Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Project Update by Medicins Sans Frontieres entitled Massive needs everywhere as displacement reaches unprecedented levels in DRC, published 20 December 2023.

We agree with Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) that The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is facing one of the most serious humanitarian emergencies in the world. DRC has a record total of 7 million internally displaced people, over 500,000 of these in the last two months, the majority of which are living in unacceptable conditions. We also encourage the Government of DRC to deliver leadership on tackling sexual and gender-based violence and are working to deliver a more robust humanitarian response. The UK will continue to support this effort, including through our £98 million 3-year humanitarian programme for the East of DRC, which delivers life-saving emergency assistance and protects and builds the resilience of the most vulnerable, especially women and girls.