Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK aid to Yemen has been spent on imports of food in each year since 2015.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The World Food Programme (WFP) is playing a vital role in Yemen, delivering food aid to millions of those in need across the country. We are providing WFP with £35 million in support this financial year (2019/20) and provided £35 million last financial year (2018/19). This support has been used exclusively to provide cash and vouchers to vulnerable people to buy food in local markets, and as such 0% of UK Aid has been spent on food imports over the 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years.
In the 2017/18 financial year, the UK spent £65 million on imported food, vouchers and nutritional assistance through WFP, approximately 32% of our overall funding over the period.
Over the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17, the UK spent £10 million on imported food through WFP, approximately 5% of our overall funding over the period.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions he has had with representatives of the World Food Programme on the suspension of aid in Sana’a and other areas where aid is at risk of diversion.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The International Development Secretary and I met with David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), on Thursday 20 June to discuss WFP’s partial suspension of operations in Yemen. I also had a telephone call with David Beasley on Thursday 6 June to discuss the issue, and UK officials have engaged closely with WFP throughout recent months, including through the WFP Executive Board. These discussions are ongoing.
For the sake of Yemenis in desperate need, we call on the Houthis to immediately end all restrictions on aid agencies and comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 by allowing safe, rapid, and unhindered access for the humanitarian response and commercial supplies. The Houthis must cooperate with WFP and end their interference.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support he is providing to the World Food Programme to (a) import equipment into Yemen and (b) secure visas for that country its staff without delay.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK continues to call on all parties to comply with the UN Security Council Resolution 2451 by supporting the unhindered flow of humanitarian supplies and personnel into and across Yemen. This includes the entry of relevant humanitarian equipment as well as the swift issuing of visas to humanitarian workers. We regularly raise these points directly with all parties, including at the highest levels.
In addition to our £35 million of support to the World Food Programme this financial year (2019/20), UK aid is also supporting the UN Humanitarian Air Service (which is administered by WFP) to improve access for humanitarian workers across the country.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support his Department is providing to the World Food Programme to operate in Government-controlled areas in Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK government is providing the World Food Programme (WFP) with £35 million in support of their work in Yemen this financial year (2019/20). Our funding provides cash and vouchers to meet the immediate food needs of more than one million Yemenis every month across the country, including Government-controlled areas.
The UK’s total commitment to Yemen since the conflict began in 2015 is £770 million. Approximately £171 million of this has been used to support WFP’s response to vulnerable people in need.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to prevent pollution from the transport of barrels of oil along the coast of Hodeidah.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK remains concerned by the environmental risk posed by the by the Safer oil tanker, currently moored off Hodeidah. As Sir Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, recently remarked to the UN Security Council, if the tanker ruptures or explodes it could cause a ‘disaster’ for the environment, shipping lanes and global economy.
The UK continues to engage with the UN and Saudi Arabia on the issue, following Saudi Arabia’s funding of a UN assessment mission. The UK calls on the Houthis to facilitate safe and rapid access to the Safer oil tanker so that the UN can carry out this vital work.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the level of bureaucracy that impedes the operations of UN agencies and other international organisations in Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is deeply concerned by ongoing bureaucratic obstructions to the humanitarian response in Yemen, including delays and rejections to visa applications, the issuing of travel permits for periods shorter than required, and inconsistent processes for obtaining project permits. The 2018 and 2019 UN Panel of Experts reports concluded that Houthi authorities routinely obstruct humanitarian access throughout northern Yemen.
We regularly raise obstructions to humanitarian access with all parties, including at the highest levels. The UK also calls on all parties to comply with the UN Security Council Resolution 2451 and support the unhindered flow of humanitarian supplies and personnel into and across Yemen.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of regulating (a) imports, (b) commercial banks and (c) money exchangers in Yemen on Houthi revenues in that country.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Department for International Development does not have insight into how Houthi revenue flows have changed over time. The UK condemns Houthi interference in the operations of local banks in north Yemen, including the arrest of banking staff in February 2019.
Effective economic regulations, alongside appropriate economic policies, will have critical humanitarian benefits in Yemen. Whilst the latest total food import levels into Yemen have exceeded pre-conflict requirements, high prices continue to drive the risk of famine.
The need for effective economic regulation was demonstrated last year, when the Yemeni Riyal lost more than half of its value between January and October 2018. This caused prices to rise steeply and risked making food unaffordable for millions of vulnerable Yemenis. This depreciation was reversed after UK-led efforts released over $400 million of hard currency (provided by Saudi Arabia), to importers bringing food into the country.
We will continue to constructively engage with the Government of Yemen to prevent any repeated depreciation, and to stabilise Yemen’s economy through more effective and transparent management of its public finance.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the UN-mediated talks in Amman between officials in Yemen’s Central bank, what steps he is taking to ensure civil servants are paid as set out in the Stockholm Agreement.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK welcomes recent efforts by both parties to constructively engage with the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths to implement the Stockholm agreements, including sharing Hodeidah port revenues for the payment of public salaries.
Together with the international community, the UK is working with the Government of Yemen’s Prime Minister’s Office and the Central Bank of Yemen to develop a plan to sustainably finance the Stockholm agreement’s ambition for the payment of public sector salaries across Yemen, through an accountable budgetary process.
We welcome the Government of Yemen’s leadership of paying salaries to some health workers in Houthi-controlled areas and all public workers in Hodeidah this year. We encourage this to continue which will be vital in restoring key services such as schools and health clinics and boosting the livelihoods of public-sector workers.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to recent UN-mediated talks in Amman between officials of Yemen’s Central bank what steps he is taking to support further such meetings.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK welcomes the recent UN-mediated talks between the Central Bank of Yemen Aden and Sana’a branches on enacting the revenue-managing elements of the Stockholm agreement. We recognise that closer collaboration between the branches of the Central Bank will be vital in bringing economic stability to Yemen.
We encourage both parties to continue to constructively engage with Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and meet again to discuss this issue to ensure Stockholm agreements are implemented, helping improve Yemen’s fragile economy and ensure the payment of public sector salaries across the country.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the amount of economic activity lost to Yemen as a result of aerial bombing in that country since the Stockholm peace agreements were signed in December 2018.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The IMF estimates that Yemen’s economy has contracted by around 50% since the conflict began in 2015, with GDP per capita down from $1,570 in 2014 to $873 in 2018.
Both the formal and informal economies have collapsed as a result of conflict lines preventing the movements of goods and people, infrastructure damage including to factories and roads, lack of electricity and clean water and a population beset by lack of food and disease.
We are not aware of any data this year on the loss of economic activity as a result of aerial bombing.