British aid has helped reduce by 1.2 million-a-year the number of children who die each year in six Commonwealth countries, research by Oxfam to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee has found.

During the Queen’s reign, Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia have reduced the number of children who die before they reach primary school age by at least half. All have received significant amounts of aid from the UK taxpayer and continue to do so.

DHAKA — Some of the countries most affected by climate change should be an "inspiration" to rich nations on how to reduce their emissions, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.

Speaking at the Climate Vulnerable forum -- which brings together countries most affected by climate change -- Ban praised low-lying nations such as the Maldives, Costa Rica and Samoa for committing to be carbon neutral.

New Report Highlights Potential to Save Lives, Protect the Environment, and Address Climate Change through Advanced Cookstoves

Press Release No:2011/561/SDN

Mitchell: Britain to lead more effective response to humanitarian disasters

International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, today laid out how the Government will improve the way it responds to man-made and natural disasters to provide more effective help to people devastated by earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and war.

The new proposals follow Lord Ashdown’s review of the UK’s humanitarian emergency response and include:

Better prepared countries

This 50th edition of Humanitarian Exchange, co-edited with Rachel Houghton, focuses exclusively on partnerships in humanitarian action. Articles explore a wide range of different arrangements, including clusters, consortia and networks, involving NGOs, the UN, the private sector, academic researchers, ‘southern’ or local organisations and host governments.

In the next 40 years, agricultural land will be lost to urbanization, desertification, sea level rise and increasingly salty water.

Bangladesh, Kenya eye climate-smart farming practices.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 15, 2011 - In November 2007, powerful Cyclone Sidr claimed the lives of thousands of people in Bangladesh and wiped out a lot of the country's rice crop. A year later, Bangladesh became

Summary

Two years after the 2008 food crisis, food insecurity persists in 29 countries worldwide, and more than one billion people remain hungry or undernourished. However, concerted efforts by the global community to coordinate actions for food and nutrition assistance and to provide increased resources for sustainable agricultural development, along with country-led policy initiatives that include farmers' organizations

- Global food price spikes in 2007 and 2008 increased undernourishment by an estimated 6.8%, and drove at least 100 million more people into poverty.

- New Global Agriculture and Food Security Program fights food insecurity through improved agricultural productivity among poor, rural populations.

April 22, 2010-Across the globe, more than 1 billion people go to bed hungry each nighta number exacerbated by the 2007-08 food price crisis.

In brief

Programme purpose: To increase the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) capacity to assist national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to reduce the number of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters through the provision of timely and adequate financial support for disaster response from the DREF.

Programme Summary:

The DREF made a total of 108 allocations in 2009 to support National Society response to 96 different disasters,