Speeches

Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK is taking to assist in the repair of hospitals damaged by air strikes in Yemen.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK is the 4th largest donor to the crisis in Yemen and has more than doubled its humanitarian support over the last year to £85 million for 2015/16. We have so far helped more than 1.3 million Yemenis with medical supplies, food, water, and emergency shelter.

The repair and rebuilding of infrastructure in Yemen will be a key part of any comprehensive recovery and reconstruction plan. We are already working with the Government of Yemen and the international community to promote thinking and planning for Yemen’s recovery. In the meantime, we are helping to meet emergency health care needs for the most vulnerable. Working through UNICEF, we provide health and nutrition services through hospitals and mobile clinics. The UK was also the largest donor to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund in 2015, with UK support providing over 40,000 people with emergency healthcare.