Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government has taken to alleviate the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The UK is extremely concerned that the COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen is further exacerbating what is already the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. We assess Yemen to be particularly vulnerable due to the country’s existing health vulnerabilities and depleted healthcare system, which is starting to collapse under the strain of COVID-19.

The UK is helping to alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 in Yemen through the £160 million funding pledge I announced at the UN’s Yemen Pledging Conference on 2 June. We expect this funding to provide over 700,000 medical consultations, train 12,000 healthcare workers to work safely in a COVID-19 environment and provide a much-needed boost to nearly 4,000 health centres to continue providing existing health services.

We are also closely engaging with the Yemeni authorities to press for unhindered access for COVID-19 related supplies and personnel to ensure an effective national response.