Britain has pledged emergency food, drinking water and shelter to help people displaced in Rakhine State in western Burma.

Minister for International Development Alan Duncan and Foreign Office Minister for South East Asia Hugo Swire today announced a £4.4 million package of humanitarian support for people displaced by violence and facing the additional threats of the rainy season and approaching storms.

Britain’s package of emergency assistance will provide:

During a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama today, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the UK would be providing an extra £30 million of humanitarian support for the victims of the Syria crisis, and an additional £10 million in non-lethal support to strengthen the Syrian opposition, to help reduce the effects of the conflict spilling over into neighbouring countries and to support human rights and civil society.

£2 million of joint funding to help Somalia tackle the issue of sexual violence in conflict will be announced today by Foreign Secretary William Hague and United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

JOHANNESBOURG, 29 avril 2013 (IRIN) - À leur arrivée dans les pays hôtes, la majorité des demandeurs d’asile se trouvent incapables d’apporter la preuve des persécutions qu’ils ont subies. Ainsi, les chances de voir aboutir leur demande de statut de réfugié dépendent en grande partie de la vraisemblance de leur récit. Cependant, la crédibilité des demandeurs d’asile est de plus en plus souvent remise en cause, particulièrement dans les pays qui reçoivent de nombreuses demandes d’asile.

CDC Group plc (CDC), the UK’s development finance institution, has announced that the total number of businesses worldwide being supported by its capital rose from 1,126 in 2011 to 1,250 in 2012. The total jobs provided by these businesses rose from 976,000 to over 1,109,000, an increase of 14%.

This is the first time in CDC’s history that its capital has supported businesses providing over one million direct jobs. In 2012, CDC also invested £397m in businesses, an increase of £33m over 2011. 43% of those investments (totalling £171m) were invested in Africa.

British aid will help to vaccinate up to 360 million children against polio over the next 6 years, International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced today, ahead of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Polio is a debilitating and life threatening disease that has been successfully eradicated across the globe, saving millions of lives. It now remains prevalent in just 3 countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. UK support will help provide routine immunisations against polio to some of the most vulnerable and hard to reach groups of people.

Girls in Afghanistan are to get access to a quality education thanks to 3 new education programmes.

Girls in some of the poorest rural areas of Afghanistan are to get access to a quality education thanks to 3 new education programmes funded by the UK government.

The funding, worth £47 million over 3 years, will invest in innovative approaches to improve girls’ education from early childhood through to secondary school and will aim to get more than 250,000 Afghan girls into education.

04/23/2013 19:30 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, 23 avr 2013 (AFP) - Londres a annoncé mardi une aide de 10 millions de livres à Haïti pour aider le pays frappé par un violent séisme en 2010 à faire face aux risques naturels.

New funding for female survivors of violence and exploitation in Haiti

A new drive to help female survivors of violence and exploitation in Haiti has been announced by International Development Secretary Justine Greening during a visit to the disaster-afflicted country.

The new £300,000 package of support is part of Britain’s commitment to helping women and girls worldwide. It will:

provide legal support and counseling for up to 500 victims of rape and violence and