Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK will take to safeguard children and other civilians in any assault on IS in Mosul; what steps she will take to put in place safe routes out for children and families; and if she will ensure that screening procedures take care not to separate families.

On 21 September, the UK announced an extra £40 million of humanitarian funding to Iraq, taking our total commitment to £90 million this financial year and £169.5 million since June 2014. This new assistance will be targeted specifically to enable a scale up of humanitarian assistance ahead of the Government of Iraq-led Mosul operations. It will include support to efforts aimed at ensuring the protection of civilians, including children.

The UK will continue to lobby all parties to adhere to International Humanitarian Law and for screening to take place in a transparent manner, under a fully accountable chain of command, and to be monitored independently by the UN and other neutral and impartial humanitarian actors.