Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money was allocated to tackling humanitarian crises in Ethiopia in (1) 2019–20, (2) 2020–21, (3) 2021–22, and (4) 2022–23.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The UK has been an overseas development assistance (ODA) donor to Ethiopia over the last four years. Our overall ODA allocations have been: £300 million in 2019-20, £254 million in 2020-21, £134 million in 2021-22 and £90 million in 2022-23. Since 2019, the UK has allocated over £400 million to tackle humanitarian crises in Ethiopia. UK funding has provided 950,000 Ethiopians with medical supplies and is delivering lifesaving nutrition, health, water and sanitation and protection support to the most vulnerable. In February 2024, Minister Mitchell announced an extra £100 million in humanitarian aid during his visit to Ethiopia in response to the worsening humanitarian situation.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people at risk of death from (a) hunger and (b) drought in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
During my recent visit to Ethiopia, I saw firsthand the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in Tigray. Across northern Ethiopia, including Tigray, El Nino is causing drought that is affecting 4 million people. According to assessments from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, nearly 1.4 million in Tigray will need immediate emergency food assistance because of drought.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) internally displaced people in, and (2) the number of refugees from, Sudan and South Sudan.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Since 15 April, over 1.4 million people are estimated to have fled Sudan to neighbouring countries since fighting broke out, 338,374 people have fled to Egypt; 550,407 to Chad; 413,516 to South Sudan; 93,310 to Ethiopia; 25,428 to The Central African Republic (CAR). According to the International Organisation for Migration, there are 2.2 million internally displaced persons in South Sudan, and more than 2.3 million South Sudanese are refugees in neighbouring countries in the East African region. The UK is monitoring the situation in Sudan and South Sudan closely, including the humanitarian and security impacts of the conflict on Sudan's neighbouring countries.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the response of the Ethiopian Government to the joint statement by the UK, US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand of 11 August 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Our statement called for the immediate de-escalation of violence and for the protection of civilians; we continue to monitor the situation. The Minister for Africa subsequently raised the issue in his meeting with Ethiopian National Security Adviser and the Ambassador raises the issue in all his meetings in Addis Ababa. We urge the Government of Ethiopia to find a political solution to end the violence in the country. We continue to monitor the situation, in concert with others, while maintaining life-saving humanitarian assistance, and the provision of basic services to the people in Amhara affected by conflict.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he had made of the implications for his policies of the (a) humanitarian, (b) human rights and (c) security situation in the (i) Tigray, (ii) Amhara and (iii) Oromia regions of Ethiopia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The humanitarian level of need across Ethiopia remains high. Last year, UK humanitarian assistance supported 950,000 with medical supplies, treatment for 80,000 malnourished children and women, and education for 10,000 boys and girls. This year Ethiopia has been designated a Focus Country in both the 2022 Human Rights and Democracy Report and the Women, Peace and Security National Action. We welcome the Ethiopian government's commitment to establish a national Transitional Justice policy and the progress on consultation to date. The Ambassador to Ethiopia recently announced funding for the African Union's monitoring, verification and compliance mechanism to support the implementation of the Pretoria peace deal.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that 700 people have died of hunger over a two-month period in the camp for internally displaced people at Shire, Western Tigray.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are aware of the reports of widespread hunger and other challenging circumstances people face in camps in Tigray. We do not currently have further information on the specific reports of deaths in the Shire camp. Humanitarian partners in Ethiopia are closely following the situation of vulnerable people across Ethiopia and investigating allegations of risk to life as a result of gaps in food assistance. We continue to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people across Ethiopia, including in Tigray.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has received on (a) the humanitarian situation in Western Tigray, (b) reports of ethnic cleansing and forced displacements of Tigrayan people in that region and( c) responsibility for that alleged ethnic cleansing.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK continues to ensure improved awareness of and response to the large-scale and country wide humanitarian needs. In particular the UK is monitoring upcoming climate outlooks and support planning for likely below average rains from June - September as well as El Nino conditions from June. The UK noted the report published by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in 2022 detailing widespread human rights violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict. The UK is committed to human rights being respected and those responsible for human rights abuses and violations being held to account. We continue to support the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia. We are providing £4.5 million to help build the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission through the UK's Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Somalia about the prevention of famine in that country; and what future engagements they have scheduled.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In 2022 the collective efforts of humanitarian partners and donors, including the UK, averted famine in Somalia. Despite the reduced famine risk, humanitarian needs remain extraordinary. The UK is committed to addressing the acute food security and malnutrition situation. Last financial year we committed over £61million to support the drought response in Somalia. We regularly engage at all levels with the Federal Government and Federal Member States on the humanitarian situation. In December, the Minister of State for Development and Africa's first overseas visit was to Somalia to raise the profile of the crisis and engage the government. Ministers and senior officials continue to engage, up to Presidential level. On 24 May the UK will co-host a UN pledging event in collaboration with the Governments of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia to mobilise funding for humanitarian operations in the Horn of Africa.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, in conjunction with (1) the World Food Programme and (2) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, of the number of people displaced or affected by the conflict in Sudan and likely to be at risk of hunger or war crimes; and whether they intend to raise the situation in Sudan at the UN Security Council.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Displacement across international borders during this crisis continues to rise - Chad (20,000), Egypt (11,000), South Sudan (4,000 South Sudanese returnees registered), Ethiopia (4,000 estimated) and CAR (700 people) [last updated 27 April]. UNHCR has declared a Level 1 Emergency for Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan. Humanitarian needs in the region will increase with this mass displacement.
We will coordinate with the international humanitarian system (including INGOs, UN agencies, Civil Society Organisations) to support the UN response. The UK will support a well-coordinated and prioritised regional response.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on (a) Somalia and (b) Ethiopia of changes to UK aid allocations between 2019-20 and 2021-22.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Throughout changes to UK aid allocations in these years, the UK has and will continue to be a champion for international development and one of the most generous global aid donors, spending more than £11 billion in 2021.
This applies in Somalia where we are a leading donor. Over 2018-22 our flagship humanitarian and resilience programme reached almost 9.5 million Somalis, including more than 2.5 million with emergency food assistance and over 3.8 million with agricultural development activities.
It also applies in Ethiopia, where last financial year alone UK funding treated more than 330,000 malnourished children, gave almost 500,000 people access to safe water, reached more than 1.7 million people with emergency medical supplies, and provided more than 1.4 million with cash assistance to buy food and other essentials.
We remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable and to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on Official Development Assistance as soon as the fiscal situation allows.