Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that covid-19-related medical aid from the UK and its allies is reaching (a) countries under international (i) sanctions and (ii) embargoes and (b) other countries in need of help.

The UK is helping to lead the global response to COVID-19, working with our international partners to stop its spread. UK aid is countering the health, humanitarian, and economic risks and impacts of this pandemic in the developing world. We are working hard to ensure that our help reaches those most in need through close collaboration with our partners. The UK has, to date, pledged £744 million of UK aid to help end this pandemic as quickly as possible. Alongside our aid funding we are working closely with international partners, as combatting COVID-19 requires a transparent, robust, coordinated, large-scale and science-based global response.

Our funding is supporting a range of initiatives and partners to ensure that it can reach those who need it the most. This includes support to the United Nation’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan to tackle COVID-19 and help to the most vulnerable across the globe.

Our latest UK aid announcement on 12 April of £200 million, is supporting humanitarian organisations to help reduce mass infections in developing countries that often lack the healthcare systems to track and halt the virus. This includes £130 million to UN agencies in response to their COVID-19 humanitarian appeals.

The UK government is also working with Unilever to fund a £100 million global programme to urgently tackle the spread of COVID-19. It will reach up to a billion people worldwide, raising awareness and changing behaviour, to make sure people are washing their hands with soap regularly and disinfecting surfaces. The programme will also provide over 20 million hygiene products in the developing world, including in areas where there is little or no sanitation.

By preventing the virus from spreading in the poorest countries we will save lives and reduce the risk of future waves of infection spreading around the world, including to the UK.