§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how his Department's policy on taking risks of natural and man-made disasters into account will change following the report by his Department's Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department. [186721]
§ Hilary BennA reduction in the impact of natural and man-made disasters is an important precondition for poverty reduction in many countries.
DFID is in the process of reviewing how we might step up our work in this area. A scoping study, commissioned by DFID's Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department and undertaken by the Overseas Development Group, will soon report. The study will examine the relationship between development and disasters so as to help the development community and DFID better understand how we might tackle disasters risk most effectively. It will also consider how to better integrate disaster risk reduction into development. We intend to develop a forward strategy for DFID on disaster reduction in the light of the findings of this study. The findings will be disseminated to interested parties.