Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's press notice entitled New Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will lead global action to ensure world’s poorest are protected from ravages of coronavirus and famine published on 2 September 2020, what estimate he has made of the potential number of (a) women and (b) girls that will benefit from the £119m funding package.

Tackling the increasing threat of famine and broader acute food insecurity is a key priority for the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The UK's £119 million aid package will help alleviate extreme hunger for over 6 million people in Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Central African Republic, the Sahel, South Sudan and Sudan.

This includes assistance to women, girls and children. For example, as part of this aid package, the UK is supporting a partnership with UNICEF intended to leverage investments from others to collectively reach at least 4.3 million children per year with services to prevent acute malnutrition.

Additionally, our funding for the Sahel Region will provide nutrition screening to 526,250 children and mothers in this region, including emergency malnutrition response treatment to 25,914 children with severe acute malnutrition.

The aid package also includes funding for child protection which is expected to help 10,000 women and children in Somalia who are at risk of famine. Alongside this, we are a major contributor to, and supporter of, the UN's Global Humanitarian Response Plan, which supports the most vulnerable people in the COVID-19 crisis, including women and girls.