Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness of the projects to which UK aid contributes abroad and of the long-term effect those projects have on the UK.

The Department for International Development’s communications demonstrate how UK aid reduces extreme poverty, tackles global challenges and is in Britain’s national interest.

We raise awareness of our work and its results in a number of different ways.

A recent example is the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in February. Through extensive work with the media and partners, we helped the public at home and abroad to understand why the conference was needed, how the money raised will make a difference, and how they can get involved. The public had more than 222m opportunities to see or hear about the conference; media coverage of the conference was extensive and overwhelmingly positive. We are continuing to communicate the longer-term impact of the conference and explain why supporting people in the region is in the UK’s interest.

Another example is our recent work to mark International Women’s Day. This positioned the UK as a world leader on securing rights for girls and women. Ministers attended eight public events to mark the day and spoke about DFID’s work on girls and women. The public had 252m opportunities to see or hear about our activity through the media, and a further 1.5m people were reached through digital activity.

DFID has a strong following online and provides regular updates about its work and achievements through: Twitter (www.twitter.com/dfid_uk), Facebook (www.facebook.com/ukdfid) and Dev Tracker (devtracker.dfid.gov.uk).