§ 1. Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy) (PC)What the budget for reconstruction in Afghanistan is in 2003–04; and what it was in 2002–03. [157411]
§ The Minister for Trade and Investment (Mr. Mike O'Brien)More than $1.8 billion was provided by donors to Afghanistan for 2002–03. In March 2003, the Transitional Administration presented a budget for $2.2 billion to donors for 2003–04.
§ Mr. LlwydThe Minister will appreciate that one of the biggest problems in Afghanistan is security: Some 550 people have died since August, and we have unfortunately seen some suicide bombings—a brand new development. Yesterday, the Secretary of State for International Development announced £75 million in additional money for reconstruction. I appreciate that that is important, but should not that money come from the Foreign Office budget or the war effort reconstruction budget rather than the international aid budget, which was ring-fenced for other purposes?
§ Mr. O'BrienThe international aid budget is for helping countries that need help—and Afghanistan surely needs help at the moment. The way in which the Department for International Development is funded takes account of the fact that it is responsible for ensuring that development money goes into Afghanistan. One of the primary aims that DFID is dealing with is trying to get the economy of Afghanistan going again, and we have had a number of recent meetings in the Foreign Office about that. None the less, security is a primary issue. When I was in Mazar-e-Sharif, a few weeks ago, I saw what tremendous work the UK provincial reconstruction team was doing, and I congratulate our forces on the work that they are performing.
§ Mr. Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr) (Lab)Will my hon. Friend elaborate on what progress has been made in reconstructing the education system in Afghanistan?
§ Mr. O'BrienThere have been substantial improvements in the education system in Afghanistan: 4 738 million children are back at school, and 37 per cent. of them are girls, compared with only 5 per cent three years ago. There has been a tremendous expansion. I should also add—and it is a great tribute to UNICEF that all this has been done since the conflict—that 12 million immunisations against polio and 16 million against measles have been given since 2002, saving the lives of 30,000 people, many of them children.
§ Mr. George Osborne (Tatton) (Con)Does the Minister accept that there appears to be a tension between the desire of the international community to create a strong central government in Kabul and the desire of the American-led forces hunting al-Qaeda, who use regional warlords to help them in that important fight? How does he think we can overcome that conflict?
§ Mr. O'BrienI do not accept that there is quite that difference in view between what the hon. Gentleman calls the coalition, and the Americans. President Karzai has had enormous support from the American Administration throughout, and he continues to do so. The effort is to ensure that the stability that has been created around Kabul is expanded across the country. That is why we have set up the various provincial reconstruction teams over recent months, and they have been very successful. However, particularly in the south of the country, there is clearly still an issue with terrorism: there are remnants of the Taliban, and also al-Qaeda elements, in that part of the country, and the Americans are dealing with that, with assistance from British and other forces. Increasingly, they are being assisted by Afghans from the ANA—the Afghan national army—who can help the Americans and others to deal with the terrorist threat.
§ Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley) (Lab)I recognise that security is the most important element in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, but will my hon. Friend comment on the position of women in Afghanistan, particularly those who missed out on education for many years while the Taliban were in government, or whatever we call it? What is being done to promote the education of girls and women in Afghanistan? Are mixed schools, or girls' schools, being built?
§ Mr. O'BrienThe situation varies across the country. In some parts of Afghanistan there is a large-scale reconstruction programme. Obviously, that is more difficult in the south than in the north or in central Afghanistan. The attitudes of the regional governments tend to vary; for example, in the eastern part of the country around Herat, Ishmail Khan tends to take a more traditional view, whereby the education of girls and boys is separated. In other parts of Afghanistan, many children attend the same schools, particularly when they are younger, although they may have separate classes. The circumstances of women are certainly improving, but from our perspective, there is still a very long way to go.
§ Mr. Gary Streeter (South-West Devon) (Con)I strongly support the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, and it is vital to see the matter through. However, out of the overall UK contribution to 739 reconstruction, only £25 million a year for the next three years is focused on heroin production in the country. Given that no country can have a stable economy based on drug production and given that most of the heroin ends up on the streets of Britain, would it not be more appropriate if a greater proportion of that budget were focused on dealing with that evil, damaging trade? We would then be able to make a real dent in it.
§ Mr. O'BrienThe hon. Gentleman is just wrong. The UK has contributed £70 million over three years, and a dedicated counter-narcotics team is in place in Kabul. Additional DFID funding is going towards providing alternative livelihoods. Part of the overall strategy for dealing with narcotics is not simply to target narcotics production and focus on the interdiction itself, but to provide alternative livelihoods for people who would otherwise be tempted to become involved in the development of narcotics. When the hon. Gentleman talks about the overall counter-narcotics budget, he must include the considerable amount going into alternative livelihoods, and, indeed, into other reconstruction projects that help provide jobs and alternative incomes for many of the people of Afghanistan. The funding is therefore more than he suggests.