Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Ethiopia on (a) protecting civilians and (b) enabling access to food and medical supplies in the Amhara region.

The Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Red Sea and Director General for Africa and the Americas recently visited Ethiopia to meet with senior Ethiopian Ministers and civil society, where they raised the situation in Amhara with the Ethiopian government. On 11 August we coordinated a statement with the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, calling for escalation and protection of civilians. Almost 1.9 million people benefit from UK-supported programmes in Amhara, although currently access is limited. The UK continues to provide this support where possible.