To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of aid allocated by his Department to groups in Afghanistan seeking to improve the quality of life, education, health and safety of women is paid into bank accounts in the name of Afghan males.

The Department for International Development (DFID) requests and receives regular monitoring reports on all our programmes from our implementing partners. However the information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.

I have recently initiated a review of the Department for International Development (DFID) aid programmes to ensure they are as effective as possible and bring real benefit to the world's poor. Our work in Afghanistan will be reviewed as part of this process.

The Government are committed to addressing gender issues in developing countries and will place women at the centre of our work on international development. We are also fully committed to ensuring full transparency of UK aid and have launched the Aid Transparency Guarantee, which will provide opportunities for those directly affected by our projects to provide feedback on the performance of projects. I have also announced a new independent aid watchdog to gather evidence about the effectiveness of DFID's programmes.