the conflict - the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and end the humanitarian crisis.
I recently hosted an event on malnutrition in Yemen at the UN General Assembly on 25 September with UN agencies, donors and NGOs. Together we launched a Call to Action including a three year plan of commitments to tackle malnutrition in Yemen.
The UK continues to respond to humanitarian crisis in Yemen and will keep the situation under close review.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent estimate she had made of the amount of funding her Department has allocated to financing abortions; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
By helping the world’s poorest women access modern contraception, we will prevent an estimated 6 million unintended pregnancies and 3 million abortions on average each year.
Family planning reduces, but on its own does not eliminate, the backstreet abortions that kill women. So, where this is not against local law, the UK will consider supporting access to safe abortion in the world’s poorest countries. UK aid cannot be used to fund illegal services.
DFID supports a wide range of reproductive health services designed around women’s needs, promotion of reproductive health services to prevention and management of consequences of abortion. DFID includes this entire range of services under “reproductive health care spend” in accordance with the OECD-DAC purpose codes for tracking ODA spend. For this reason, costs and numbers of particular individual procedures are not available.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What recent assessment she has made of the level of food security in east Africa.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
More than 20 million people are experiencing acute food shortages in East Africa. The situation is most severe in Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan, with a risk of famine in South Sudan. The UK has recently provided assistance to over 13.6 million people and has allocated £279 million for humanitarian aid to these countries this year.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the level of food security in Ethiopia.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Ethiopia is facing another drought in 2018, with high levels of humanitarian need. This week, the government of Ethiopia launched a humanitarian appeal which sets out that 7.9 million people are in need of emergency assistance to meet their basic food needs in 2018. This is on top of the 7.9 million people who are food insecure from year to year and are supported by the government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP).
Responding to food insecurity is a top priority for the UK in Ethiopia and our work is making a real difference. DFID is currently assisting 4 million people in Ethiopia to meet their emergency food needs. Through the PSNP, we are also providing food and cash transfers to 840,000 people, building their food security. We will continue to closely monitor the level of food security in Ethiopia.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Sudan and (b) South Sudan.
Answered by Rory Stewart
There are currently estimated to be 4.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan. Sudan is also currently hosting more than 400,000 South Sudanese refugees, of which more than 150,000 have arrived in 2017. The UK is working with partners to respond to these challenges and monitor emerging needs.
South Sudan is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis. 6 million people now lack food to feed themselves and their families, and almost 4 million have fled their homes. The UK is working with international partners to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance and ensure people receive urgently needed food, water, and medicine, as well as longer term support.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Yemen is one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world. According to the UN, almost 21 million people (over 70% of the population) are in need of humanitarian aid and 7 million face extreme food shortages (including 462,000 children under 5 suffering from acute malnutrition). As a result, Yemen is facing the world’s worst cholera outbreak with 262,650 cases recorded and over 1,587 deaths.
In response, the UK has increased our funding for Yemen to £139 million for 2017/18. This includes support for cholera prevention, and the provision of medical supplies and treatment for those affected. In addition, we are helping fund 1 million cholera vaccines that are currently being sent to Yemen through GAVI, the Global Vaccine Alliance. Last year, the UK helped more than 1 million Yemenis with emergency humanitarian assistance, including food, healthcare and nutrition support.
The UK is the second largest donor to the UN’s Yemen appeal, and continues active lobbying for a political solution as well for others in the international community to step up co-ordinated action and funding.