Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of the economic crisis in Lebanon on (a) poverty rates, and (b) access to healthcare for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Lebanon faces a severe economic and political crisis, a result of the failure of Lebanon's political elites to form a government and deliver much-needed and long-promised reforms, exacerbated by the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion of August 2020. This crisis has had a severe impact on healthcare provision and poverty rates in the country, for both Lebanese citizens and the most vulnerable refugee populations. The UK and members of the International Support Group for Lebanon are clear that Lebanon's leaders need to form a capable government and implement a credible reform process as the only sustainable way to address this crisis.