To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to reduce the regional differences in female access to (a) education and (b) healthcare in (i) Pakistan and (ii) Afghanistan.

DFID has played a significant role improving female access to education and healthcare in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the last decade.

In Afghanistan, UK funding to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund supports the delivery of basic public services. Significant progress has been made: 57% of the population now lives within one hour's walking distance of a public health facility compared to 2002 when only 9% of the population had access to any basic health care. Almost half of all pregnant women now receive antenatal care and 2.3 million girls attend school, compared with virtually none under the Taliban.

Supporting girls' access to education and women's access to health is a top priority for UK Aid to Pakistan. DFID has helped to more than double the number of lady health workers to 100,000 since 2002. In Punjab skilled birth attendance rates have increased from 33% in 2006 to nearly 60% and student attendance has increased by over 700,000 since 2011. By 2015 we will help to support over 2 million girls in school; prevent 750,000 women from developing anaemia during pregnancy; and make it easier for people to get skilled help from community midwives and skilled birth attendants.