Yesterday I arrived in New York and met with the Deputy Head of the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),Catherine Bragg. We discussed the importance of humanitarian aid after natural disasters, like the floods in Pakistan and the earthquake in Haiti, and in conflict situations like  Libya and the Ivory Coast.

We also talked abourt Lord Ashdown's Humanitarian Emergency Response Review. The Government will be making a statement about Lord Ashdown's review in the House of Commons next week.