Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to support people affected by recent droughts in Angola.

DFID is concerned about the effects of drought and food insecurity on people across Southern Africa and in Angola. Over one million Angolans are affected. Angola is a lower middle-income country, in sub-Saharan Africa it has the third largest economy and is the second largest oil producer. DFID does not have a bilateral programme in Angola, but we do support the people of Angola through centrally managed programmes and contributions to multilateral agencies. For example, in 2018 the UK provided over £300 million in core humanitarian funding to United Nations specialised agencies, the Red Cross movement and NGOs. As a result, the UK’s contribution is approximately 20 percent of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund that has been activated this year in Angola.

The UK is fully committed to tackling climate change and is playing a leading role in driving change around the world. Our regional programmes have supported the identification and planning of water infrastructure and livelihoods programmes to reduce vulnerability to drought including the preliminary design of water supply and sanitation projects that would build water security for more than 20,000 rural people in the Angolan Calai District.