§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's latest estimate is of access to humanitarian food aid in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement. [45369]
§ Clare ShortSince October 2001, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered 370,000 metric tonnes of emergency food aid to the region; over 300,000 metric tonnes of which has been distributed within Afghanistan. WFP assistance is now successfully reaching 6.6 million people in Afghanistan. Needs have been met in most areas, but there remain pockets of unmet needs in places difficult to access due to poor weather and insecurity.
In response to this, WFP is deploying six helicopter-borne rapid assessment teams for assessment and delivery of emergency aid to remote areas in 865W Afghanistan. The teams are tasked with streamlining food aid operations, assessing health conditions, investigating non-food emergency needs, monitoring food distribution and verifying reports by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) on earlier food deliveries. If necessary, the helicopters will also allow WFP to airlift a limited amount of food aid on an emergency basis.
We have contributed £6 million towards WFP's operations inside Afghanistan—for both direct procurement and transportation of food, and for logistical support to help speed up the movement of food aid into the country. We have also supported a number of agencies—the UN, Red Cross and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)—for supplementary feeding and secondary distribution of food inside Afghanistan.