Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programmes integrate nutrition objectives; and if he will make a statement.

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a key part of tackling undernutrition. For example, the act of infant and child feeding needs good personal hygiene – hand washing with soap and water, and good food hygiene. Since 2015, DFID has helped over 51 million poor people in Africa and Asia get access to a drinking water supply or toilet for the first time.

DFID also supports programmes where water supplies are developed for multiple uses, which include nutrition objectives. For example, a DFID-supported project in Madagascar has partnered with the agricultural sector to develop water supplies for domestic use and for irrigating market gardens, to improve nutrition and build resilience to future shocks.