Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Government's commitment of £500 million to provide covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX scheme, how much of that funding is being used to provide vaccines to North Korea; and what safeguards are in place to help ensure that there is equitable access to vaccines for members of religious or belief-based minority communities.

As a country eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines, we have encouraged North Korea to engage with the COVAX initiative but it has so far declined offers of assistance the initiative has made.