Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support people affected by the famine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and what steps his Department plans to take to support those people so affected in that country in the future.

Preventing famine is one of the UK's top priorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since 2017, UK aid has provided 1.97 million people with food aid, cash and vouchers to reduce food insecurity and treated over 300,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition in DRC. The UK's Special Envoy for Famine Prevention, Nick Dyer, visited DRC in July to discuss with the Government of DRC and the humanitarian community how best to tackle the crisis. I also discussed the importance of tackling the humanitarian situation when I visited DRC in November 2020. This included my discussions with President Tshisekedi during my visit, and again during our telephone call in March. Over the coming year, the UK will continue to prioritise humanitarian assistance for food insecure people and malnourished children and work with the Congolese Government and international partners to address the underlying causes of the crisis.