Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Government’s announcement of 2 June 2020 on a new £160 million humanitarian aid package for Yemen, what (a) public health expertise and (b) medical equipment the Government is planning to provide to the Yemen under that aid package to help tackle the ongoing humanitarian crisis in that country; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the UN-backed International Initiative on COVID-19 in Yemen to deliver such resources.

As part of our £160 million commitment in humanitarian funding for Yemen in the 2020/21 financial year, the UK expects to provide over 700,000 medical consultations, train 12,000 healthcare workers to work safely in a COVID-19 environment and provide a much-needed boost to nearly 4,000 health centres to continue providing existing health services.

The UK also continues to engage closely the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), including through advice and support, to help them with their COVID-19 response in Yemen.

We are also working with the British NGO UK Med to explore the possibility of seconding medical experts to support the UN’s COVID-19 response.