Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has taken diplomatic steps to help ensure Somaliland is represented in international multilateral organisations and agreements.

The international community as a whole, including the UK, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. Somaliland cannot, therefore, be represented in international multilateral organisations as an independent state would be.

However, the UK remains a leading partner of Somaliland, supporting its development, security, enhancing stability and promoting economic, human and social development. For a decade the UK has been the only Western bilateral donor with a permanent diplomatic presence in Hargeisa.