Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to provide funding and long term support for people affected by Hurricane ETA.

The British Government is supporting the humanitarian response in Central America in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. The Start Fund, to which the UK contributes, has released funding to NGOs in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala for immediate humanitarian assistance. FCDO has also procured aid supplies, including emergency shelter kits, to be distributed by local partners across the region. The British Government funded NGO, Map Action, is providing crucial mapping services to support regional relief efforts.

We have also deployed RFA Argus, a ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, to support the US military's relief operations in Honduras. We are donating £1 million to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) emergency appeal. The UK is also a large donor to multilateral agencies already responding across the region, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the World Food Programme. We are continuing to monitor the situation, and will consider providing further support as required.