Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has provided to (a) international NGOs and (b) UN organisations to tackle cholera in Yemen in (i) 2016, (ii) 2017, (iii) 2018 and (iv) 2019.

UK support to international NGOs and UN agencies to tackle cholera in Yemen has focussed on improving water supplies and basic sanitation across the country, as well as funding vaccination campaigns and medical treatment. This has included:

• Funding international NGOs with an overall package of £19 million in the 2016/17 financial year, part of which included provision for improved access to safe water to 100,000 people. We also provided UNICEF with an overall package £19 million, which included improved water supplies for over 36,000 people.
• Funding international NGOs with £2.9 million in the 2017/18 financial year specifically for health and WASH activities, including improved access to safe water for 380,000. We also provided UNICEF with an overall package £19 million, which included improved water supplies for over 110,000 people.
• Funding international NGOs with £6.4 million in the 2018/19 financial year specifically for health and WASH activities, including improving water supplies for 420,000 people. As well as providing UNICEF with an overall package £28 million, which included improved water supplies for over 40,000 people.
• We also contributed to 25% of the costs of the first ever cholera vaccination campaigns in Yemen through our funding to the Global Vaccine Alliance, targeting nearly a million Yemenis.

We are presently determining exact levels of support for 2019, however we expect to provide a further £6.4 million to international NGOs for health and WASH activities and an overall package of at least £28 million to UNICEF, which is expected to improve water supplies for over 220,000 people. We will also contribute again to this year’s vaccination campaigns.