Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 70
70
To pre-empt and avoid further humanitarian crises, the UK Government should ensure its package of...
Recommendation
To pre-empt and avoid further humanitarian crises, the UK Government should ensure its package of humanitarian assistance to the conflict in Tigray provides sufficient financial and technical resources to support communities in urgent need. We recommend that the FCDO builds a comprehensive picture of the sources of conflict and instability in East Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region using the reports and analysis from Posts in the region to synthesise a broader picture, drawing on and applying the expertise of the new Conflict Prevention Hub. The Government should use this analysis to adjust the allocation of the UK’s resources in the region to help prevent conflicts from spreading and destabilising more of the region. 144 GOV.UK, Development Tracker [accessed 11 March 2021] 145 GOV.UK, Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2019 [accessed 11 March 2021] 146 HL11061, 21 December 2021 147 Reuters, EU suspends Ethiopian budget support over Tigray crisis, 15 January 2021 148 Q23 [Dr Rogg] 149 Q20 [Paul Turnbull] The humanitarian situation in Tigray 27 Conclusion
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The FCDO has well established methods of identifying, analysing and responding to sources of regional conflict and instability, and the department continues to push for improvements. The newly established conflict centre will bolster existing capabilities and bring additional skills to increase the impact and effectiveness of the UK’s conflict stabilisation and resolution efforts. Reporting from embassies provides local insights into conflict and political dynamics and this is combined to inform policy making with research and regional analysis from conflict experts in London who specialise in a specific region or country. The FCDO also seeks views of external analysts to inform this process, most recently on Ethiopia and East African regional conflict dynamics. There are formal, senior-level policy strategy groups in place to ensure that collaboration between post and HQ, and across Government is standard practise (e.g. the regional National Security Strategy Implementation Groups), and it is these groups who are responsible for directing resourcing and effort to match priorities. The newly established conflict center is already contributing to this effort. Its advisers work alongside embassies and policy teams on a daily basis applying lessons from past interventions and providing conflict and security expertise to inform longer term planning, e.g. through regional analysis of how serious and organised crime intersects with conflict in East Africa.