Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed UK aid reductions on the ability of multilateral agencies to respond to famine risk in Sub-Saharan Africa in the next twelve months.

The Foreign Secretary has clearly reiterated our commitment to global humanitarian leadership, including in statements to the House of Commons in February.

The majority of our humanitarian spend goes through UN agencies. Working through and with multilateral agencies such as the UN is particularly important for access in conflict affected countries where many of the most vulnerable and at risk live.

The most protracted, severe food insecure crises are caused by conflict at their root. We need to couple available resources with humanitarian diplomacy, as exemplified by the UK's Famine Call to Action and the appointment of Nick Dyer as the UK's first Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs ensuring humanitarian access to affected populations and protection of civilians in conflict. If we achieve these two things we will go a long way to averting famine and the worst of human suffering in crisis.