To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many contracts worth more than £10,000 his Department has entered into with non-governmental organisations for projects in Helmand Province.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has entered in to one contract with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for a development project in Helmand. The NGO, which would prefer to remain nameless for security reasons, received a grant of £999,447 to support an agricultural development programme which began in August 2007. In addition, DFID funding is supporting through the Government of Afghanistan the Bangladeshi NGO BRAC, to undertake community development and microfinance projects in Helmand, and the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) to establish credit unions.