Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential risks of (a) cholera and (b) other waterborne diseases among internally displaced populations in Yemen; and what steps she is taking with international partners to help mitigate those risks.

Yemen remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises including with 4.8 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The UK provided £144 million in humanitarian aid in financial year 2024/2025 and is currently the largest donor to the Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for this financial year.

Both of the UK's humanitarian programmes support the most vulnerable in Yemen, including IDPs. The UK's Women and Children programme provides primary health care and nutrition, water hygiene and sanitation, and sexual and reproductive health services. In 2025, the programme supported 534 health facilities, providing basic medicines, health workers and community outreach to over one million people, including IDPs. The UK's Food Safety and Security Nets programme has supported more than 26,000 IDPs this year. The programme supports vulnerable communities with cash for food and living expenses, delivers "shock responsive" funding to all those impacted by flooding, and provides direct support to Women's Rights Organisations working with IDPs. The programme has supported more than 88,000 people with Gender Based Violence (GBV) and child protection services, essential given the increased exposure to GBV that IDPs face.

We are working with international partners to respond to these growing needs. The UK and Saudi Arabia have worked together on a $10 million joint programme on cholera in Yemen. Working through the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), this joint programme tackled cholera in the most high-risk and affected communities, including IDP communities.