Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which international counterparts he discussed the humanitarian and conflict situation in Yemen with prior to the UN Yemen pledging conference on 1 March 2021.

Ministers and officials regularly engage with international actors, including the UN and other donors, to ensure life-saving humanitarian aid reaches the millions of Yemenis in need. The only sustainable way to protect civilians and bring long-term stability to Yemen is an inclusive political settlement and an end to the conflict.

On 25 February, the Foreign Secretary spoke to Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan about the Yemen peace process and he has also recently discussed this with US Secretary of State. I discussed Yemen with the Omani Ambassador to the UK on 4 February, and spoke to Yemeni Foreign Minister on 20 January regarding the attack on Aden and the formation of the new cabinet. We fully support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths to secure a lasting political settlement to the Yemen conflict. I spoke with Martin Griffiths on 1 March to discuss how the UK can best support the UN-led peace process.