Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which projects her Department funds in Yemen to tackle cholera in that country.

DFID’s response to the cholera crisis in Yemen includes £8 million in targeted support to UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration, which is providing medical supplies to half a million people, safe access to chlorinated water to 300,000 people, and rehabilitating medical facilities used by 250,000 people. Other partners, including the Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund, to which the UK is contributing £40 million in 2017/8, are tackling cholera through providing medical treatment for vulnerable women and children, training health workers, and establishing oral rehydration centres. The UK was the largest 2017 donor, with a £76 million contribution, to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, which can be used to support emergency vaccination programmes, including in Yemen.

Prevention is equally important – DFID is supporting chlorination campaigns in more than half the country’s governorates, as well as public awareness sessions on how the disease is spread. In addition, DFID’s overall funding of £205 million for Yemen this financial year is tackling the underlying causes of cholera by helping provide emergency food, nutrition support and clean water and sanitation to millions of people across the country.