Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the African Union, EU and UN on responding to the famine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I visited Kasai Central, in the DRC, in November 2017 to see for myself the impact of the conflict and resulting food insecurity. I met with representatives from the AU and UN agencies during my visit and discussed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the DRC, and how the international community should respond. My officials are working closely with the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to ensure strong leadership and urgency in responding to the crisis.