Afghanistan: Aid

House of Lords written question – answered at on 22 October 2007.

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Photo of The Earl of Sandwich The Earl of Sandwich Crossbench

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What proportion of the United Kingdom's aid budget in Afghanistan is spent in Helmand province; and whether they intend to support more development projects in the northern provinces.

Photo of Baroness Vadera Baroness Vadera Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for International Development

In 2006-07 the Department for International Development spent £16.29 million of its £100 million aid to Afghanistan in Helmand province—or roughly 16 per cent. This year DfID has committed up to £20 million for assistance to Helmand, out of our overall £107-million aid budget for Afghanistan (19 per cent). The remaining £87 million of our budget (81 per cent) supports development across the whole of Afghanistan.

DfID Afghanistan has no plans to provide direct support to more development projects in the northern provinces of Afghanistan. DfID supports development in the north of Afghanistan in two main ways: through our commitment of unpreferenced funding to the Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund (ARTF); and through our support to the Government of Afghanistan's national priority programmes. In 2007-08 DfID is providing £55 million in unpreferenced funding to the ARTF, to enable the Government of Afghanistan to meet their recurrent costs. These include salaries of public sector workers throughout Afghanistan, including teachers, nurses and doctors. DfID is also supporting the Afghan Government's national priority programmes, which operate in the north and south of Afghanistan, including a total commitment of £42 million (2003-10) to the national solidarity programme (NSP), and £20 million (2004-08) to the microfinance investment support facility of Afghanistan (MISFA).

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