Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the High-Level Task Force on Preventing Famine by (a) aligning its mandate with the countries identified by the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as being of the highest concern in their hunger hotspot analysis, (b) expanding its membership, (c) establishing (i) annual action plans, (ii) regular meetings and (iii) accountability processes, (d) supporting (A) fundraising and (B) coordination for (1) anticipatory action and (2) famine resilience, (e) supporting collective diplomatic advocacy to help tackle barriers to famine response, (f) supporting the deployment of international financial institution crisis funds in states at the highest risks of famine, (g) taking action to enable the use of climate adaptation and mitigation funding to help tackle climate-linked famine risks and (h) publishing after-action reports for all states prioritised as being at the highest risk of famine.

The UK is committed to working with international partners to tackle food insecurity and prevent famine. The UK is committed to working with our partners to mobilise international action on famine prevention. The High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on Preventing Famine has advocated for famine prevention resources and improved access to people in need. The risk of famine remains high in 2023 in multiple contexts. We are working with the UN and other partners to explore ways the HLTF can be reinvigorated to address the risk of famine including by looking at country focus, involvement of a wider range of stakeholders, and tapping into additional sources of finance.