§ Mr. DawsonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what action she plans to take in order for the volume of food aid reaching Afghanistan to increase substantially;[12682]
(2) what assessment she has made of the increase needed in the volume of food aid reaching Afghanistan in order to guarantee adequate stockpiles for the winter.[12681]
§ Clare ShortIn October, the World Food Programme reported that it managed to despatch over 27,000 metric tonnes of food into the country. This was less than their target but tonnage has improved and over 10,600 metric tonnes were despatched last week. WFP and other humanitarian agencies are working to maximise opportunities to get more food into the country as winter approaches. We are working with the international community to open up new land convoy routes into Afghanistan. As I announced in the House on 1 November 2001,Official Report columns 769-70W we have agreed to contribute £600,000 to Russian EMERCOM for a new convoy operation to deliver 9,000 metric tonnes of food from Tajikistan to northern Afghanistan.
WFP is buying 17,000 metric tonnes of wheat from the Iranian Government, which will be transported by rail to Turkmenistan, and from there to north and west Afghanistan. WFP is also looking at the airdropping of food to vulnerable people living in remote mountainous regions of Afghanistan which are likely to be cut off by winter snows.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on international plans to deliver food aid to refugees in Afghanistan this winter.[12153]
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§ Clare ShortAs I said in my statement to the House of Commons on 24 October 2001,Official Report, columns 283-85, humanitarian agencies, especially the World Food Programme, are working under extremely difficult circumstances and continuing to get food and other relief items into Afghanistan. In October, WFP reports that it managed to despatch over 27,000 metric tonnes of food into the country. WFP and other humanitarian agencies will continue to maximise opportunities to get more food into the country as winter approaches. DFID has been assessing ways of maximising other routes of food delivery into Afghanistan, and as I announced in the House on 1 November, we have agreed to contribute £600,000 to Russian Emergency Ministry (EMERCOM) for a new convoy operation to deliver 9,000 metric tonnes of food from Tajikistan to northern Afghanistan over the next two months.
WFP is buying 17,000 metric tonnes of wheat from the Iranian Government, which will be transported by rail to Turkmenistan, and from there to north and west Afghanistan. WFP is also looking at the airdropping of food to vulnerable people living in remote mountainous regions of Afghanistan which are likely to be cut off by winter snows.