Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential humanitarian and security effects on (a) Somalia and (b) other African countries of reductions in remittances as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world and the challenge posed by COVID-19 to these flows. Recent projections by the World Bank’s suggest that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% - or USD 11 billion – in 2020. In Somalia, remittances represented more than one quarter of GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the combined impacts of COVID-19 with ongoing conflict and climate-induced natural disasters in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances.

We are working closely with our international partners to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis.