Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance funding on humanitarian and health programming for refugee and internally displaced communities in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The FCDO has prioritised our reduced Overseas Development Assistance funding in the Middle East and North Africa so that the UK remains a force for good across the region against the challenging financial climate created by COVID-19. We are prioritising essential humanitarian assistance to those worst affected by conflict and COVID-19, notably in Syria and Yemen. We are continuing to focus on education and getting vulnerable girls into school and will also continue to support conflict resolution and stabilisation, open societies. Alongside our current programmes, we will also begin new programming to tackle climate change.