Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department is providing support to the Government of Mozambique to fight the Islamist insurgency in that country.

The UK has taken a leading role in Mozambique as co-chair of the international taskforce on the insurgency in Cabo Delgado. This taskforce is a forum for high-level dialogue and coordination between the Mozambique Government and its international partners in response to the insurgency. Bilaterally, the UK signed a Defence MOU with the Government of Mozambique in May 2019, and we continue to work in partnership to address security issues of mutual interest. UK Aid has also provided over £22 million in humanitarian support in Cabo Delgado, primarily through UN agencies, ensuring that people displaced by the crisis have access to food, water, shelter and basic health. We welcome recent progress by Mozambican defence and security forces, with support from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Rwanda, to take back areas previously under insurgent control, and will continue to work with the Government of Mozambique to build long term peace and stability.