§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will set out the allocation of development money allocated to the reconstruction of Afghanistan(a) in 2001–02, and (b) for each of the next three years; and if she will set out the total amount that has been spent for (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03. [75708]
§ Clare ShortAt Tokyo in January we pledged £200 million over 5 years to Afghanistan, we did not divide this in to specific amounts for separate financial years. So far in the current financial year we have disbursed over £33 million of our budget of £55 million. In 2001–02 we gave approximately £60 million to Afghanistan for immediate humanitarian relief activities, including food aid and support for returning refugees. International support for such appeals has already provided some essential building blocks for longer term reconstruction: for example a polio vaccination programme has reached 6 million children and 3 million children are now back at school.