Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans the Government has to fulfil its commitment to making the humanitarian system as anticipatory as possible, as set out in the G7 foreign ministers' statement, published on 14 May 2022.

The UK is a global leader in driving more effective approaches to crises and preventing and anticipating future shocks. The G7 foreign ministers' statement builds on commitments agreed during the UK Presidency in 2021, including the first ever G7 Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Crisis Compact. We are one of the largest donors to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which is pioneering initiatives on anticipatory action. Last year, we also provided funding to the Red Cross and civil society to strengthen anticipatory approaches to humanitarian assistance.

Scaling up anticipatory action is not just about supporting the humanitarian system, and that is why we have also committed £120 million for regional disaster protection schemes across Africa, the Caribbean, South-East Asia, and the Pacific. As set out in the Government's International Development Strategy, we will continue to step up our life-saving humanitarian work going forward, including by drawing on innovative finance and insurance mechanisms to better manage and anticipate humanitarian emergencies.