Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support and (b) help ensure provision of (i) medicines and (ii) other supplies to persecuted Christian communities during the covid-19 outbreak.

The UK is using our foreign aid budget and British expertise to stop the spread of the global coronavirus outbreak, find a vaccine and save lives around the world, including in the UK. So far £764 million of UK aid has been pledged to help end this pandemic as quickly as possible.

As a leading donor to the COVID-19 global response and one of the biggest humanitarian donors globally, we are working with our partners to ensure essential commodities and services are provided to those who need it the most, in line with international humanitarian principles. Through our support to the UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan, we have particularly advocated to ensure assistance reaches the most marginalised and vulnerable people, including religious minorities, who will be the worst affected by this crisis.