Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of hunger outbreaks on girls in (a) East Africa and (b) the Sahel.

Across East Africa, 51 million people face severe food insecurity. In drought affected areas of Ethiopia the UN has reported a quadrupling in cases of early and forced marriage of young girls. In Somalia, incidents of gender-based violence including rape and intimate partner violence are up by 200 per cent within displaced populations compared with 2021.  In financial year 2022/23 the UK will provide approximately £156 million across East Africa in humanitarian support to the crisis. Through the UK's total support to Somalia this financial year our funding will directly reach women and girls who are at increased risk of gender-based violence.

As in East Africa, food shortages alongside conflict, climate and demographic pressures are increasing inequalities and violence against women and girls in the Sahel. In financial year 2022/23, the UK will provide approximately £20 million in humanitarian support in the region.