Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings set out by UNICEF in their press release 'Almost 300,000 Children Threatened by Severe Acute Malnutrition in Six Drought-Affected Countries in Southern Africa', published on 25 July; and whether they intend to provide additional aid in response to that drought.

Severe drought has tipped Southern Africa into a food security crisis. In response, the UK is adapting existing programmes to support national responses and deploying technical assistance to affected countries, including a regional adviser to improve humanitarian risk analysis and coordination. The UK is a major contributor to pooled humanitarian funds which have allocated over £35 million to tackle drought. We are a founding member and donor of Africa Risk Capacity, which has provided timely disaster risk financing payouts to member states, and of the Child Nutrition Fund, which supports the detection, prevention and treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition.