Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the humanitarian relief effort in Ethiopia of the UN's suspension of food distribution in the Amhara region; and in particular, on the number of deaths of children in that region.

This conflict in Ethiopia has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, with the UN estimating that 9.4 million people across the north of the country require life-saving aid. Over 400,000 people in Tigray are experiencing famine-like conditions. The context could not be more serious.

We remain extremely concerned about the limited delivery of humanitarian aid across northern Ethiopia with conflict and access restrictions hindering the ability of aid agencies to work. Such restrictions are also complicating the conduct of needs assessments meaning we lack a detailed understanding of humanitarian requirements across northern Ethiopia. However, experience from other contexts shows us that young children bear the brunt of such crises. For example it is likely that many children in Afar, Amhara and Tigray have succumbed to otherwise preventable diseases such as diarrhoea due to the limited availability of clean water and healthcare and nutritional services.