Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Somalia, (b) Kenya, (c) Ethiopia and (b) South Sudan on famine in that region.

During his recent visit to the region My Rt Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr Johnson), discussed the drought at his meetings with President Farmajo, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Amina Mohamed, and Prime Minister Hailemariam and emphasised the UK's steadfast support for the international humanitarian effort. Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia are facing a severe drought, and parts of South Sudan are already in famine. On 22 and 23 March the Foreign Secretary chaired UN Security Council meetings during which President Farmajo called for greater support for Somalia, and the Council collectively expressed deep alarm at the famine and continued violence in South Sudan.