Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will answer the question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 11 June (HL Deb, col 418) about what action is being taken to ensure the safety of those reported to have fled the city of Mosul following its capture by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.

Baroness Northover

As of 17 June, following the advance of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) –led alliance in Northern Iraq, the UK is providing an initial £3 million of emergency humanitarian assistance to help displaced civilians. Following an assessment of needs on the ground by DFID humanitarian experts who deployed to Erbil last Thursday 12 June, this includes:

(i) – Activation of the UK’s Rapid Response Facility (RRF), which provides emergency support via pre-approved organisations in the event of a humanitarian crisis overseas. This initial package of UK support comprises clean water and sanitation, essential medicine, women-friendly hygiene kits and basic household items, which will be provided from £2 million of RRF funding to NGOs in the region.

(ii) – Protection for vulnerable girls and women through the deployment of dedicated UN safety and welfare teams in key internally displaced person and refugee camp sites and areas, secured through £1 million of funding to the UNHCR.

The UK will continue to monitor the situation closely and we are considering urgently what other assistance we could provide.