Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has he made of the humanitarian impact of the UK withdrawal from the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA in Mali.

The UK remains troubled about rising instability in Mali and the wider Sahel and the impact of this on the humanitarian situation. A third of the population in Mali need humanitarian assistance, including 1.8 million people in food crisis or emergency. The UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) has a key role to play in creating a secure environment for the safe, civilian-led delivery of humanitarian assistance and, as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, the UK will continue to support the mission in fulfilling its objectives. The UK remains committed to supporting those most in need, last year we spent around £300 million in the Sahel, including in Mali. The UK recently announced new support for 2022 which provides vital food, water and sanitation assistance for people in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, focused on areas where conflict, climate change and extreme hunger are causing the most suffering.