 For them, a sickness in the family, crop failure after a drought or the interruption of remittances from relatives who live abroad can set in motion a downward spiral from which they cannot free themselves on their own.It is therefore not enough to support people in emergencies and, once the crises is over, to start longer-term development efforts.Instead, emergency and development assistance has to be conceptualized with the goal of increasing resilience of poor people against these shocks.