Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure humanitarian access to civilian communities in Iraq in need of aid who are caught up in the fighting.

The UK's humanitarian programme in Iraq is delivered through the partners we judge are best able to access civilian communities caught up in a complex conflict. We work with the UN and other humanitarian actors that abide strictly by the key humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, so they can gain the acceptance of parties to the conflict and access vulnerable groups. The UK is also the leading donor to the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund which supports a number of national NGOs who typically have better access too hard to reach areas of Iraq.

To date, the UK has provided £59.5m of humanitarian assistance across Iraq.