Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Tigray as a result of the conflict in that region; and whether the UK is providing any humanitarian assistance to people affected by that conflict.

The UK is concerned by the ongoing violence in the Tigray region and the risks these events pose to civilian lives. The UN preparedness response plan estimates that 1.98m people could be affected by violence in Tigray and neighbouring states. This number includes a caseload of 885,000 people that already rely on humanitarian support plus a further, additional caseload of 1.1m people that are likely to be exposed to violence many of whom may be displaced from their homes and communities. We are contributing to UN-led planning efforts for Tigray and have called on all involved to ensure the protection of civilians, and to restore humanitarian access to allow the delivery of aid and essential services. I reiterated this in my tweet of 19 November and when I spoke with the Ethiopian Ambassador in London on 18 November.

We are in close contact with UK-funded humanitarian agencies working in Tigray to understand humanitarian needs and what programme adaptations are required, as well as monitoring the regional situation, with over 30,000 refugees fleeing to Sudan. In Ethiopia, the UK provides funds to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Ethiopian Humanitarian Fund, to provide food assistance, shelter, water and sanitation, health, nutrition and protection support. In Sudan, flexible UK funding to WFP and the UNHCR is already helping new refugees from Ethiopia to receive emergency assistance, including shelter and food. These agencies have proven themselves capable of working in high risk contexts, in Ethiopia and elsewhere, and for managing UK funds adeptly.