§ Mrs. LiddellTo ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development (1) what improvements have been introduced in Afghanistan to ensure improved heath care for women and children in the last year; [129683]
555W(2) what assistance the Government have provided towards improved maternity and neonatal care in Afghanistan. [129691]
Mr. Gareth ThomasThe Afghanistan Transitional Administration has asked donors to concentrate on a few key areas of the reconstruction effort where they can have most impact. In response to this the UK is concentrating on building the capacity of the Afghan Government, humanitarian aid and programmes to support the development of income generation.
We also fund Afghanistan's reconstruction effort through multi-lateral channels. The UK is the fourth largest donor to UNICEF and provided £44 million overall funding in 2002. We provide 19 per cent. of the European Union's £282 million package of reconstruction support for Afghanistan for 2003–04, of which £17.5 million is programmed for the health sector to help reduce infant and maternal mortality by providing a basic health care package. We are also contributing towards the World bank's Afghanistan Health Sector Emergency Reconstruction and Development Project, which aims to help expand delivery of basic health services and work to ensure equitable access, particularly for women and children.
Since April 2002 the European Commission has worked with the United States to rebuild 72 hospitals, clinics and women's health care centres, revise the national curriculum for midwives and vaccinate 4.3 million children against measles. Over 2003 and 2004, the EC will channel support through the Government to deliver health services to 3 million people and help to reduce the unacceptably high levels of child and maternal mortality.
UNICEF has supported Emergency Obstetric Care services in 20 districts and refurbished Malalai hospital, the largest maternity hospital in Kabul with 15,000 deliveries every year. UNICEF plans to launch other facilities in Kandahar, Herat and Jalalabad to build up the maternal health infrastructure.
Although health is not a key area of our bilateral support, we have funded consultants to the MoH to assist with policy and planning. One of these consultants played a major role in developing the country's interim health strategy.
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the clearing of landmines in Afghanistan. [130298]
Mr. Gareth ThomasAt the end of 2002 an estimated 850 square kilometres of land in Afghanistan were still contaminated with anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines, as well as bombs dropped from aircraft and other explosive devices, such as mortars, which fail to detonate on impact but are still capable of exploding when they are touched or moved. As many as 300 people per month were injured or killed by landmines and unexploded ordnance last year.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is responsible for co-ordinating 15 non-governmental organisations on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan for the clearing of mines and unexploded
556Wordnance. We have provided £5.3 million funding to UNMAS over the last three years for their clearance operations in Afghanistan.
Since 1989, 754 square kilometres of minefields and former battle areas have been cleared or declared safe. In addition, the programme has overseen services that taught more than 2.4 million people how to identify and avoid mines and unexploded ordnance. In 2002 alone, the programme cleared mines and unexploded ordnance from about 111 square kilometres of land.
The Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan recently announced Afghanistan could be free from the threat of landmines and unexploded ordnance by 2012 if clearance operations continue at current levels and if international donor support is sustained.