Lord Spencer of Alresford

The UK is one of the largest contributors to the fight against malaria in Kenya. We have contributed £5.5 billion since 2002 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is procuring additional malaria commodities for Kenya, including distributing over ten million bed nets for malaria prevention. We support the recently announced rollout of malaria vaccines - which includes Kenya - through Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance, to whom we have pledged £1.65 billion between 2020 and 2025. We support the Kenya Medical Research Institute to increase malaria surveillance and treatment across Kenya.

The UK has regularly voiced concern at Russia's malign influence across Africa, which includes Russian support to a number of different elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces. Senior FCDO officials have raised such concerns directly with Sudan's military leadership in Khartoum. Troika Heads of Mission (the USA, the UK and Norway) in Khartoum also published an op-ed on 21 March highlighting how Russian malign influence and Wagner Group activities in Sudan spread disinformation, and undermine good governance and the rule of law. The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organisation. It is variously described as a private military company, a network of mercenaries, or a de facto private army of President Putin.

The UK is deeply concerned about the activities of the Wagner Group in Mali. We are horrified by reports which suggest that hundreds of people were killed in Moura, following a CT operation carried out by the Malian Armed Forces in March with the alleged involvement of Wagner Group. Minister Ford issued a statement on 5 April calling for an urgent, transparent and impartial investigation to bring those responsible to justice. She urged the Malian authorities to end all ties with the mercenary group. The UK is committed to building long-term stability in Mali. We are using UK programming to improve stabilisation efforts, enhance civil-military coordination and strengthen local conflict resolution mechanisms.

The devastation being caused in Ukraine has implications globally. This is seen in the rising prices of staple foods at a time when there is already food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa exacerbated by conflict, climate shocks and the economic impact of Covid-19. The FCDO will continue to encourage open trade to facilitate the movement of food and prioritise humanitarian assistance in particular, to prevent famine. The UK is currently the fourth largest humanitarian donor in Sub-Saharan Africa and we have demonstrated our commitment to tackling food insecurity through a Call to Action on Famine Prevention and brokering a Compact through our G7 Presidency. These include a commitment to mobilise humanitarian funding and a diplomatic focus on the most severe crises - the majority of which are in Africa. We will continue to work with G7 partners to mitigate the risk of an extended global food price crisis and to maintain food security.