Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

What diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help improve the security situation in the Sahel.

The UK is working with partners to address instability. I attended international meetings on the Sahel earlier this month and in Mauritania in February. I stressed the importance of improving governance and respecting human rights.

As part of our efforts, the UK is deploying 250 peacekeeping troops to Mali and has 3 RAF Chinook helicopters deployed to a Counter Terrorism operation. We are also one of largest humanitarian donors to the Sahel. Between 2015 and 2019, the UK provided humanitarian aid to 2.3 million across the region.