To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which non-governmental organisations are employed by his Department in Helmand Province; and what type of project each is carrying out.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has entered in to one contract with an non-governmental organisation 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 BRAG, to undertake community development and microfinance projects in Helmand, and the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) to establish credit unions.