Written questions by Furniss.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the human rights situation in Somalia.

We remain deeply concerned by the human rights situation in Somalia, including the devastating conflict-related violence against women and children, and deteriorating media freedom.The UK advocates for greater respect for human rights through targeted programmes and sustained engagement, holding the Federal Government of Somalia and other actors to account.As co-chair of a Somalia-focused Human Rights Working Group, and joint penholder for the United Nations Human Rights Council mandate, the UK plays a leading role in keeping international partners’ attention and efforts focused on human rights issues in Somalia.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support a peaceful political settlement in Yemen.

The UK remains committed to working towards lasting peace and prosperity for the Yemeni people. We continue to support the work of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen and use our role as penholder for Yemen at the UN Security Council to galvanise international support and advance progress towards an inclusive political settlement.We also continue to urge the international community to respond to the rapidly deteriorating levels of food security in Yemen. The UK is currently the largest donor to the UN-led Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, delivering £139 million in aid through the UN and other agencies in 2025/26, including dedicated support to enable those organisations to carry out their work.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support humanitarian aid organisations operating in Yemen.

The UK remains committed to working towards lasting peace and prosperity for the Yemeni people. We continue to support the work of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen and use our role as penholder for Yemen at the UN Security Council to galvanise international support and advance progress towards an inclusive political settlement.We also continue to urge the international community to respond to the rapidly deteriorating levels of food security in Yemen. The UK is currently the largest donor to the UN-led Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, delivering £139 million in aid through the UN and other agencies in 2025/26, including dedicated support to enable those organisations to carry out their work.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of UK funding for UNITAID on the cost of HPV testing in (a) low and (b) middle-income countries.

Unitaid are a leading funder of innovative tools to find and treat cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries, with HPV tests the most accurate way to identify if a woman is at higher risk of developing cervical cancer. Together with partners, Unitaid's interventions lowered the cost of HPV testing by nearly 40 per cent and reduced the price of portable thermal ablation devices for treating precancerous lesions by more than 45 per cent. Unitaid's work is laying the groundwork for national cervical cancer elimination programs worldwide. We highly value our Unitaid partnership and have contributed more than half a billion pounds in funding.