We are the third largest donor to Afghanistan, having spent over £740 million in the last eight years, and have committed more than £510 million over the next four.
Economic development: we have invested £32m in the National Solidarity Programme, which has established 23,000 elected Community Development Councils. We have provided £30 million over 3 years (2006-2009) to the Helmand Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (HARDP), which has built over 1,850 wells and 59km of roads. And we committed £40.5m (2002-9) to the Microfinance Investment and Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA), which has given over $500 m worth of small business loans to over 440,000 people.
Healthcare: infant mortality rates have fallen dramatically, saving 35,000 young lives a year. 900,000 under-fives are being immunised every year at border crossings. Access to basic healthcare now covers 82% of districts (vs. 9% in 2003).
Education: A record number of children are now in school. Enrolled pupil numbers have grown from 1m in 2001 to around 6.6m today. And a third of pupils are girls, up from virtually none under the Taleban. Our contributions to the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund helped pay the salaries of over 165,000 teachers in 2008-9.
Rule of law: we are spending over £13m this year on mentoring and capacity building. In Lashkar Gah a new $2m prison built to international standards opened this week, dramatically improving security and conditions for prisoners.
Tackling the drugs trade: we are spending £32m this year in support of the Afghan government’s National Drug Control Strategy, which combines eradication and law enforcement with access to alternative livelihoods. On 2 September 2009 the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) confirmed a 22% decrease in poppy cultivation nationally and a 33% reduction in Helmand over the last year.
Strengthening Afghan governance: in Helmand we have helped set up Justice Committees, and are holding shuras with local elders to determine local communities' development priorities.
