Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on (a) the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic and (b) the humanitarian implications of broader insecurity in the Sahel.

Ministers are regularly updated on the situation on the Central African Republic (CAR). The humanitarian situation in CAR and among refugees remains critical. Malnutrition rates among refugee children are now over 30%, above the emergency threshold. Insecurity and poor rainfall mean that an estimated 1.7m people or a third of the population are food insecure across CAR.

The UK has provided £25.5m in humanitarian and development assistance to the Central African Republic (CAR) crisis since mid-2013.

Across the Sahel region there are ongoing conflicts in Mali, CAR and northern Nigeria which have caused the displacement of thousands of people to the neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad, Cameroon and DRC. The UK has provided £103m in humanitarian support to the Sahel since the beginning of 2013 to help over 1.6m people with immediate life-saving assistance.