Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to programmes to improve the disaster resilience of local communities; and if she will make a statement.

DFID is committed to taking early action to help the most vulnerable prepare for shocks and access support when disaster strikes. Investing in building the resilience of countries, communities, and people can save lives, protect livelihoods, safeguard development gains, and help UK aid money go further.

DFID’s flagship £140 million “Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters” programme is directly supporting 5 million people across the Sahel, East Africa and South Asia.

DFID has also mainstreamed resilience across its work. This means that supporting countries and communities to better prepare for disasters is at the core of all our development and humanitarian programmes. DFID’s new £15 million “Maintaining Essential Services After Natural Disasters” programme is an example of how we are building the evidence base so that our programmes can assist Governments and communities to better manage shocks and to cope with crises.