Oral Answers to Questions Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateAlison McGovern
Main Page: Alison McGovern (Labour - Birkenhead)Department Debates - View all Alison McGovern's debates with the Department for International Development
(10 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberLast week, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations described the suffering of the Central African Republic’s population as “beyond imagination”. He said that the use of child soldiers and sexual violence was growing, and that the danger of a full-scale catastrophe was real. Has the Secretary of State met Ministers from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence to plan conflict prevention, and will she look to use resources from the conflict pool’s early action facility to help head off a horrific civil war and the inevitable threat to human life?
We share the hon. Lady’s concern about what is happening in the Central African Republic. We have worked with the Foreign Office to examine what further steps we can take, and, as I said earlier, we have increased by £10 million the level of humanitarian assistance that we can immediately provide to that region. We will continue to consider what more we can do over the coming weeks. I also discussed the matter in Washington yesterday with the United States Agency for International Development.