Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent finding of the UNOCHA that more than 21.2 million people, including 9.9 million children, were in need of humanitarian aid in Yemen.

Baroness Verma

The UK is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Yemen. According to UNOCHA, there are more people in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen than in any other country. However, because of the conflict, it has been difficult for the UN to access all parts of Yemen to carry out humanitarian assessments. The UN data on the overall number of people and children in need are therefore estimates and should be treated accordingly.

Over the last year, the UK has doubled its humanitarian commitment to Yemen to £75 million in 2015/16. This is providing vital medical supplies, water, food, malnutrition and emergency shelter, including specifically to children through our programmes with UNICEF, Save the Children, and CARE.