Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to strengthen relations with Somaliland.

The UK is a leading partner of Somaliland, supporting its development, security, enhancing stability and promoting economic, human and social development. For a decade the UK has been the only Western bilateral donor with a permanent diplomatic presence in Hargeisa. A prominent area of UK support has been our assistance to the Somaliland National Elections Commission, where we provided £1.97 million to upgrade voter registration systems and support election observation. This increased the participation of women and minority ethnic groups.