§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much humanitarian aid has been given to(a) Iran and (b) the northern border states of Afghanistan formerly part of the Soviet Union in the last 12 months. [42954]
§ Clare ShortIn the last 12 months, my Department has provided over £1.7 million of humanitarian assistance to Iran, primarily for the benefit of Afghan and Iraqi refugees. Our support, which has been channelled through UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), has focused on emergency food assistance, and improvement of health care and education services for Afghan and Iraqi refugees.
In the same period, we have provided £2.2 million of drought relief assistance to Tajikistan. This has been channelled through UN agencies, the Red Cross and NGOs for food assistance, water and sanitation improvement, and livelihood and agricultural support.
In addition, the £60 million that we have disbursed in response to the crisis in Afghanistan since September 2001 includes a number of regional grants to humanitarian agencies. A proportion of this amount has therefore been spent in countries neighbouring Afghanistan, including Iran and the northern border states of Afghanistan.