Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans to provide further aid to Somalia for the purposes of helping to prevent a potential famine in that country.

East Africa is facing a serious humanitarian crisis and the UK will continue to do everything we can to help people who are in desperate need. This financial year, the UK will provide approximately £156 million to respond to the Humanitarian crisis in East Africa, and this is on top of the £46 million of humanitarian support that the UK contributed to Somalia last financial year. These funds are delivering lifesaving assistance to those most in need now through NGOs and the UN.

The UK is also engaging with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the Drought Envoy to provide strong leadership on the drought, raise the profile of the crisis internationally and remove impediments to humanitarian assistance. The UK continues to lever its leadership role in Somalia to lobby for more funds from the international community and non-traditional donors for the urgent response that is required now and for the funding that will be necessary for longer-term resilience.