Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent humanitarian assistance her Department has provided to victims of floods and monsoons in south east Asia.

DFID led the way in the crisis as the international community’s largest bilateral donor. In Bangladesh we made the first international contribution of £660,000 to help over 60,000 people with food, shelter, and water and sanitation. Following flooding earlier in the year, we allocated £3m for early recovery in North East Bangladesh. In Nepal, we provided water, hygiene, sanitation and shelter support to 30,000 people through pre-positioned supplies, and gave £400,000 to the Nepal Red Cross Society for the response. In Pakistan, we committed over £410,000 for emergency response, which included cash support for 1,300 families to repair damaged homes, and provide temporary access to clean drinking water to 400,000 people. In India, we committed £400,000 through the multi-donor START fund in India.

Over several years DFID has helped Bangladesh and Nepal to prepare for natural disasters. Previous UK support in Bangladesh funded emergency flood shelters, and in Nepal the UK funded the construction of a humanitarian staging area at Kathmandu airport. In addition, DFID Bangladesh is earmarking £7.9 million for disaster preparedness from 2016-2021, and DFID Nepal is setting aside £46 million between 2016 and 2022, for strengthening disaster resilience and responding to humanitarian emergencies.