Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support her Department has provided to the Mozambique Government on combatting Islamist insurgency in that country.

The UK is playing a leading role in Mozambique as co-chair of the international crisis taskforce, a platform for high-level dialogue and coordination between the Mozambique Government and its international partners on key issues including COVID-19 and the insurgency in the north of the country. Bilaterally, the UK signed a Defence MOU with the Government of Mozambique in May 2019 and we continue to work in partnership to address security issues of mutual interest. UK Aid has also provided over £22 million in humanitarian support in Cabo Delgado province, ensuring that people displaced by the crisis have access to food, water, shelter and basic health. We welcome recent progress by Mozambican defence and security forces, with support from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Rwanda, to take back areas previously under insurgent control, and will continue to work with the Government of Mozambique to build long term peace and stability.