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Humanitarian Aid

Asked by Tom MorrisonLiberal DemocratForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled Answered 10 March 2026UIN 116371

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with international partners to anticipate and pre-emptively mitigate humanitarian crises around the world.

Answered by Chris Elmore

The UK is working with partner governments to improve early warning for disasters, including through the Met Office. We are also pushing the humanitarian system, including the UN, to better anticipate and act ahead of crises to reduce humanitarian need, including through our contributions to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, the largest global funder of anticipatory action. The UK is a global leader on pre-arranged finance (PAF) and insurance which pay out in advance or after a disaster to help pre-empt damage. For example, Jamaica received $242 million from a catastrophe bond and insurance after Hurricane Melissa and, in the past month, UK-supported PAF has paid out over $22 million to fund anticipatory and emergency responses to drought in Somalia and cyclones in Madagascar.

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