Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her department is taking to (a) provide new and additional funding and (b) support local actors in Yemen to respond to the covid-19 pandemic with (i) public health promotion, (ii) livelihoods assistance and (iii) increasing food security.

The UK has already announced £744 million of aid to support the global efforts to combat the outbreak of COVID-19, including helping developing countries like Yemen to rapidly identify and care for patients with symptoms.

In response to COVID-19, we continue to support the United Nations Children Fund, who are working with Yemen’s Ministry of Health to strengthen the country’s health care capacity. We are also engaging closely with the World Food Programme and the Yemen Social Fund for Development, to bring forward funding to tackle food insecurity and increase livelihoods assistance.