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Today the British Government announced it will match all donations given by the public pound for pound as part of Soccer Aid 2012 to help UNICEF save even more children's lives.

International day of the Midwife on the 5 May 2012 celebrates midwives worldwide and highlights the challenges and achievements they are making every day to save mothers’ and babies’ lives.

British aid to the DRC is helping to pull people out of poverty - providing clean water and sanitation for 3.7 million people, helping to tackle malaria, building and improving roads and getting hundreds of thousands of children into school.

Britain will provide additional emergency support to help 100,000 people facing severe food shortages in South Sudan, International Development Minister Stephen O’Brien announced today after visiting its volatile border with Sudan.

He warned of a looming humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of people already facing hunger due to poor rain, insecurity and an influx of returnees from Sudan.

Malaria remains a huge threat to the lives of millions of people in the developing world and is one of the UK Government's biggest priorities. Over 655,000 people continue to die from the disease every year. And yet it is both treatable and preventable.

Today, on World Malaria Day, we look at the progress that has been made to combat the disease, the challenges that lie ahead and how the UK Government is responding.

Care in the community

New research funded by UK aid has uncovered huge stores of groundwater in Africa – a vital resource that could give millions of people across the continent access to safe drinking water.

Across Africa over 300 million people don't have access to safe drinking water. But today's findings show the volume of water available underground is 100 times the amount found on the surface – water which could be tapped to meet the need.

Speaking at the Willis Re event "Building International Disaster Resilience to Extreme Weather - How Public & Private Sectors are Gearing Up", Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, said:

"The Coalition Government is committed to working with the private sector to drive innovation and make our development support go further.

More than 50,000 farmers’ livelihoods will be transformed in the Bamyan province of Afghanistan, through a new agricultural initiative supported by the British Government.

The programme will give famers access to cutting edge agricultural techniques, improving their livelihoods and those of their families.

The Bamyan Agricultural Support Programme (ASP) works with 40 farmer cooperatives to give members access to modern farming equipment such as tractors, high quality wheat and potato seed, and support for small business development.

How UK aid and the HALO Trust are helping farmers grow again

In the west of Herat province in western Afghanistan, just a few miles from the border with Iran, what looks like a desert is being transformed into fertile, arable fields. A brand new tractor appears to be busily at work, ploughing a vast tract of land. But as you get closer, you realise that this is no ordinary tractor; it's armoured, and it's not ploughing. It's actually digging up landmines.