§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the(a) successes and (b) failures of the national drugs strategy in Afghanistan. [178028]
§ Mr. RammellPresident Karzai adopted the Afghan National Drug Control Strategy in May 2003. Its aim is to eliminate opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan by 2013. I set out to the House on 9 June 2004,Official Report, columns 124–27WH the action in hand to deliver that strategy and made clear that the UK, as lead nation, remains committed to supporting its implementation.
In the first year of implementation of the strategy, the basic counter narcotics structures have been put in place: drug control legislation, a Counter Narcotics Directorate, a Special Narcotics Force, the Counter Narcotics Police and a central eradication capability. Work is also in hand to develop alternative livelihoods for farmers dependent on opium poppy cultivation. These measures provide a sound basis for the future development of robust institutions and programmes to combat opium production and trafficking. Progress remains linked to the wider security situation in Afghanistan and to the implementation of other areas of institution building such as policing and judicial systems.
§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what resources are being made available to monitor the elections in Afghanistan. [178312]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Joint Elections Management Body comprised of the Afghan Transitional Administration and UN representatives, and chaired by Interior Minister Jalali, is responsible for election preparations. As part of its electoral support plans, the UN Development Programme intends to establish an "Observation Office" to facilitate national and international election observation. The Office is intended to support information exchange between Afghan and international observers and other interested parties; provide briefing packages for observers; and develop training materials for Afghan observers.
We are currently discussing with EU partners and the European Commission a range of measures to support the elections, including deployment of monitors and advisers. There are likely to be observer teams from a number of other countries. Work is also in hand to develop domestic monitoring capacity. Afghan civil society organisations involved in this have formed a "Core Group" to co-ordinate domestic monitoring activities.
§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the size of the British monitoring team during the elections in Afghanistan will be. [178313]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienWe have not yet decided on the size or nature of any UK input into the international monitoring effort for the forthcoming elections in Afghanistan. But we are looking at this, including in the light of current discussions with EU and other partners.