This Scoping Study is part of DFID's strategic effort to assess the significance of disaster risk in its development work. It aims to explore evidence on linkages between poverty alleviation, development and disaster risk reduction, and to establish why disaster risk reduction is often not part of development policy and planning. It is aimed primarily at development professionals within DFID and other bilateral donor agencies, and is intended to contribute to the development of a disaster reduction strategy for DFID in the near future.