Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what humanitarian aid her Department is providing in the camps for the displaced people from Mosul, Iraq.

DFID is one of the largest donors to the UN’s Iraq Humanitarian Fund (IHF), having committed over £74m since 2014. The IHF was one of the largest and most comprehensive funding mechanisms available for humanitarian partners responding to the needs of Moslawis throughout 2017 and 2018. The IHF rapidly scaled up its operations in advance of Mosul’s liberation, including with significant financial support from DFID. In March 2017, for example, over £1.5m was allocated by the IHF to expand and upgrade water and sanitation facilities in Haj Ali IDP camp in Ninewa Governorate, to ensure preparedness for the increasing caseload of displaced people from Mosul. The IHF continues to support dozens of humanitarian camps in the region, and DFID maintains a close dialogue with the UN in this respect.

In addition to helping those displaced from Mosul, DFID is supporting efforts to improve conditions in the city so that people can return home following the conflict. This includes over £30m in funding for the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and UNDP’s Funding Facility for Stabilisation (FFS) since 2015. UNMAS focusses on the removal of explosive hazards and the FFS works to restore basic services; the latter has already rehabilitated dozens of hospitals and schools, and is currently carrying out work to repair the decimated electricity grid in West Mosul.