Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on poverty rates in the global south; and what discussions he is having with international partners on that matter.

COVID-19 is likely to have resulted in over 140 million additional people living in extreme poverty - around 2 per cent of the global population - and many more will have temporarily fallen below the poverty line. This is a seven-year reversal in progress to reduce poverty.

The UK is at the forefront of the international response, committing up to £1.3 billion of new ODA to counter the health, economic, and humanitarian impacts, and to support the global effort to find and equitably distribute a vaccine.

The UK has prioritised engagement with our international partners to encourage a more coordinated and inclusive response - for example, playing a leading role in securing agreement of the new G20 Finance Action Plan and suspending all debt repayments for the poorest and most vulnerable countries until the end of June 2021. Just this month, the Foreign Secretary held discussions with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on the COVID-19 response.

We will continue to engage with our international partners at all levels and use our Presidencies of the G7 and COP26 to drive a sustainable, inclusive and green recovery from COVID-19.