Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to deploy members of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative Team of Experts to Ethiopia and Sudan in response to reports of sexual violence in Tigray; and if so, when any such deployment will commence.

We are working to promote justice for survivors of sexual violence, to provide support to survivors and children born of conflict related sexual violence and to prevent sexual violence from occurring. Preparations are underway to deploy expertise from the UK Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Team of Experts to the region. British Embassy staff conducted a specific protection mission in Shire in Tigray on 4-7 April. It included the assessment of the current Gender-Based Violence response, specific emergency services provided in camps and the gaps that need to be filled. They interviewed staff and volunteers supporting survivors of sexual violence to identify essential activities required to address the immediate needs of the survivors as well as the accountability needs to ensure well-informed and effective assistance.