Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the World Health Organisation press release dated 26 June 2015 on UN CERF funds, what assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

The UK is deeply concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. According to the United Nations, 21 million Yemenis (80% of the population) are now in need of humanitarian assistance. Of those, 6 million are facing severe food shortages; over 9 million have lost access to water; and 1.2 million have been displaced. 70% of health facilities have stopped operating and two thirds of the population are now deprived of health services. The UN has confirmed outbreaks of dengue fever and reported rising numbers of measles, rubella and polio cases due to disruptions to planned immunisation programmes and cold-chain vaccine storage because of severe fuel shortages.

The UK is the largest contributor globally to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and welcomes the release of $25 million to assist those affected by the crisis in Yemen, and the announcement that $8 million has been committed to the WHO to provide life-saving medicines for non-communicable diseases. The UK has so far committed £55 million to the humanitarian response in Yemen for 2015.